Paul James Frantz Songbook Redux Now Available!
Please email misssmithpresents@gmail.com to inquire about purchase.
Updated Black Lives Matter Statement from Lorenzo Ramsey
Black Lives Matter. As a community of artists and as a studio, we say these words without hesitation or equivocation. We see you. We stand with you. We value you.
The events of the last few years have been trying for us as humans and as artists. COVID-19 isolated us in our homes while laying bare America’s unhealed wounds. As our nation gradually recovers from the devastating effects of the pandemic, some of us face another unyielding existential threat: racism. Each of us have heard the news about unarmed Black Americans killed by police on the street, while jogging, and in the privacy of their own homes. Black Americans continue to experience the trauma of generational terrorism: slavery, convict-leasing, lynchings, Jim Crow, the war on drugs, over-policing, and mass incarceration. The protests we have seen around the nation are a result of this reality as well as recent events.
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are just a few examples of racism and police brutality. The police officers who murdered these citizens are not “a few bad apples”; they are emblematic of pervasive and systemic racism. A single officer can protect one community while terrorizing another. Protests are a necessary and inevitable response to suffering and peril. In response, we have seen peaceful protests, community organizing, rioting, and looting. Unfortunately, white supremacists, anarchists, and other opportunists have co-opted many of these protests, seeking to exploit the pain of a community to further their own agendas.
Pain is often a defining characteristic of art. To be Black in this country is to be in a constant state of pain where the value of your being is constantly in question. In truth, Black people are an essential and exquisite piece of the tapestry that is America. As a community of artists, we support Black people. This studio opposes racism in all its forms and commits to being a safe space for healing and artistic excellence. We hear you. We appreciate you. We love you.
Black Lives Matter.
Visit the BLM Coalition Town Hall Series 2020–2021 for videos on topics such as racism in the gay community, the Black singer experience, and dismantling white supremacy.