What is your mission, and what about the creative industry are you hoping to change?

The mission of Pay It Back UK is to normalise recurring donations to Black and marginalised communities, prioritising Black lives first. The artwork used on social media is donated by non-Black artists, with the idea being that they contribute their time and skills without gaining opportunities or clout. We find that writing briefs, which talk about anti-racist work with white artists, is a really good way to share research and keep us accountable together.

Tell us a bit about the background to the organisation, and what led you to this point.

The organisation was created six months after the Black Lives Matter protests, that were sparked after the murder of George Floyd and countless other Black lives lost to worldwide racist systems. Black activists and educators made us aware of the ways in which white people maintain racist systems, even and especially when they believe themselves to be ‘nice’ white people. “Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” (Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., 16 April 1963)

As white people ourselves, we have had to wake up to the fact that we need to remain active even when it appears disruptive and hold each other accountable even when, and especially when, it would be easier not to. Throughout the process we tell ourselves “confronting racism is not about the needs and feelings of white people” – Ijeoma Olou.

Source: Itsnicethat.com

Powered by NewsAPI.org