"Justice is what love looks like in public."
Dr. Cornel West
June 5, 2020

The Fenway Alliance stands in solidarity and allied with all who are working courageously for racial justice and the dismantling of structural, systemic racism.  We stand by, with, and for you.  

As an academic and cultural membership organization, we support and vow to assist our 21-members’ sincere, vigorous, and sustained actions towards shifting institutional cultures to become more equitable, safe, representative of, and welcoming to all. We pledge to also assist our members’ urgently necessary and critical actions to promote diverse voices and leadership that represent those previously excluded.  

We pledge to use our platform and long-term advocacy experience to advance federal and state legislation such as that proposed by State Representative Ayanna Pressley on police reforms. We also pledge to amplify voices of members of our Fenway community to address racial inequity on the local level, and work with Mayor Walsh and the City of Boston to create greater racial equality in Boston.

In our upcoming newsletters, Facebook and Instagram pages, we at the Fenway Alliance will dedicate ourselves to giving space to voices of artists of color and organizations, so many of whom have given to us so generously over the years--challenging our thinking and transforming our events. These individuals and organizations contribute mightily toward making Opening Our Doors, TEDxFenway, and Fenway Porchfest excellent, vibrant, and joy-filled. We salute them and strive to amplify their culture-changing creativity.

The Fenway Alliance team seeks to broaden our understanding of the complex issues of systemic racism. We recognize we stand to grow in knowledge, and are eager to expand our understanding of Black experiences, art, and ideas. We encourage all of our members, partners, and community to join us in in this journey.  

Respectfully,

Kelly Brilliant, Genevieve Day, and Sarah Rathje
SUGGESTED ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT
The Black Visions Collective
"As an organization dedicated to Black liberation and to collective liberation, we need a radical and ongoing investment in our own healing. By claiming love for our own bodies, our own psyches, our own experiences, and by building the resources we need to integrate healing justice into all that we do, we are insisting on conditions that can carry us towards the next generation of work, and towards a deeper place of freedom for all of us."
The Loveland Foundation
" Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. Our resources and initiatives are collaborative and they prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing. We are becoming the ones we’ve been waiting for."

The Therapy Fund:
"With the barriers affecting access to treatment by members of diverse ethnic and racial groups, Loveland Therapy Fund provides financial assistance to Black women and girls nationally seeking therapy."
Campaign Zero
"Funds donated to Campaign Zero support the analysis of policing practices across the country, research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide."
The Okra Project
The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever we can reach them. Based on individual donations, The Okra Project pays Black Trans chefs to go into the homes of Black Trans people to cook them a healthy and home-cooked meal at absolutely no cost to our Black TGNC siblings. For those Black Trans folks currently experiencing homeless or whose homes cannot support our chef’s cooking, The Okra Project has partnered with institutions like Osborne Association and other community spaces to deliver foods.
The Innocence Project
" The Innocence Project , founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. The Innocence Project's mission is to free the staggering number of innocent people who remain incarcerated, and to bring reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment."
The ACLU
" The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union — beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees."
SUGGESTED RESOURCES
Black Artist Space
Black Artist Space is a virtual art gallery hosted on Instagram featuring visual art by Black artists. Above are works currently on display.

Left: "Contemplative" by Ren Thomas
Center: "Squad Goals" by Lo Harris
Right: "Malcom X" by Letty
Reading Materials


A list of Black-owned booksellers can be found here .
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Support Black-Owned Businesses
  • Comprehensive lists of Black-owned makeup brands, skincare/personal brands, hair brands, and fashion brands can be found here and here
  • Lists of Black-owned restaurants in the Greater Boston Area can be found here and here
  • A list of Black-owned small businesses you can support from anywhere can be found here
  • A list of 30 Black female-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs to support can be found here
Sign Petitions
Support for Artists
The Radical Imagination for Racial Justice (RIRJ) Program invites Boston-based artists of color (ages 14+) to imagine a racially just Boston and co-create justice with their communities. Grants will be awarded in amounts of $1,000, $25,000, and $40,000. The application portal is open now through June 8. General information sessions can be found here.
www.fenwayculture.org
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