Race & Inclusiveness follow up
Kevin Griffin Moreno
Thanks to everyone who participated at last week's follow-up to the
Create Baltimore Race & Inclusiveness conversation. Apologies to
those of you on multiple lists who receive this more than once.
We had a great crowd: 27 people representing various facets of our
area's arts, tech, culture, community organizing, and nonprofit
sectors. The discussion was lively, informative, and
thought-provoking, and participants seemed eager for it to continue on
an ongoing basis.
I'm working on drafting more comprehensive notes, so if you were there
last Monday and would like to share your notes, ideas, questions, or
other feedback, please send them my way this week and I'll be sure to
include them.
In the meantime, here are some of the main takeaways from our
conversation. Forgive the wordiness of the bullet points; I'm trying
to collapse a lot of information into single sentences.
There was consensus that:
- There are many different types of diversity;
- The dynamics of race are extremely important in Baltimore, but are
too often not talked about;
- Baltimore's arts/culture/tech landscape - including established
institutions as well as emerging, DIY efforts - tend not to reflect
the diverse makeup of our community;
- This does not mean that there is any lack of art, culture, or ideas
being created by people of color in Baltimore;
- Individuals, institutions, and the community at large can benefit
from a more inclusive approach to generating ideas, collaborating on
initiatives and events, and co-creating projects, as well as engaging
new audiences/supporters;
- If an organization wants to be more inclusive, it must be
intentional - i.e., ask itself why it wants to do diversify, what sort
of diversity it seeks, how it will benefit, and what it risks by doing
so;
- Being committed to inclusiveness involves a willingness to step out
of one's comfort zone, e.g. going to a type of event or a part of town
where one might not usually go;
- A big reason that people don't step out of their comfort zones is
because they're unaware of events, performances, and opportunities
outside their social sphere;
- Communication through in-person and online social networks offers an
effective way of spreading the word about events, performances, and
other opportunities;
- The Station North Arts District is considered a "neutral space"
where artists, creators, and consumers of different backgrounds can
meet and collaborate.
Attendees also expressed a desire to continue this conversation,
possibly through a regular roundtable series hosted by Greater
Baltimore Cultural Alliance, in cooperation with Baltimore Community
Foundation and/or others. Some participants highlighted interesting
events and projects, which I will list in the next e-mail.
Feel free to add to, revise, or challenge any of these points if they
don't reflect your memory of the conversation. Again, if you could
send me your notes from the conversation, that would be helpful.
Cheers,
Kevin Griffin Moreno