Equity, Inclusion, Anti-racism
July 4, 2020
Dissonance is a nonprofit organization that cultivates community and conversation at the intersection of creativity and wellbeing. We work in and through the arts to create safe spaces; smash social stigmas; provide and promote supportive resources; and shape education and business practices related to mental health, addiction recovery, and holistic health and wellness.
While art can be an avenue for building awareness and cultural bridges, we know parts of the “arts world” are not equally accessible to all people due to systemic racism, oppression and neglect. We value and are committed to equity and inclusion of people who identify as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC, and others who have experienced exclusion, inequity and marginalization, including those who have mental health and substance use disorders.
Mental health and recovery grow out of and are strengthened by relationships and community—being well together. Collective wellbeing requires social justice. Dissonance cannot advocate for collective wellbeing if we do not also promote social justice. Since our founding in 2012, we have hosted events featuring the creative expressions and storytelling of many artists, intentionally promoting and empowering those from marginalized groups. These conversations and performances have helped foster empathy, acceptance, and healing experiences for the Dissonance community. However, it is not enough to be inclusive. To advance collective wellbeing, we must oppose racism and the discrimination that occurs at the many intersections of race, class, gender and sexuality.
While Dissonance has always advocated for and with those who are suffering, our reach has been far too limited—partly because we do not yet reflect the diverse community we aim to serve. Notably, our co-founders and board members, and most of our volunteers, have historically been white. We have work to do in expanding our organization at the board level, and that first requires making ourselves and our organization more welcoming and safe for all people. To that end, we are creating an internal action plan for examining and understanding our biases and where we may cause unintentional harm.
In the wake of profound hurt and trauma caused by the senseless murder of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer who was assisted by his co-workers, it is impossible to ignore the systemic and systematic oppression of BIPOC in our Twin Cities and throughout the nation. Black people are leading critical change within our society; Dissonance is committed to leveraging our white privilege to support them, learning how to make organizational decisions through a lens of anti-racism, and acting in our near and long-term future to be part of a transformational awakening. Now is the time to be relentless in that pursuit.
Today, we pledge to root our organizational mission in the values of social justice—namely: equity, inclusion and anti-racism—and to serve our community in clear, firm solidarity with those who are disenfranchised. We will make our wellness resources and artist support more culturally inclusive, and we will become more vocal about the systemic changes needed in the arts community, within wellness services, and beyond. Dissonance believes all people have the capacity to create and that all people deserve opportunities for wellness, connection, and healing. Please join us in our mission of building healthy community in and through the arts.