Our Commitment to Action
To our family in harmony –
“Sometimes all it takes is a voice, one voice that becomes a hundred, then a thousand, unless it's silenced.” – Newsies
Our hearts ache with deep sadness, anger, and abhorrence as we are confronted by the disturbing reality that our nation is suffering from more than one deadly pandemic.
As we continue to struggle with the global impacts of COVID-19 on our family, community and world, we find ourselves, once again, bearing witness to the senseless, violent murders of innocent Black Americans brought about by an institutionalized system of racial injustice – a pandemic we have been overlooking for hundreds of years. More than sixty years after the Civil Rights Movement first began, we continue to live in a nation riven by racial inequity and blind ignorance.
Voices of Gotham would like to express our deepest sympathy to the families and communities of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and the far too many preceding them who were victims of unjustified violence. We sincerely hope that their pain and sorrow, and the peaceful protests that have rightfully ensued in our communities, compel America to confront its tortured history of racial oppression and that this moment becomes the impetus for our nation to address racism and social inequities in earnest. It is also imperative to thoroughly examine ourselves internally and identify specific ways in which implicit bias has prevented us from making the efforts and strides to be the organization we want to be.
Let us also respectfully remember and openly acknowledge the early history of the Barbershop Harmony Society and the experiences of Black lives that shaped the harmonies we sing. The barbershop style and tradition we know and love is directly attributable to African-American history and culture. However, for many years, Black voices were wrongfully prohibited from participating in and making the music they themselves started. We believe in Everyone In Harmony, and we believe Black Lives Matter. We also believe that these movements are only as effective as our individual and group efforts to educate ourselves on issues of racial injustice and to continue to actively cultivate a space for all voices to be heard.
To this end, with a shared sense of responsibility and resolve, Voices of Gotham and Sirens of Gotham commit to the following:
Initiate and engage in deeper conversations around equity and cultural appropriation in our chorus and the barbershop community
Look critically at implicit bias in our recruitment and audition process
Analyze how and where our budget is spent in an effort to diversify our contractor base and repertoire selection
Donate our time, actions, and music in outreach to local communities by reinvigorating our volunteer initiative, Gotham Gives
Publicly hold ourselves accountable by publishing the results of the investigations listed above and planned initiatives that result from them