We are writing to urge the United States government to do everything in its power to facilitate the departure from Afghanistan of at-risk Afghans, and to include artists, performers, writers, dramatists, filmmakers, photographers, and visual journalists in that category. As a group of individuals—artists, filmmakers, performers, writers, curators—and institutions, acting in solidarity with our peers in Afghanistan, we recognize the vulnerability of the country’s cultural workers, who are already being targeted by the Taliban and forced into hiding. Like Afghan journalists, activists, and citizens who have assisted the US, cultural workers face threats to their lives because of the work they’ve done—and they are unlikely to get out of the country without immediate changes to Washington’s approach to granting visas and providing flights.
Even before the Taliban’s takeover, cultural workers took grave risks in depicting the experiences and articulating the aspirations of Afghans, with the encouragement—and, often, direct support—of the US government. Now, the vocation of truth-telling has become much more dangerous, and many of our peers see no choice but to leave the country. In addition to standing with advocates for journalists and activists, we insist on the protection of all who have devoted themselves to fostering free expression and civil society in Afghanistan. We make the following demands of the US government, in order to save lives and fulfill the promises made to Afghan allies, colleagues, and friends:
• Take immediate action (through the State Department and Department of Homeland Security) to facilitate expedited visa processing and provide asylum for all vulnerable Afghans.
• Immediately include cultural workers in the categories being used to refer at-risk Afghans for evacuation lists.
• Hold the Taliban accountable to commitments made during the Doha negotiations and to international human rights norms, including the safeguarding of the right to free expression by all members of society and of all aspects of cultural heritage.
Additionally, we stand with other advocates and Afghan citizens in calling on the US government to:
• Remove—or, at least, increase—the quotas for Afghan refugees, and permanently halt any deportations of Afghan refugees currently in progress.
• Keep the Kabul airport open until all at-risk Afghans who wish to evacuate have done so, and allow chartered, commercial, and humanitarian flights to operate out of the airport under the protection of the US.
• Expedite the processing of Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans who worked with the US government, as well as visas for cultural workers, and remove the requirement that such visas be processed in a third country. (This unnecessary, burdensome rule is jeopardizing the safety of visa applicants.) Instead, allow all visas to be processed either in Afghanistan or the US.
• Indefinitely suspend the standard (and various) term limits and reapplication requirements for SIV, P-2, and humanitarian parole visas granted to Afghans or, instead, create a new class of extended Temporary Protected Status for all Afghan refugees.
• Continue to offer international exchange programs and visas for Afghan students.
In addition to the above demands, we call on governments of all nations to facilitate the evacuation and resettlement of Afghan refugees by offering asylum and aid. And we call on Americans and US cultural institutions to bolster our demands by communicating them directly to local and national representatives.
Destroying art and artists has never been incidental to the Taliban. In fact, doing so is at the very foundation of the Taliban’s claim to legitimate power, which is based on a vision of Afghanistan as only ever having been a monoethnic, monotheistic society. Afghanistan’s cultural heritage undermines the Taliban’s claim to power and contradicts the underlying vision. But if a new vision of Afghanistan’s future is ever to emerge, the country’s dreamers must survive.
Alongside our peers in Afghanistan, we are watching events with great concern, and we are demanding swift action to aid Afghans who have risked so much over the years to create independent, defiant, and transformative work—and whose lives are now at risk as a result.
To add your signature, please use this form.
