Dear Community,
We hope you are well.
We hope you are supported.
We hope you are taking time to mourn and rest, to rage and organize.
We hope you are visioning. Now is a time to activate our visions. As it was yesterday, and last year, and a decade ago. And as it will be for many tomorrows.
This month has us reflecting on 2012. That was the year 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida. A few months later, Dancing While Black was born. This is not a coincidence; our work is called into being by our times. That same year, several other like-minded efforts were formed by Black artistic and organizing circles: The Coalition for Diasporan Scholars Moving, Camille A. Brown’s The Gathering, Urban Bush Women’s Choreographic Center Initiative and a research group that became the Collegium for African and Diaspora Dance (which produces the bi-annual Dancing the African Diaspora Conference at Duke University). Angela’s Pulse saw all this work as part of a larger movement for change, one that we were eager to help shepherd together.
As the movement continues, we at Angela’s Pulse continue putting our energy toward the worlds we are envisioning; animating visions is a practice we believe artists must bring to movements for change. We are working for the long haul. Once the headlines have shifted and, for some, the urgency has waned, we and the communities we call home will continue the daily, unseen work that keeps us activated, connected and accountable.
We do this work as part of a vital ecosystem of artists, organizers and institutions committed not just to equity, but to liberation. Some have been developing their practice for generations, others have just arrived; our partnerships intentionally cross generation and geography. The folks we call comrades, like us, center the voices and visions of Black folks as well as POC, Indigenous and queer communities, and the many multiple identities that cross these intersections.
As we consider this historical moment, Angela’s Pulse wants to lift up BIPOC-centered work that has a clear analysis, activated values and strategic organizing practices. These vital initiatives and organizations straddle generations and animate visions rooted in history.
They are in it for the long haul. They help keep our team inspired, emergent and on point. We hope they will do the same for you.
In solidarity,
Paloma and the Angela’s Pulse team
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