BLACK LIVES MATTER

Brite Winter’s purpose has always been to bring joy to Cleveland through music and the arts while celebrating our community's winter season.

As communities across the United States have called out for justice in the wake of the senseless deaths of Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philandro Castile, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and other Black Americans, we have reflected on our organization and its responsibility as a non-profit in responding to racial injustices that have existed for centuries and have been laid bare. While Brite Winter was not founded with a mission around social justice, it has become very clear that social and racial justice issues pervade all aspects of life — police violence toward Black Americans, health disparities, and the arts. From the locations where artists of color perform and display work, to compensation, to the ability to promote their art freely, racism makes life more difficult for BIPOC creatives. We need to do better.

Brite Winter has worked to improve equity and inclusiveness in its contribution to the arts in Cleveland and within our own organization over the years, but we know we can do more. We must do more. We will use our voice and our actions to show our solidarity with our Black community. We believe that Black Lives Matter. We will continue to strengthen our board diversity, work to embrace anti-racist organizational culture and practices, and focus on bringing all Clevelanders together in joy through the arts.