The Race Forward Cultural Week of Action brings people of all identities and backgrounds together to spark action towards creating a just, multiracial democracy. Together with local arts and culture institutions and community-based organizations, these projects and activities will spark conversations that touch on history, how it shapes our present, and how everyday people are organizing to build an equitable and racially just future.

The initiative’s goals are to:

  • Learn about our history and how it shapes our present;
  • Listen to the people most impacted by injustice in this country about how we advance a vision of a just, multiracial democracy;
  • Elevate the work of local arts and culture institutions, particularly in communities of color, that can resonate this vision through truth-telling and creativity; and
  • spark collective action to advance racial justice, so that we can make our vision into a reality.

NLC’s Cultural Week of Action celebration will uplift the ways in which cities are partnering with artists and cultural institutions to celebrate community identities and spur systems-level policy change towards more equitable local outcomes. The program will highlight work in Gainesville, Florida; Edinburg, Texas; and Oakland, California.