Bay Area Blues Dance

to the families and loved ones of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many more, to black people angry and hurting across the nation, we stand with you.

“It is not enough to be not racist, you must actively be anti-racist” -Angela Davis

For the love of blues, we ask that you donate this week what you might have paid for entrance at Beat the Blues (or more!) to one of the following organizations:

NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a legal organization fighting for racial justice across America. [https://www.naacpldf.org/]

Reclaim the Block, a Minneapolis group advocating for investments in violence prevention, housing, resources for youth, emergency mental health response teams, and more.
[https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home]

George Floyd’s memorial fund: [https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd]

Bay Area Anti-Repression Bail Fund, an organization providing support and bail money to Bay Area protestors. [https://antirepressionbayarea.com/]

If you are new to anti-racism work and you are feeling lost or hopeless, we recommend these lists of concrete actions you can take to support racial justice:

[https://obsidiantea.com/2020/05/31/feeling-helpless-about-police-brutality-things-you-can-do/]

[https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234]

[https://medium.com/awaken-blog/20-allyship-actions-for-asians-to-show-up-for-the-black-community-right-now-464e5689cf3e]

If you are planning on attending actions or marches, you are welcome to use the Beat the Blues Regulars group to organize buddies or groups.

Coronavirus - City of Berkeley, CA The City of Berkeley Health Officer has ordered all residents to shelter at home, leaving only to receive or provide essential services, starting 12:01 am on Tuesday, March 17. See details of the Order, frequently asked questions, and recommendations from Berkeley Public Health at https://www.cityof...

We are CLOSED until at least March 25. Check back here for more updates.

100 Historic Black Women Guitarists and Bassists You Need to Know This year we furthered our research to name 100 black women guitarists because we believe in constantly celebrating Black and Afro-identifying communities around the world—a statement meant to prove the disparity between the history we're told and the history that exists.

Reminder, we are closed next week (the 25th.) We’ll see you to dance in the new year on the 1st!