‘Decolonize This Place’ Protesters Disrupt Brooklyn Museum, Condemn ‘Imperial Plunder’
http://gothamist.com/2018/04/30/brooklyn_museum_protest.php#photo-1
Growing Coalition Calls Brooklyn Museum “Out of Touch” and Demands Decolonization Commission
My Blog Post: https://artmsgladys.wordpress.com/2018/05/06/decolonize-this-place-brooklyn-museum-april-29-2018/
The Decolonization Commission, which will include local stakeholders, would explore:
1) Territorial Acknowledgement of Indigenous land occupied by its buildings and giving material effect to such an acknowledgment in curatorial practices, programming, exhibitions, and day-to-day operations.
2) The deep diversification of curatorial staff and executive leadership whereby the lived experience of oppressions — including patriarchy, white supremacy, and poverty — are valued and factored in.
3) A decolonial inventory of colonial-era objects of both African and Indigenous people with a view to settling the long-pursued claims of reparations and repatriation.
4) An upgrade of working conditions and pay of ground staff — who are disproportionately employees of color — in security, food service, and janitorial divisions.
5) The replacement of Board president David Berliner and other trustees who are real estate tycoons with a broad cross-section of artists and community organizers.
6) The undertaking of a de-gentrification initiative to examine and mitigate the museum’s role in boosting land value and rents in the borough.
7) An institutional commitment to address the issues raised by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in recognition of the debate among Brooklynites about the central role played by segments of the borough’s population in the settler movement in Palestine.
Initiated by:
And supported by:
Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network (BAN)
Flower Lovers Against Corruption (FLAC)
Movement to Protect the People (MTOPP)
Mi Casa No Es Su Casa: Illumination Against Gentrification
Take Back The Bronx
W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy)
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Labor for Palestine
If you and/or your organization would like to endorse this call to the Brooklyn Museum, please write us at decolonizethisplace@gmail.com.
