Racial Justice Dance Resources

Black People Have the Right to Be Free – a community message from Luna Dance

As an organization we continue to reflect deeply about how we enact our mission within the larger socio-political context of systemic oppressions and inequity. In this space you’ll see rotating written reflections from Luna’s board members, who together have taken on the charge of unpacking what equity means to our organization, and from Luna’s leaders and teaching artists, who seek to bring creativity, community and equity to each child we teach, in each class we teach.

Educating is a vocation rooted in hopefulness. As teachers we believe that learning is possible, that nothing can keep an open mind from seeking after knowledge and finding a way to know.

– bell hooks

Dear Luna Community,

August 2, 2020, four black girls ages 6-17 years are forced to lie face-down on a sidewalk at gunpoint. I first read about this in USA Today, where the story was buried in the middle of the newspaper. Why is this not front-page news? Do we care so little about black and brown children? Six months later, on January 29, 2021, a 9-year old black girl is pepper-sprayed and handcuffed. As the leader of an arts organization dedicated to children’s freedom through the art of dance, it is a gut-punch to see black girls stripped of their liberation. What is especially heart-breaking is that I know there are many more stories like this that do not make the news cycle.

As artists and educators, can we truly change this narrative for black children? At a recent board retreat, Luna board member and dance educator, Nia Womack-Freeman asked:

A dance organization like Luna that values and states that it wants children to be free, beckons me to ask how do we support children’s freedom when outside factors like institutionalized racism in schools, community policing, inequitable access to healthy living, poor healthcare, etc. are directly restricting that child’s freedom?

The structures and systems of racism that public schools are built on are forcing me to question if Luna is truly making an impact. Luna’s teaching artists taught at one school that required their students to pass through the hallways with hands clasped behind their backs (like the perp walk) so they would not touch each other. Children moved freely and fully embodied for one hour, then left the dance class with their bodies enclosed. As I reflect on this, it is important to note that the architects of many California schools also designed industrial prison facilities.

As Luna fulfills our Theory of Change while contemplating Nia’s question, we recognize our responsibility. We know that . . .

We must be vigilant and reflect on our discomfort as we acknowledge our biases and assumptions
We must continue to learn and unlearn
We must work with others committed to structural and systemic change
We must cede space to BIPOC dance education leaders to create the change they want to see

We invite you to act with us to build a just society where black girls can experience freedom inside and outside of the dance classroom. As we investigate these resources shared by Luna’s board of directors and faculty, we humbly share them with you below.

Moving Together for Change,

Nancy Ng, Executive Director of Creativity & Policy