Black Lives Matter

Exeter Phoenix joins with others now and in the future. Recent events, reactions and responses ignited by the killing of George Floyd, have reminded us that, while we focus on keeping our community safe and healthy, we are emotionally standing together and will not tolerate or accept racism, violence, harassment or discrimination. We will proceed to work on ensuring that we help to provide a caring and compassionate community and we are all responsible for protecting each other from offence or harm. 

We urge all of our staff, board members, artists, educators and visitors not to be bystanders and to confront racism whilst holding the values of humanity, decency, empathy and equality. Together, we will work harder and do better. We will educate ourselves and learn about our own privileges. We will do more to engage with others with the intent to learn about and connect with their contexts. Our daily actions and organisational mission will work intentionally to build and nurture a community of art, music and culture where we are aware of the different ways people from all backgrounds have influenced what we enjoy and what we benefit from.

We realise there is more we can do to broaden the vision of the organisation and we will break down areas of our every day work and identify specifics where we can question and educate ourselves on how we can change for the better. As regular recipients of public funds we know it is our responsibility to always push and further our knowledge, intentions and actions.

Exeter Phoenix is a place where everyone is welcome and we will engage with others to cultivate a community network that embodies and practices justice, liberation and peace in our engagement with one another. We will be part of the change not the trend.

#BlackLivesMatter