JACCC Stands in Solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter & #HateIsAVirus

Dear JACCC Family & Community,  

The Japanese American Community & Cultural Center (JACCC) wholeheartedly stands with our Black community members and the activists who are protesting the senseless deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and many others. Black lives matter and deserve justice. We stand in solidarity with activism, free speech, and the right to assemble and protest. 

 JACCC and our Little Tokyo community understand that our history and struggles are interconnected, despite ongoing attempts to put Asian American and Black communities in opposition. Little Tokyo is a historic Japantown and an historically inclusive community of color: our home sits on land that was owned by Biddy Mason, home to the Azusa Street Mission, and part of Bronzeville during World War II. We recognize that Black activism in the Civil Rights movement paved the way for racial justice and immigrant rights for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). Yet there is still much work to be done in fighting anti-Blackness within our AAPI communities.

With this layered perspective, JACCC is committed to taking actions against oppression, racism, and police brutality, and standing in solidarity with the Black community—our neighbors, friends, and family:

1. We urge members of our community to take action, make your voice heard, and donate to organizations at the forefront of this work. In addition, we urge all of our communities to register to vote and participate in the Census 2020. We are urging the City Council to revise the proposed Mayor’s budget and redistribute funds towards essential city services, such as housing, unemployment, and the arts. 
2. We will continue to advocate for arts equity and urge you to support Black-led arts and cultural organizations in Los Angeles. Black arts and culture are vital to community expression and the intersections of activism, imagination, community history, healing, and the continued resilience of Black communities. Please click here or scroll below for a list of such organizations. 
3. We will continue to provide inclusive, accessible arts and cultural programs that celebrate our historical and political intersections with Black communities and other communities of color. We also invite the Japanese American and the broader AAPI communities to join us for internal community dialogues to educate ourselves on history and meaningful action. 
4. We will continue to support Little Tokyo’s small and legacy businesses, including those recently damaged, which survived incarceration during WWII and continue to struggle through the COVID-19 crisis. We also urge you to support small businesses assistance programs in Little Tokyo. 

In the coming days, weeks, months, and years ahead, we honor that the Black community, including our mixed Black Japanese American and AAPI community members, will need to continue to process, protest, grieve, express, and heal. We will continue to support the movement towards change and a world that values Black life, as well as the lives of people of color, indigenous, biracial, and LGBTQ communities.

Please take care as we stand strong together.

Sincerely,

Patricia M. Wyatt
President & CEO

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Founded in 1971, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) is one of the largest ethnic arts and cultural centers of its kind in the United States. A hub for Japanese and Japanese American arts and culture and a community gathering place for the diverse voices it inspires – Japanese American Cultural & Community Center connects traditional and contemporary; community participants and creative professionals; Southern California and the world beyond.

Contact

General Inquiries
info@jaccc.org

Resources

Please consider supporting these Black-led and -centered galleries and arts & cultural organizations in Los Angeles. Here is a small, incomplete list of such organizations, including many of our community partners:

• African American Cultural Center, Los Angeles
• Art + Practice
• Artfully Spaced Gallery
• Band of Vices
• Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
• California African American Museum
• California Jazz & Blues Museum
• Crenshaw Dairy Mart
• Dominique Gallery
• Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center
• Galerie Lakaye
• Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA)
• John R. Martin Gallery
• KAOS Network
• LA Commons
• LA Poverty Department and Skid Row History Museum and Archive
• Le Ballet Dembaya
• Lula Washington Dance Theatre
• M. Hanks Gallery
• Nous Tous
• Quotidian
• Reparations Club
• Residency
• Robey Theatre Company
• SON. Studio
• Superposition
• The People’s Concern’s Studio 526
• The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (MCLM)
• The Museum of African American Art (MAAA)
• The Underground Museum
• The World Stage
• Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation of Los Angeles
• Watts Towers Art Center
• William Grant Still Arts Center

Last updated: June 23, 2020

Don’t see a gallery/organization listed? Let us know!