Black Lives Matter
Our work begins with acknowledgment.
Black lives matter. We are pained and outraged by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others, and acknowledge the pain, anger, and suffering that has manifested in protest nationwide, and spread across the world. We acknowledge the systems of oppression that have for generations denied Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) the rights granted to privileged white populations. We acknowledge the lands stolen from the Indigenous peoples who first called these lands home, and the massive wealth unjustly created on these stolen lands. We acknowledge our sisters and brothers brought here in chains and enslaved to create what we now call the United States of America. We hear the pain, we see the trauma, and we are committed to the hard work ahead, supporting the change needed to create a society that fights for justice.
Today, and everyday, we are energized by the national and international movement for Black lives, justice, and human rights. And we renew our commitment to fight for justice. It is our mission. Architecture is never neutral. The built environment is an agent in the reinforcement of injustice, and we commit to dismantling these power structures and to invest in design as an agent of liberation. The team at MASS is united by our motivation to advance this fight—in the US and across the world. To fight against racism, white supremacy, oppression, and marginalization—and dismantle structural barriers to basic human rights. To fight for freedom, for truth, restoration, justice, and dignity. To build a more just, free, and equitable society for each other.
We thank our partners and friends who are leading and inspiring this change, and we encourage you to support their work by donating at the links below.
- The Equal Justice Initiative
- Vera Institute of Justice
- MILPA Collective
- King Boston
- Partners In Health
- The Prison to College Pipeline
- Prison Creative Arts Project
- Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
- Purpose Over Pain
- Colloqate
- Incarceration Nations Network
- Hank Willis Thomas
- Change the Ref
- Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
- Newtown Action Alliance
- The Hip Hop Architecture Camp
MASS is a collective, and we are part of a larger collective of voices that have shaped, and will continue to shape our practice. We’ll be sharing additional resources over the next few weeks and months as we continue this journey of listening, learning, and acting. Please check back here or reach out to us at [email protected] to stay updated as this work develops.