On Friday, Terence Crutcher was gunned down by police in Tulsa. Then yesterday, police in Charlotte shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott. They are just the latest in a terrible and seemingly unending string of unarmed black Americans who have been killed by police in this country.
Until now, Fractured Atlas has been publicly silent on this issue. There are many reasons for that, but mostly we were afraid of being trite. If bodies in the streets aren’t persuasive, then what difference could a statement by us make? There has been beautiful and compelling art, writing, analysis, discussion, imagery that defines, describes, and proposes solutions for the problem. Yet, there are still people who don’t think racism and/or police brutality are real issues.
Our silence, however, doesn’t mean we haven’t been paying attention, or that we haven’t been grieving along with so many others. Fractured Atlas is committed to fighting systemic racism and other forms of oppression. This struggle reflects our values, and is an essential part of our mission to eliminate practical barriers to artistic expression.
In that spirit, we are speaking out, later than we should have, to state unequivocally that Black Lives Matter.
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