For press inquiries: ArtsforAfghanistan@gmail.com
Initial Signatories:
Organizations
- A-Doc (Asian American Documentary Network)
- Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), PEN America
- Asia Contemporary Art Forum aka ACAW-Asia Contemporary Art Week
- The Authors Guild
- CEC ArtsLink
- Creative Capital, NYC
- Documentary Producers Alliance, USA
- Dramatists Guild of America
- The D-Word, A virtual community of documentary filmmakers worldwide
- Film Fatales
- For Freedoms, USA
- Freelancers Union
- FWD-Doc (Documentary Filmmakers with Disabilities), USA
- Ghetto Gastro, NYC
- International Documentary Association
- Kindred Arts, Los Angeles
- Magnum Foundation, NYC
- National Press Photographers Association
- National Writers Union
- PEN America
- Silkroad, Boston
- Visible Justice, London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London
Individuals
- Angela Adams, Director, Arlington Public Art, Arlington, VA
- Phoebe Adams, Visual Artist, Retired Art Professor, Phipsburg, Maine
- Claire Aguilar, Producer, Women Make Movies, Los Angeles
- Karim Ahmad, Writer, Los Angeles
- Leeza Ahmady, Director/Curator, Asian Contemporary Art Forum, New York
- Hadar Ahuvia, Brooklyn, NY
- Livia Alexander, Curator, Brooklyn, NY
- Miguel Amado, Director, SIRIUS, Ireland
- Lee Ambrozy, Art historian, New York University, Saint Clair Shores
- Nathalie Angles, Executive Director, Residency Unlimited Inc, Brooklyn, NY
- Corina Apostol, Curator, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn
- Emily Apter, Chair, Department of Comparative Literature, New York University, New York
- Setare Arashloo, Artist, New York
- Kiran Arora, Preparator, MoMA PS1, New York
- Floor Grootenhuis, Artist, Hunter College, CUNY,
- Ratik Asokan, Brooklyn
- Armine Avetisyan, Project Manager, Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts, Brandeis University, Watertown, MA
- Rachel Aviv, Journalist, The New Yorker, Brooklyn
- Shelly Bahl, Independent artist, curator and educator
- Judith Barry, Artist, NYC
- Nour Batyne, Founder, Disruptivist, Brooklyn, NY
- Joyce Beckenstein, Freelance writer, New York
- Lindsay Bedford, New York City
- Natalie Bell, Curator, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge
- Ginny Benson, Assistant Performance Coordinator, Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- Joe Berlinger, Documentary Filmmaker: Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial & Deception, CT
- Ted Berger, Board President, Cue Art Foundation, New York, NY
- Albert Bernstein, Psychologist, Portland, Oregon
- Claire Bishop, Professor, CUNY Graduate Center, New York
- James Blackketter, Kent, CT
- Brent Blair, Director, USC Institute for Theatre & Social Change, Los Angeles, CA USA
- Doug Block, Director/Producer, Copacetic Pictures, New York, NY
- Alexandria Bombach, Independent Film Director, RED REEL, New Mexico, USA
- Corinne Botz, Artist, Cornwallville, New York
- Jane Breakell, Institutional Giving Officer, The Paris Review, New York
- Moira Brennan, New York, NY
- Kim Brizzolara, Vice Chair, Hamptons International Film Festival, New York
- Nicholas Brooke, Music Professor, Bennington College, Bennington, VT
- Vic Brooks, senior curator, time-based visual, EMPAC, Troy, NY
- Katie Buonanno, Brooklyn, NY
- Kisha Cameron, Producer, Completion Films, Los Angeles, CA
- Laura Campbell, Actress/Producer, Film Fatales, Los Angeles
- Felicity Cain, Deputy Country Director, Turquoise Mountain, Afghanistan
- Mireila Castillo Saladrigues, Artist and researcher, University of the Arts Helsinki
- Rosane Chamecki, Choreographer, chameckilerner, New York
- Dawn Chan, Writer, New York
- Shahrzad Changalvaee, Artist, Brooklyn
- J Chao, Triple Canopy, NYC
- Ashanti Chaplin, Curator of Public Engagement, New York
- Myrel Chernick, Artist/writer, New York
- Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Torino, Italy
- Lee Chun Fung, Artist/curator, Hong Kong
- TIFFANY CHUNG, Visual Artist, USA
- Rebecca Cleman, Executive Director, Electronic Arts Intermix, New York City
- Matt Coch, Brooklyn, NY
- Nancy Cohen, Artist/professor, Queens College, Queens, NY
- Cynthia Cohen, Director, Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts, Brandeis University, MA
