REFRAMING RACIAL JUSTICE IN CREATIVE COMMUNITIES: The Center Street Story

900 Keosauqua Way,Des Moines IA 50309

12 December, 2021

Description

Join Mainframe Studios, SURJ, and Dr. Madison DeShay-Duncan and Richard Duncan directors of The Center Street Story documentary. Mainframe Studios, along with its artists and board of directors, are proud to partner with SURJ to present Reframing Racial Justice in Creative Communities. Please join us for Understanding Social (In)Justice Through the Power of Place: The Center Street Story: An Urban Renewal Retrospective presented by Dr. Madison DeShay-Duncan and Richard Duncan. This event will explore the history of Des Moines’ Center Street neighborhood and spark conversations about racialized inequity, its relationship to 1950s urban renewal, and other policies and practices that disproportionately impact Iowa’s Black citizens. Doors open at 4:30 p.m., program starts at 5:00 p.m.Free & open to the publicCash bar and complimentary snacksSpace is limited Dr. Madison DeShay-Duncan and Richard Duncan are filmmakers of the short documentary titled The Center Street Story: An Urban Renewal Retrospective . They are raising funds to produce a full-length documentary and companion curriculum that tells a story that reveals a time and place that was largely a multicultural community where people co-existed – but that had nestled within it a dominant Black business district where people forged life-long bonds, where children felt safe and where people were instilled with a sense of connectivity and empowerment to achieve – and did. The Center Stree Story captures and preserves the Center Street history while those who lived it are accessible. In the process The Center Street Story will add to and enrich the body of knowledge on Iowa’s history. When completed, this important story will be shared at the national level to help complete the picture of the impacts of urban renewal. To learn more and contribute, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/center-street-story-urban-renewal-retrospective Mainframe Studios believes that creative ideas can best be realized in spaces where anti-oppressive policies are nurtured. In 2020 Mainframe Studios, with the support of its tenants and board of directors, vowed to purposefully identify, discuss, and challenge issues of race and the impact they have on our organization, its systems, and the artists who work here. To effectively carry out our commitments, expanding our knowledge, awareness and community is vital. We have partnered with the Des Moines chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) to develop a four-part speaker series featuring regional leaders who are especially skilled in helping further diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Mainframe Studios is honored to host these guests and their participatory sessions for the benefit of our internal progress, and to offer them to the public. Mainframe Studios is a nonprofit providing permanent affordable workspace to artists of all disciplines. We are transforming Central Iowa’s art scene by creating a financially self-sustaining economic and cultural driver, serving as a national model that stands the test of time. Learn more at mainframestudios.org. Des Moines SURJ is a local chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national network of organizations and individuals committed to organizing white people for racial justice as part of a multi-racial movement led by people of color. Learn more at dsmsurj.org.