The Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy will take place Tuesday, October 27 to Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Learn about the history and cultural moments that inspired this initiative and explore ideas for your event or activation.
Alabama Department of Archives and History.
In Montgomery, Alabama, Black people organized to integrate Oak Park Pool, one of the biggest public pools in the U.S. at that time. Instead of integrating the pool, the county drained it. It was a loss for everyone in that county.
Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
Similarly, in Kansas City, Missouri, when Black swimmers fought to integrate the pool, the city closed the pool. However, it reopened in 1954, integrated. The public pool stands today and is shared by neighbors from all walks of life.
This isn’t just a story from the past, it is a story from today. Dismantling efforts to advance racial justice hurts all of us. Recall the words of Senator Paul Wellstone, “We all do better when we all do better.” Our goal is not just to have systems that produce equally poor outcomes. We want systems and structures that work for all of us.
This story of pools in Alabama in the 1950s along with our current reality of attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, critical race theory, or woke culture are the same. Instead of succumbing to polarization, we must build bridges and make connections to demonstrate what a just, multiracial democracy can look like if we advance equity and racial justice and in doing so, we “refill the public pool” for everyone.
What if we learned from the mistakes of the past and made sure everyone has access to the “refilled pool of public goods” that help us all thrive: public schools, parks, healthcare, transportation, and more?
At a time when well-funded and coordinated attacks on racial equity and democracy are stoking racial and gender divides to shut down public goods and thwart our democracy, everyday people are standing up and fighting back:
- Students and parents fighting for honest and equitable education in their public schools;
- Community leaders reimagining safety by organizing for safe, quality homes for all, after-school programs, and good paying jobs;
- Local organizers fighting for social housing, particularly in historically redlined neighborhoods;
- Youth running for local office to advance environmental justice in communities of color;
- Communities working with public stewards in government to make sure that racial equity is part of policies, practices, and budgets;
- Local artists and organizers telling the truth about our country’s past and present by leading campaigns to topple Confederate statues and telling the story about our future through new memorials and monuments.
These stories carry the echoes of those before us who took action to make this country live up to its professed ideals—from Reconstruction to Civil Rights to Stonewall. Those echoes are memorialized through arts and culture, which have always been the heart and soul of movements for change, from the art, books, and music of the Harlem Renaissance to the art of the 80’s that spoke truth to power at the height of the AIDS crisis and the War on Drugs. Today, artists, cultural workers, and other creatives are continuing this legacy by revealing the truth of our past and present, bridging divides and imagining what a just, multiracial democracy looks like.
Now, more than ever, the work of artists and cultural workers is essential to realizing a just, multiracial democracy. Culture is how we stir hearts and minds. It is how we develop the empathy, awareness, and solidarity to sustain our movement for a just, multiracial democracy for decades to come.
What can we do?
This is what the Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy is about. It’s about creating a culture where we can:
- 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;
- Center the work of artists and cultural workers to bridge divides and build empathy, awareness, and solidarity towards our vision;
- Spark collective action to advance racial justice, so that we can make our vision into a reality.
Examples of Arts and Cultural Activations
Some examples of art and cultural features that would make excellent projects for the Cultural Week of Action include:
An exhibit showing the history of racially discriminatory housing practices in a town, city, or county, and creating a participatory art project to imagine what an integrated town would look like.
A story slam where storytellers share a personal story touching on the theme of “Building the Bigger We” and what it means for the town, city, county, or state.
Cultural performances that elevate indigenous sovereignty and how indigenous values help us imagine a “Bigger We.”
A public discussion about the toppling of public monuments commemorating Confederate and colonial leaders and an exhibit of what would take their place to support a multiracial democracy.
A Poet Laureate conducting conversations that touch on the need for racial and gender equity in public schools and inspiring young people to write their own poetry which is then produced into a poetry slam on race and democracy.
Billboards and/or public transportation posters that share art that inspires an expanded democratic practice.
A gathering for a new mural that catalyzes a conversation about participatory budgeting.