- Joshua Cohen, Writer, NYC
- Charlotte Cohen, Executive Director, Brooklyn Arts Council , Brooklyn, NY
- Teju Cole, Writer/photographer/ professor, Harvard University, Cambridge
- Nikki Columbus, New York
- Maureen Connor, Emerita Professor of Art, Queens College, CUNY, Flushing, NY
- Charlotte Cook, Co-creator & Executive Producer, Field of Vision
- Kenneth Cooper, Vice Chair, Studio in a School, New York, NY
- Paul Cooper, Retired, Brevard, nc
- James Costanzo, Adjunct Assistant Professor with Tenure, Pratt Institute , Brooklyn
- Matthew Craven, Woodworker, Seattle, Washington
- Bedatri Datta Choudhury, Managing Editor, International Documentary Association, New York
- Iftikhar Dadi, Professor, Cornell University
- Jill Dawsey, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA
- Lara Day, Writer, Australia
- Dina Deitsch, Director, Tufts University Art Galleries, Somerville
- Elena Demyanenko, Professor, Bennington College, Bennington
- Kayo Dena, Librarian for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
- Jane Debevoise, Asia Art Archive in America, Brooklyn, NY
- David Diamond, Curator, La MaMa Umbria International, New York USA
- Ameena Din, Consultant, , New York City
- Andrea Divine, Director of Finance, Wende Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- Jenny Dixon, Director Emeritus, Noguchi Museum, Long Island City, New York
- Simon Dove, Executive Director, CEC ArtsLink, New York
- Julia Draganovic, Director, German Academy Rome Villa Massimo, Rome and President, IKT International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, Osnabruck, Germany
- Erina Duganne, Professor of Art History, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- Alberto Duman, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, Middlesex University, London
- Carol Dysinger, Professor, New York University Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film, New York
- Rehab Eldalil, Documentary photographer , Cairo, Egypt
- Carol S. Eliel, Senior Curator of Modern Art, Los Angeles
- Anne Ellegood, Executive Director, ICA LA, Los Angeles
- Chloe Engel, Brooklyn
- Rafael Espinal, Executive Director, Freelancers Union, New York, NY
- Amber Espinosa-Jones, Producer and Stage Manager, Los Angeles
- Donelle Estay, Artist, New York
- Wendy Ettinger, Producer, New York
- Wendy Ewald, Photographer, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
- JiaJia Fei, Digital Strategist, For Freedoms, New York USA
- Cristina Ferrigno, MFA candidate, SPQ, Queens
- Yevgeniy Fiks, Artist, New York
- Catherine Filloux, Playwright, Librettist, Educator, Activist, Acting Together/ReCast, NYC
- Anne Fisher, Senior Lecturer, Translation and Interpreting Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- Kathy Fletcher, Executive Director, Silkroad, Boston
- Hal Foster, Professor, Princeton University, Princeton NJ
- Arthur Fournier, Rare bookseller, Arthur Fournier Fine & Rare, LLC, Brooklyn, NY
- Kate Fowle, New York
- Geoffrey Fox, Carboneras, Allmejría, Spain
- Coco Fusco, Artist, New York
- Rivka Galchen, Writer, Columbia university , New York
- Michael Galinsky, Filmmaker, Rumur, North Carolina
- Olga Garay-English, Principal, OMGArtsplus, Los Angeles
- Dylan Gauthier, Director, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Project Space, New York, NY
- Sarrah George, President, Worthy Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA
- Andrea Geyer, Artist, New York
- Mariam Ghani, Artist and filmmaker, Indexical Films, Brooklyn, NY
- Maryam Ghoreishi, Curator/Programs Manager, Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn
- Michael Giannitti, Professor, Bennington College, Bennington, VT
- Gabrielle Giattino, Gallery Owner, Bureau, New York
- Zanna Gilbert, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
- Megan Gilbride, Independent Documentary Producer; Board Member, DPA, Documentary Producers Alliance, Los Angeles, CA
- Larry Goldbetter, President, National Writers Union, New York City
- Janet Goldner, Artist, New York
- Eric Gottesman, Artist, For Freedoms, USA
- Tamara Gould, ITVS, Washington DC
- Saisha Grayson, Curator, Washington, D.C.
