“There is hope for humanity, but in order for us to get there, we really have to interrogate not just what it takes to change laws, but what it takes to change the culture that supports laws that uplift humanity and also supports laws that serve to denigrate it.” ~ Alicia Garza

Many organizations have sent emails regarding their stance on social equality and equity. This is the same. Repetition is important. It often takes repetition in different voices and formats for a message to be heard.

Black Lives Matter. Black Photographers Matter. We encourage you to support Black Lives.

We at CENTER are committed to fostering a more inclusive photographic arts and media community. We know this involves a lot of listening, learning, and co-creating. We are working to grow a more diverse organization and ensure that program opportunities are accessible to everyone. This is a long-term commitment, and we are focused on this critical social need. We know we can do more, and we will. We need more than the reallocation of resources; we need systems changed, and to that end, CENTER’s Team and Board attended a strategic planning session that addressed diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility in our field and organization.

This will take a tremendous amount of work at individual, organizational, and societal levels, so we started compiling resources to support this work. The Photographer’s Green Book is available to all organizations and individuals prompting good questions to move beyond the status quo (Thank you, PhotoLucida for sharing this resource). We would like to thank Diversify Photo for their notable #HireBlackPhotographers database. To all of the editors, curators, and others with collections and publications who are reading this, please use this database. Along with these resources, we invite you to contact us at CENTER for information about our alumni to help diversify your rosters.

Below, we have attached links to several educational and donation portals supporting Black Lives. Please read, donate, sign, and share the following:

• American Civil Liberties Union – daring to create a more perfect union – beyond one person, party, or side
• Arch City Defenders – a holistic legal advocacy organization that combats the criminalization of poverty and state violence in communities of color
• Black Lives Matter – a global organization whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build up local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes
• Black Visions Collective – a Black-led, Queer, and Trans centering organization whose mission is to organize powerful, connected Black communities and dismantle systems of violence
• The Bail Project – combating mass incarceration with a mission to end cash bail
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund – America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice
• National Resource List – a growing list providing access to trustworthy legal services, bail support, advice for protesting, international resources, community projects, and memorial funds
• Reclaim the Block – moving money from the police department into other areas of Minneapolis’ budget that promote community health and safety
• Resources for Supporting Black Lives – a list of educational resources, petitions to sign, funds, and charities to donate to
• Southern Poverty Law Center – working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people
• Support Black-Owned Businesses – 181 Black-owned businesses to shop online
• 10 Reasons You Should Support Black Lives – a guide showing why supporting Black Lives is so urgent and necessary and the easiest ways you can help people in your society

DONATE:
• Black Visions Collective – organizing powerful, connected Black communities and dismantling systems of violence
• Support Black Trans Lives – a list of Black Queer & Trans organizations that need our support

SIGN & SHARE:
• Ban the Use of Rubber Bullets – help end the useless violence as law enforcement officials are harming protestors in the name of crowd control
• The Hands Up Act – a petition that prohibits police officers from shooting unarmed citizens
• National Action Against Police Brutality – petition to prosecute police who murder unarmed individuals
• Pass the Black History Education Bill in NY – providing the opportunity for children to realize the greatness of their history and teaching them that their existence did not start and will not stop with slavery
• Where Are All The Black People At – a movement that strives to bring awareness to the lack of representation of Black Visual Artists’ absence in our valued art institutions, of massive proportions