AAM 2016 | A Statement from the Gathering

M&R 2016 Gathering attendees,

The Museums and Race Steering Committee would like to apologize for the inconvenience and emotional injuries that were caused during the registration process and session conversations. We are very sorry. Our goal in organizing the Gathering was to provide a space for authentic engagement around museums and race, which also grappled with topics like power, privilege, diversity and inclusion. According to some of the feedback that we received it is clear to this committee that we fell short of that goal. We hope that this apology serves as a step towards reconciliation to those who were injured and/or inconvenienced during this event.

We have already started to meet as a group to address these hard lessons and we know and understand that we cannot do this alone. Our hope is that we can involve more people in the planning and participation of next year’s gathering so that we can work together in developing a safe space for dialogue, coalition building and best practices that will meet everyone’s needs surrounding these important issues. We plan to use our website and our social media (Twitter and Facebook) to act as portals of interaction so that individuals can work in partnership around these important matters in our field.

For those who have not had an opportunity to share their feedback on the survey concerning the Gathering here is the link.

The survey will close Friday June 24, 2016.

We would also like to acknowledge those who came from near and far just to participate and Museums and Race. We appreciate the efforts you made to attend and we are committed to working with you on dismantling systemic racism in the museum field.

Sincerely,

The Museums and Race Steering Committee

V. Gina Díaz

Omar Eaton-Martínez

Joanne Jones-Rizzi

Margaret Kadoyama