- Charles Green, Playwright, New York
- Mitch Greenhill, President, Folklore Inc. (dba FLi Artists), Santa Monica CA
- Peter Grossman, American, Florida
- Andrea Grover, Sag Harbor, NY
- Libertad Guerra, Executive Director, The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Education Center, NY
- Nicole Guillemet, Programmer, El Gouna Film Festival, New Y
- David Guzman, Baltimore, MD
- Amy Halliday, Independent Curator, Boston, USA & Bristol, UK
- Halter Halter, Writer / Curator, Light Industry, Brooklyn
- Heng-Gil Han, Director, Korea Art Forum, New York
- Ryan Harrington, Head of Film, Kinema, New York
- Carla Harryman, Professor, poet and artist, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan
- Casey Hartnett, Film Fatales, New York City
- Craig Harwood, Director, The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, New York
- Merna Ann Hecht, Teaching Artist-Poet-Social Justice Educator, Word Travels: Refugee & Immigrant Voices and Visibility, Vashon
- Judith Henry, Artist, Brooklyn, NY
- Betti-Sue Hertz, New York, NY, USA
- Amy Herzog, Professor, Queens College, CUNY, Queens, NY
- Juan Hinojosa, Artist, New York
- Adam Hogan, Assistant Professor of Art, University of Arkansas, School of Art, Fayetteville, AR
- David Horvitz, Los Angeles
- Hanru Hou, Artistic Director, MAXXI, National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome, Italy, Rome
- Max Houghton, Senior Lecturer, University of the Arts London, London
- Melissa Houghton, Executive Director, Women in Film & Video, Washington, DC
- Lily House-Peters, Assistant Professor, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
- Becky Howland, Artist, NYC
- Aaron Huey, Founder and Creative Director, Amplifier.org, Seattle, WA
- Laura Hyatt, Executive Director, LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Art Division), Los Angeles, CA
- Donna Hylton, President, A Little Piece of Light, New York
- Charlotte Ickes, Curator, Washington, DC
- Fran Ilich, Artist and writer, Diego de la Vega Coffee Co-op, New York City
- Germaine Ingram, Independent artist, Cultural Worker, Philadelphia PA
- Jessica Ingram, Artist, Nashville, Tennessee
- Kayhan Irani, Producing Director, Artivista Productions, New York, NY
- Hitomi Iwasaki, Curator, Jackson Heights, NY
- Ana Janevski, Curator, New York
- Taylor Jasper, Curatorial Assistant, The Momentary, Rogers, AR
- Evelyne Jouanno, Founder and Director, Ars Citizen , Paris / San Francisco / Rome
- Amina Kadous, Cairo, Egypt
- Lauren Kane, Assistant Editor, The Paris Review, New York City
- Farrah Karapetian, Los Angeles, CA
- Eva Karczag, Independent Dance Artist, NY, NY
- Jeff Kasper, Artist and Professor, Northampton, MA
- Cindi Katz, Professor, City University of New York, Graduate Center, New York, NY
- Umair Kazi, The Authors Guild, New York, NY
- Erin Ellen Kelly, Artist, Choreographer, New York City
- Jon Kessler, Professor of Art, Columbia University, New York
- Grant Kester, Professor of Art History, University of California, San Diego
- Caroline Key, Teaching Instructor/ filmmaker, Rutgers University, Brooklyn, NY
- Mana Kia, Associate Professor, Columbia University, New York
- Molly Kleiman, Director, Triple Canopy, Brooklyn, NY
- Josh Kline, Artist, Brooklyn
- Gary Knight, CEO, VII Foundation
- Hai-Li Kong, Video Production Lead, Think!Chinatown, Brooklyn
- Raksak Kongseng, Executive Director, Thai Theatre Foundation, New York
- Olga Kopenkina, Independent Curator
- Joyce Kozloff, Artist, We Make America, New York
- Prem Krishnamurthy, Wkshps, Berlin / New York
- Lisa Kron, Playwright, New York City
- Hari Kunzru, Novelist, New York City
- Carin Kuoni, Director, Vera List Center for Art & Politics, New York
- Sophie Landres, Professor/Program Manager, The New School / OSUN Center for Human Rights & The Arts, New York
- Miranda Lash, Ellen Bruss Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver
- Terry Lawler, New York
- Jeffrey Lee, Partner, RYAN LEE , New York, NY
- Jessica Y Lee, Production Committee, GYOPO, New York, NY
- Yoon Ju Ellie Lee, Executive Director, Equitable Vitrines, and Steering Committee Member, GYOPO, Los Angeles, CA
