George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Ahmaud Arbery, and Chantel Moore have been added to an intolerable list of lives stolen by anti-Black racism and settler-colonialism. The Cinema Studies Institute expresses grief and anger over these events as well as the violence of structural inequities that sustain a culture of white supremacy. These issues do not stop at the edges of campus or the thresholds of the Institute and we affirm our commitment to support and engage in the urgent work of making change and fostering justice. We will do so by redoubling our efforts to make anti-racist discourses and the counter-archive of anti-racist work more central to the practices of studying cinematic media. The Institute understands that such statements are insufficient if they are not backed by substantial, long-term commitments to institutional and curricular change. We will continue to engage in this necessary process through consultation, education, reflection, and action. Black lives matter.
We will use this space to update our efforts.
Here are some resources and organizations in support of these efforts: