Michael Sakamoto, Stephen Fernandez, Millian Kang, Yedalis Ruiz, Aston K. McCullough

Currently our public culture is dominated by images of ableism, gender-binaries, and whitewashed multiculturalism.  As we engage diverse populations on and off-campus at UMass Amherst around issues of racial and gender justice, we aim to reimagine how we might shift public culture. Our team is collectively asking, How can arts and culture contribute to decolonizing a land grant university and give agency to marginalized folks? How can allies show up with risk in the struggle against white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, and capitalism? What might public culture in Amherst and the nearby region look and feel like if we are welcoming and celebrating each other’s differences in public?