Statement in Support of Black Lives Matter
Cap & Bells is in full support of the Black Lives Matter movement and stands with the victims of state-sanctioned violence, their family members, and those taking action against anti-Blackness across America. We are outraged at the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, and recognize them as glaring examples of the systemic racism which has existed in our country since its inception.
As an organization, we urge our members to take action against both overt acts of racism and entrenched systems of oppression in all ways possible. The board of Cap & Bells has collectively donated $500 to Black Table Arts, a gathering of artists organizing Black artists to build community power, educating communities, and creating spaces for leadership to thrive through a variety of creative programming. We encourage our non-Black peers and alumni with the financial means necessary to do the same, and to donate to the various other organizations doing vital anti-racism work — their information is listed below. No amount is too small. Additionally, we exhort the Williams community to sign and circulate petitions, make calls, and send emails to the contacts linked below demanding justice for Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other victims of police brutality.
We demand that Williams College—which donated $400,000 to the new Williamstown Police Station last fall and has a 2.89 billion dollar endowment—acknowledge its historical and present investment in anti-Blackness and commit to financially supporting anti-racism organizations. Further, we call upon the College to extend increased support to Black students in The Davis Center and IWS, as well as to provide free anti-racist literature resources to the whole student body.
Cap & Bells recognizes the white-dominated nature of theatre both within and outside of the Williams community and our complacency in it. Additionally, we recognize the delay in releasing this statement of support to the Black Lives Matter movement and the failure to make strides to correct the institutionalized pattern of oppression. We plan to make actionable changes moving forward in an effort to correct the errors we have made in the past, however, we acknowledge the harm that has been done by our institution, and institutions like ours, by not acting sooner. We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement and will continue to make strides to support them.
We are committing to:
- Holding ourselves accountable to the student body in creating a space that actively moves away from simply white stories and white bodies.
- Examining the white supremacy inherent in our bureaucratic structures and improving transparency when it comes to the Board’s decision making for everyone outside of the organization.
- Partnering with The Davis Center in creating programming for this and all future years that focuses on not simply opening up, but reconstructing, the student theatre community to be representative of the diversity of Williams campus.
- Creating an accessible and expansive library of reading resources focused on POC plays and performance theory.
- Dismantling white supremacist structures in rehearsal and performance processes through work with our Performance Culture Department and creative team training.
- Requiring all Board members to undergo Identity Training with the Davis Center.
- Programming readings and productions of POC playwrights into our season to extend the plays studied on campus past the Western canon.
Resource Compilations:
Documents compiling various petitions, places to donate, numbers to call, people to email, reading materials, protest tips, etc.
Petitions/events/gofundmes/etc
Black Lives Matter — Resource Compilation
Text FLOYD to 55156 or go here to demand all officers involved in Floyd’s death are charged with his murder
Text ENOUGH to 55156 or go here to demand justice for Breonna Taylor
Text JUSTICE to 55156 and 668366 to demand justice for Ahmaud Arbery
Text RESIST to 50409 to write to local officials demanding change
Sign this petition to demand a ban on law enforcement officials who have committed racially motivated acts of violence
Donations:
National Bail Out – reuniting families, creating a national community of leaders who have experienced incarceration, and working with groups across the country to transform harmful systems to keep our people safe and free
Black Visions Collective – an organization dedicated to Black liberation and to collective liberation through healing and transformational justice
Reclaim the Block – organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety
Northstar Health Collective – a radical health and harm reduction collective coordinating and providing health care services, resources, and training in alliance with mainstream and anti-authoritarian organizations to create a safe and healthy events
Black Lives Matter Movement – a global movement fighting to liberate black individuals from systemic racism.
Black Immigrant Collective – The Black Immigrant Collective amplifies and makes visible the voices of Black immigrants in Minnesota
Black Table Arts – Gathering Black communities through the arts, towards better black futures.
Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha – CTUL is a worker-led organization where workers organize, educate and empower each other to fight for a voice in their workplaces and in their communities
Minnesota Healing Justice Network – We provide a supportive professional community and mutual aid network for wellness and healing justice practitioners who also identify as IBPOC (indigenous, black, or people of color).
Northside business support – support businesses on Minneapolis’s Northside that have been impacted by recent demonstrations
Southside Harm Reduction– Southside Harm Reduction Services works within a harm reduction framework to promote the human rights to health, safety, autonomy, and agency among people who use substances
Spiral Collective – A volunteer full-spectrum reproductive options and support group comprised of doulas, birth-workers, and passionate reproductive justice advocates. based in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, occupied Dakhóta territories
Women for Political Change – Holistically investing in the leadership and political power of young women and trans & non-binary individuals throughout Minnesota
Recommended reading to improve allyship:
Anti-racism resources for white people
Summer Reading, Listening, & Viewing List