Until We’re All Free.
We can’t breathe. We still can’t breathe.
In some ways this moment is unprecedented; in the worst ways, it’s business as usual. We are again watching our country orient itself to impossible grief and rage, many of our deepest fears realized all over again, capsized by new waves of helplessness and hopelessness. In the street and across digital platforms, in all 50 states and transnationally, Black folks and our community of struggle are taking deep breaths for those who cannot.
Original Art by Sarah Wasko
At GRP, we mourn and decry the murders of all black people at the hands of police and the violence of the police and carceral state. We add our voices to the calls for justice for George Floyd, and amplify the cries for our sister Breonna Taylor and Trans sibling Tony McDade, devastated by the murders of black women and trans people by police with impunity. The insidious and lethal discrimination Black Americans suffer under law enforcement is a national emergency, and our work building liberatory futures must begin with addressing the systemic injustices that block our path forward.
Girls Rock Philly stands with protestors and beloved community. We are aware that structural inequality and implicit bias are present within our organization; our board and staff continue to reflect on and address how systemic racism shows up in GRP as we challenge ourselves to find a means to do better. This work is ongoing and difficult, but necessary. We cannot ask of our community what we will not do ourselves.
The funding that we receive from the city has afforded us to empower and enrich the lives of Philly’s young people; we can’t do our work in good conscience without addressing the harm–– overt or covert–– our communities’ are suffering in this moment at the hands of the government, at any level. Taking down the Rizzo statue is not enough. A task force is not enough.
Original Artwork by Kah Yangni
We, along with our community of artists, organizers, educators and essential workers demand that Mayor Kenny Defund the PPD; allocating ZERO budget increases to the Philadelphia Police Department, and implementing a divestment strategy, cutting the police budget by 15% this year; the city must protect black communities by protecting essential services and the arts. We demand that the city address the decades long history of looting black wealth in this city, and make the rich pay their fair share of taxes. We demand action to explicitly address, root out and transform the long and toxic history of white supremacy in Philadelphia. We implore the mayor and city officials to listen specifically to the women— Black and non-black Council Members of color, leading the efforts to provide essential support and relief to the Black community.
The city budget is a moral document; it is an expression of the values of our city determined by its officials, and the numbers don’t lie; COVID-19 is only one of the pandemics shutting our city down. We demand a just recovery that doesn't leave us behind; ours are the services that reduce violence and foster resiliency in our neighborhoods–– an interconnected web of community care and support. In addition to naming white supremacy as a public health crisis, we demand our city:
-Implement an ongoing divestment strategy from the Philadelphia Police Department;
This strategy MUST begin with zero increase to the PPD police budget in 2021 and a 15% overall budget decrease to reinvest in essential services and the arts in Philadelphia.
-Preserve, protect and invest in the Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF).
A uniquely equitable funding source for arts organizations in Philadelphia, the PCF is immune to political whims and is peer reviewed, with funding is specifically weighted to support small organizations; nearly 50% of orgs that receive resources from the fund have an annual operating budget of >$150,000. Small arts organizations need to be protected from the precarity of political whims.
- Access to arts education for all Philadelphia Youth,
Including those with disabilities, English Language learners, those living in poverty, black students and students of color, students in foster care, and students experiencing homelessness.
Whether there is time in the allocated council meetings or not–– we will be heard. We deserve equity, accountability, and sustainability–– there is no city without services, and there is no path forward without transforming the violence that kills our siblings. GRP staff, board and community are raising resources, taking direct action, supporting mutual aid, testifying to the value of our work, amplifying protestors and protectors, holding space for our grief and continuing to offer programming to tap our collective creativity, vital to sustaining this movement.
Black Lives Matter when Black health, Black wealth, Black Dignity, Black education, Black creativity and Black JOY matter– we bear witness to and align ourselves with the radical energy of this moment, with music as our medium to build the world we know is possible.
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.
In solidarity,
Sam & GRP