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Dear UFVA members,
We are finishing the final plans for our first all-virtual conference. As we plan for our event that fosters creativity and community, we feel compelled to pause to acknowledge the series of events that have caused disharmony and pain historically and currently in our country. Endemic racism echoes through every aspect of our institutions and social structures. Some of you may have experienced this directly and personally in your lives and in your communities. Still reeling first from COVID-19, we now face another trauma from witnessing the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police. The loss of life of unarmed Black citizens from Trayvon Martin nearly a decade ago to the recent murders of Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, continue to cause pain that echoes throughout our social fabric. This is not a new story. These events are affecting our members and the broader creative community directly and indirectly. We are feeling angry, hurt and confused.
We condemn the continual systemic oppression that brutalizes members of our Black community.We cannot voice our anger and disdain for this more strongly. We stand in support of change that must occur to end systemic and institutionalized racism.
As passionate creators of all kinds of media, we cannot sit idly by and watch in horror at the loss and pain any member of our community experiences. It is of paramount importance that we voice not just our anger and pain, but our willingness to create social change much of which is motivated and recorded on our screens and in our stories. While we cannot cure all social ills, we can work together for understanding and change, remembering that we cannot change what we do not see and acknowledge. We hope that our coming together in July will allow us to continue to inspire community, understanding, and awareness in one another.
The UFVA Board |
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