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Hey, John Biewen here. Scene on Radio is distributed by @PRX. I stand with the current and former BIPOC employees there who’ve told of racist treatment in the organization, and with *everyone* at PRX who’s called for responses to those allegations as well as action to… 1/
change the organization’s culture. (This statement by PRX staff includes links to the original communications that brought the situation to light: http://bit.ly/2Q6UKLi ) More… 2/
The challenge PRX faces is common across the predominantly-white arts and non-profit world—including public radio, which is having its own overdue reckoning, and including our own organization, the Center for Documentary Studies, 3/
another historically-white and still predominantly white and white-led non-profit institution. In the past few years, CDS and its leadership have been called to account like never before by our BIPOC colleagues who are justly demanding change. 4/
See, it's one thing to produce and support programming that sheds light on the history of white supremacy and how it works in society today, as we have tried to do over several seasons on Scene on Radio, and as CDS does in many of its other programs. 5/
By the way, PRX leadership took on distribution of Scene on Radio, and provided financial support for a time, precisely because of our mission-driven work as exemplified by our Seeing White series.
But. It’s something else entirely—and in fact it’s harder— 6/
But. It’s something else entirely—and in fact it’s harder— 6/
to do the internal work: to identify, address, and dismantle institutional practices in hiring, promotion, workplace culture, the allocation of resources, etc. 7/
Addressing our own white-dominated history and culture has become an important and increasingly urgent part of our week-to-week work at CDS. I say that with zero self-congratulation. It’s way overdue. 8/
PRX has announced steps toward its own organization-wide effort to change its culture: https://bit.ly/34f0MBZ . Good. Time’s up. We all need to be about working together to create richly diverse, safe, antiracist institutions where everyone can thrive. 9/9
