The Juneau Arts and Humanities Council in all matters related to employees, board members, committee and task force members, and volunteers is guided by a set of principles and goals for our organization and our community. With this Equity Statement, the JAHC reaffirms our commitment to racial equity, which includes the elimination of policies, practices, attitudes and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by race. We commit to working to increase arts opportunities for ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American) artists, arts organizations, children, and adults.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & AFFIRMATIONS
All peoples, their cultures, and their art contribute to the meaning and understanding of our humanity and should be honored and celebrated.
In the United States, there are systems of power that grant privilege and access unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously addressed and changed.
Artists, their art, their process, and the organizations they create and support play a unique role in witnessing, demonstrating, and providing inspiration to resolve societal inequity and injustice.
We, the Board of Trustees and the staff of the Council, must all hold ourselves accountable, because acknowledging and challenging our inequities and working in partnership is how we will make change happen.
MODELING THROUGH ACTION
To provide informed, authentic leadership for racial equity, we strive to…
Pursue cultural consciousness throughout our organization through substantive learning and formal, transparent policies.
Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and report organization progress.
Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, and advisory bodies.
Commit time and resources to expand support of more diverse local arts organizations. Commit time and resources to expand the diversity of our programing.
CULTURAL EQUITY VS RACIAL EQUITY
The JAHC recognizes that our society is challenged to overcome a complex web of inequities – racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and ableism among them. All of these forms of discrimination are powerful drivers of unequal individual and group outcomes. However, it is our belief that ALAANA individuals whose identities intersect with those of other “minority” social statuses often experience compounded mistreatment that is amplified by the interaction of race.
We support the work being undertaken to dismantle the array of social and economic injustices; however, The JAHC has determined that we must focus our efforts to heighten our effectiveness. We move forward from our assessment that racism is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and that meaningful progress on advancing racial equity will have significant positive impact on challenging other discrimination-based injustices. Therefore, our current priority is working against racism by working toward racial equity in arts philanthropy.
More Information and Resources to get started:
Americans for the Arts: Statement on Cultural Equity
Grantmakers in the Arts: Racial Equity in Arts Philanthrop
Contact our lawmakers:
Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, Don Young, Sara Hannan, Jesse Kiehl, Andy Story, City and Borough of Juneau Assembly.