Two Important Announcements from the GBACG Board

There are so many things happening in the world right now, in the midst of a global pandemic the systemic racism of the country are now more than ever laid bare. With these GBACG board felt not only the need, but the responsibility to speak to our wonderful membership about Black Lives Matter in addition to our 2020 events announcement.

On Our 2020 Events…

We want to thank members for taking the time to fill out our Membership Covid-19 Survey for this year’s events. When we sent it out, we were overwhelmed with your response, and your kind words and support. Despite the chaos around us, it just confirmed how wonderful our membership really is. 
 As a board, we reviewed the survey results and government advisories, and have made the choice to cancel all events this year, with the exception of “Return to Stow Lake” outdoor picnic in October, which will remain tentatively on. We are in the process of exploring options to make the Stow Lake event, a safe and social distancing friendly event. We will take into consideration all current, local, and state recommendations as well as our own discretion that this is a safe event for all our members. 
But all is not lost! We have already started brainstorming ideas to start hosting small workshops, salons, and lectures. The GBACG is dedicated to our community, and providing fun, educational activities even in these strange and troubling times. Again I would like to thank each and every person that participated in the survey, and thank you all for your continued support. 

If you would like to host or teach one of these events please reach out to workshops@gbacg.org with a brief proposal. 

On the Black Lives Matter Movement and Police Brutality…

In addition to the concern of the health of our GBACG community, we are also very concerned about ongoing atrocities against our nation’s African American and minority communities. The pandemic has helped expose more the racial inequalities that have existed in our society in employment and status, but also we are more clearly seeing the continual police brutality those communities face. GBACG has held a strict code of conduct to protect our membership, and witnessing the undue force used against African Americans daily and BLM protestors is something that GBACG will not condone. As a community with a love of history and expression we cannot ignore the history of our country, GBACG stands with the Black Lives Matters movement.

It takes more than just a statement to help create change towards a more equal future. As an educational 501(c)(3) Non-Profit GBACG is committed to continually learn, evolve, and participate in creating change. As a start we have decided to donate to three education and arts organizations from the Greater Bay Area and Sacramento that benefit our African American and minority communities, and are run by African Americans.

Celebration Arts, non-profit educational and performance organization providing performing arts training and opportunities to underserved communities, particularly African American residents in the Sacramento Metropolitan area.

African American Shakespeare Co, “was introduced in 1994 to open the realm of classic theatre to a diverse audience; and provide an opportunity and place for actors of color to hone their skills and talent in mastering some of the world’s greatest classical roles. We do this by producing work from the canon of classical theatre including Shakespeare and great American and world playwrights that is lively, entertaining and relevant.”

African American Art and Culture Complex (AAACC) is a community based non-profit 501(c)(3) arts and cultural organization, is to nurture and facilitate the empowerment of our community through Afro-centric artistic and cultural expression, mediums, education, and programming. 

As a guild founded from love of historical dress, it is imperative now to remember the history of our country, the world, and its systemic inequalities, and recognize its toll in order to move forward. We encourage our membership to take time to listen to those who are in pain and hurting right now. We also hope that in this time of less events that our membership will find new outlets to contribute to African American and minority run organizations and businesses to help us all move forward.

We are in this together, even though we are apart. 

With thanks,
— Your GBACG Board