NYCT's Patricia Swann and Kerry Mccarthy Write About the Power and Possibility of the ‘Black Panther’ Moment
Black Panther” is being hailed as a watershed moment in cultural history for African Americans, and it’s easy to see why. It’s more than just a movie; it’s a celebration of black excellence. Entire communities have rallied around the #BlackPantherChallenge to make sure young people have the opportunity to see themselves and their potential on the big screen.
But to truly make the most of the Black Panther moment, it can’t just come and go with the churn of the box office.
We need to use this conversation to lift up diverse programming across the arts, and to show a new generation of diverse young people from all backgrounds that careers in the arts and entertainment are possible.
For too long, a lack of positive representation in mainstream media and underinvestment in cultural institutions of color have worked in tandem to reduce the access to diverse role models in the arts, and to the arts more generally, for kids of color.
The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag brought renewed national awareness to this issue in 2015, but Hollywood is just the glittery tip of race equity in the arts.
While New York City’s workforce is 33% white, its arts workforce is twice that, at 62%.
That disparity is even greater within senior leadership: a database that tracks hires in theater found that of 21 artistic director positions open across the nation, just two of the outgoing directors were people of color, and both were men. Another study of U.S. museums found that 84% of leadership positions are held by white non-Hispanic employees.
This matters. Young people need to be able to see themselves in role models to envision possibilities for their own careers. So what’s to be done?
First, we must create a better pipeline for diversity in the arts, at every level...