BAC: Who?

Effective and successful social justice movements aspire to be much more than their component parts. This section briefly introduces the BAC and its history, structural organization and provides the guiding mission of the collective.

Experiencing BlackOut

Hands clappin. Feet gliding. Hearts beating. Pulses racing. Bodies moving to rhythms that are the cadence of sounds so deeply rooted in human emotion that they echo like thunder; the rapid release of energy so powerful that it has the ability to simultaneously awe and frighten its spectators. This could be anywhere, any place where the human need for freedom colludes and is embraced. This is a sanctuary where everyone is welcome to meditate at the altars of their wisdom and bring themselves and each other to a critical consciousness of who they really are. This is kind of kind of space members of the BLACKOUT ARTS COLLECTIVE, create for the communities in which they organize.

BLACKOUT performers, bring a special kaleidoscopic twist to the notions of gender, race, class and identity politics. Together, they use spoken word, music and dramatic performance to occupy the most dangerous spaces in their audience's imagination, challenge their assumptions and offer new models of resistance and ways of envisioning the freedom.

Mission Statement

“Blackout Arts Collective (BAC) is a grassroots coalition of artists, activists and educators working to empower communities of color through the arts. We use the tools of culture and education to raise awareness and catalyze action around the critical issues that impact our communities. We believe in the power of the creative process to transform lives, mobilize communities, and build a more just society. BAC is a national organization that operates through local action. In collaboration with other groups and campaigns that stand for justice, we continue to develop a network of artists and activists of color to foster positive social change.”

History

Blackout Arts Collective began in 1997 in an effort to create a space in which Asian, Black, and Latino artists could cultivate, develop and perform socially and politically empowering work with the support of and by members of their own communities. Yet it was only after hundreds of people were turned away at the first few events organized by the Collective that BAC realizes how much of a need existed for the space it had created. Since then BAC has instituted a monthly showcase that remains one of its central activities: the showcase regularly draws between 200-300 people and, and serves as a tested way to recruit new artists, activists and organizers from our communities.

In 1998, members of the Collective began performing and conducting Interactive Youth Workshops with NYC Youth in public schools, and community-based organizations. Less than a year later, a chapter was born in Boston and members there began working with young people at a local juvenile detention center. Another chapter began meeting in Philadelphia in spring 2001 to plan its own community activism and begin creative arts showcases under the Blackout banner.

It was the work of the Boston chapter within the criminal justice system that led to the impetus for Lyrics on Lockdown (LOL), our first national tour in 2001, which was supported by the Open Society Institute. LOL marked the beginning of a campaign to raise awareness and build a national network to work against the over-incarceration of the prison industrial complex. During the tour, BAC members had the opportunity to meet and work with artists and activists from cities as widespread as Houston, Portland, New Orleans, and Oakland, many of whom expressed an interest in joining the movement, and some of whom have since organized Blackout chapters within their own communities. The LOL Campaign has continued in expanded form in subsequent years.

With the assistance of a thorough strategic planning process that took place mainly in 2003, BAC now has the opportunity to grow from a volunteer organization which began working only within New York City, to a grassroots movement providing locally-based programs in communities around the country. This expansion of this effort will require the building of an infrastructure that will facilitate the regular exchange of vital information and ideas between activists nationwide; help to create a national network which is able to more effectively launch impactful advocacy campaigns; and empower artists to promote and distribute their cultural and artistic products independent of the corporate entities that currently possess disproportionate control over access to the arts and entertainment industries.

The planning process was conducted through the participation of a committee chaired by Taij K. Motelall, which included Rafiq R. Kalam Id-Din, Ella Turene, Nuri Chandler Smith, Nigel Greaves, Karla Zarate Ramirez, Bryonn Bain, George Martinez, Reisha Phills, Keryn Rose, and Keisha Green. The committee met in person and through conference call throughout 2003 and into early 2004; work was also done in between meetings.

Co-Founders TAIJ MOTEELALL, BRYONN BAIN, REISHA PHILLS, GEORGE MARTINEZ

Members

BAC consists of eight chapters nationwide based in the cities of New York, Boston, New Haven, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Houston, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Each chapter exists as a collection that operates based on the needs of their community. In New York, the collective in general is about two-thirds artists but it is open to anyone who is interested in using art as a tool for promoting community political activism. However, BAC has a lot of people in who are not artists but who love the arts as means for organizing around social justice issues. For example, the New York chapter is also comprised of educators, who facilitate workshops with young people whenever BAC holds performances and events. In addition to the artists, art appreciators, and educators, Piper describes some of BAC other members as “straight up organizers.” She continues to describe BAC membership as having people from “many different walks of life who bring a lot of different things to the collective.”

Structure

Blackout Arts Collective- New York holds meetings on a weekly basis. Using a collective model, BAC-NY gathers around a large conference table where they go down a list of all their different projects and initiatives. The work is delegated into committees, which are led by committee chairs. Piper explains that, “It wasn’t until recently that we decided to have staff. This was because we had reached the point where the organization had grown so big that it was necessary for us to have staff to coordinate all the different activities.” Piper Anderson is currently serving her fourth year as the National Program Director of Blackout Arts Collective.