- Julia Lee, Journalist, Los Angeles, CA
- Yining Li, Assistant Curator, Tai Kwun, Hong Kong
- Andrew Leland, Northampton, MA
- Loraine Leeson, Dr., Middlesex University, London
- Andrea Lerner, Artistic Director, Chameckilerner, NYC/ US
- Beth Levison, Producer/Director, Hazel Pictures, New York NY
- Roberta Levitow, Co-founder and Director, Theatre Without Borders, Santa Monica, California
- Leslie Levy, Artist, Kent, CT
- Georgina Lewis, Artist, Boston, MA
- Jen Liu, Artist, Staten Island
- Adriel Luis, Curator, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Los Angeles
- Jacqueline Mabey, PhD Candidate and Independent Producer, University College London, London and New York
- Jun Mabuchi, Cultural producer / ceramist , For Freedoms, Brooklyn
- Lauren Mackler, Public Fiction, Los Angeles
- Ananya Madiraju, Collections assistant, Wende Museum, Los Angeles
- Scott Malbaurn, Director, Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, OR
- Michael Mandiberg, Professor, City University of New York (College of Staten Island and The Graduate Center), New York
- Amita Manghnani, Associate Director, Asian/Pacific/American Institute, NYU, New York
- Guy Mannes-Abbott, Author/Critic, London, UK/Europe
- Susan Margolin, Producer, St. Marks Productions, New York
- Lesley Martin, Creative Director, New York
- Neyda Martinez, Associate Professor, The New School, NYC
- Michelle Materre, Professor, The New School, New York City
- Steven Matijcio, Director & Chief Curator, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston
- Mary Mattingly, Artist, New York, NY
- Marisa Mazria Katz, Journalist, Individual, New York
- Park McArthur, Tepper Chair, Department of Art and Design, Rutgers University , Princeton, NJ
- Meredith McCanse, Denver, CO
- Kim McDonald, Artist, Sandy Point
- Mack McFarland, Executive Director / educator / artist, Converge 45 / Lewis & Clark College / PNCA , Portland, Oregon, USA
- Susan Meiselas, Photographer, Magnum Foundation, New York
- D.A. Mekonnen, Boston
- Steve Mendelsohn, CFO, Ominium Circus, New York, NY
- James Meyer, Curator of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Jonathan Miller, President, Icarus Films and OVID.tv, New York, NY
- Michelle Millar Fisher, Ronald C and Anita L Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts, MFA Boston
- Nicholas Miller, Designer, Davies Toews Architects, New York, NY
- Sherry Millner, Media Professor, CUNY, NYC
- Yong Min, Artist/professor, GYOPO, Los Angeles
- Naeem Mohaiemen, Associate Professor of Visual Arts, Columbia University , New York
- Giovanni Montoya, Brooklyn, NY
- Fraser Mooney, Executive Director, Doctors of the World/Médecins du Monde International, New York
- Ranu Mukherjee, Artist, Professor of Art, Ranu Mukherjee, San Francisco
- Alysa Nahmias, AJNA Films, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Varsha Nair, Artist, India
- Novogrod Nancy, Founder, Culturati Travel Design, New York, New York
- Perwana Nazif, Art Director, Los Angeles Review of Books, Los Angeles, CA
- Raphaela Neihausen, Executive Director, DOC NYC, New York, NY
- Viet Nguyen, Writer, Los Angeles, CA
- Maria Niro, Director/Producer of The Art of Un-War, Crossing Waters, New York NY
- Wendi Norris, Owner/Director, Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA
- Richard Novick, Professor emeritus, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York City
- John Novogrod, Partner, McLaughlin and Stern, LLP, New York, New York
- John Oakes, Publisher, The Evergreen Review, New York City
- Ian Olds, Film Director, Fixer: The Taking Of Ajmal Naqshbandi, Brooklyn, NY
- Lee Painter Kim, SDA/GYOPO, Los Angeles, CA
- Nicole Page, Partner, Reavis Page Jump LLP, new york
- Allison Paller, Web Manager, Seven Stories Press, Austin, TX
- Yatin Parkhani, Producer/editor, beyondmaya, los angeles, ca
- Danielle Perissi, CEO, Hinter Media, New York
- Jenny Perlin, Filmmaker/ artist, Brooklyn, NY
- Richard Ray Perez , International Documentary Association (IDA)
- Eriola Pira, Curator, The Vera List Center for Art and Politics, New York
- Barbara Pollack, Co-founder, Art at a Time Like This Inc, New York
- Leila Pourtavaf, Assistant Professor of Global Public History, York University, Toronto, Canada
- Alexander Provan, Editor, Triple Canopy, Brooklyn, New York
- Gabriel Quick, PhD Candidate, Boston University, Boston, MA
- Robert Quinn, Executive Director, Scholars at Risk, New York
- Walid Raad, Artist and Professor, The Cooper Union, New York
- Michael Rakowitz, Artist and Professor, Northwestern University, Chicago
- Christine Rank, Head of Collections, The Wende Museum, Los Angeles
- Mary Rasenberger, CEO, The Authors Guild, New York
- Anjuli Fatima Raza Kolb, Writer, New York
- Oreet Rees, PhD, Los Angeles, CA
- Victoria Reis, Executive & Artistic Director, Transformer, Washington, DC
- Dana Reitz, Dance Professor, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont
- Kevin Repp, Curator, Yale University, Hamden, CT
- Oliver Ressler, Artist and filmmaker, Vienna
- Jason Rhee, A-Doc, Chicago
- Michella Rivera-Gravage, Producer,
- Jack Robinson, Executive Director, 4heads, Inc., Brooklyn, NY
- D. N. Rodowick, Professor/Artist, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL USA
- Alain Rogier, Artist, Los Angeles, california
- Tyler Rollins, New York, NY
- Ricardo Roman, Artist, New York
- Grace Roselli, Artist, Pandora’s BoxX Project, New York
- Martha Rosler, Artist, Brooklyn, New York
- Ellen Rothenberg, Professor Adj., The School of the At Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Peter Russo, Brooklyn, NY
- Tamara Saade, Beirut
- Wendy Sacks, Ms., We Make America, Brooklyn NY
- Marjan Safinia, Director/Producer, And She Could Be Next, Los Angeles, CA
- Abigail Satinsky, Curator & Head of Public Engagement, Tufts University Art Galleries, Boston, MA
- Roderick Schrock, Executive Director, Eyebeam, Brooklyn, NY
- Joes Segal, Chief Curator and Director of Programming , Wende Museum of the Cold War, Los Angeles
- Susan Sellers, Designer and Creative Director, 2x4, New York, New York
- Susan Sgorbati, Director, The Center for the Advancement of Public Action, Bennington College
- Toni Shapiro-Phim, Assistant Director and Professor, Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts, Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA
- Atif Sheikh, Program Director, Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia, PA
- Himali Singh Soin, Artist, London/ New Delhi
- Steven Siegel, Artist, New York, NY
- Sadia Shirazi, Art historian and independent curator, ACLS postdoctoral fellow, Brooklyn, NY
- Gregory Sholette, Professor, CUNY, New York, NY
- Virginia Shore, Curator, Shore Art Advisory/ Former Chief Curator of Art in Embassies and the Kabul Embassy Project, Washington, DC
- Evan Shulman, Mockingbird Culture, San Diego, CA
- Steven Siegel, Artist, Tivoli, NY
- Shelly Silver, Artist and Professor, School of the Arts, Columbia University, New York, NY
- Jeffrey Skoller, Professor, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
- David Snider, Executive and Artistic Director, Hubbard Hall Center for the Arts and Education, Cambridge, NY
- Pallavi Somusetty, Filmmaker, Oakland
- Shira Sternberg, Mom and former Obama administrator, North Bennington, Vermont
- Emily Stokes, Editor, The Paris Review, New York
- Seth Stolbun
- Elisabeth Subrin, Filmmaker, Professor, Temple University Dept of Film and Media Arts, Brooklyn, NY
- Vladislav Suldisky, Co-Founder, Eurasian Cultura Alliance/ Metis Art Education, Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Suinbike Suleimenova-Bazargaliyeva, Director, Suinbike Video, Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Astria Suparak, Artist, writer, curator, Oakland, CA
- Xue Tan, Senior Curator, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong
- Jeannine Tang, Assistant Professor, Modern and Contemporary Art, The New School, New York
- Sarah Tanguy, Curator and Arts Writer, Independent, Washington, DC
- Alexandra Tatarsky, Artist-researcher, Shanzhai Lyric
- Shifra Teitelbaum, Adjunct faculty, Cal State LA, Los Angeles, CA
- Sara Terry, Founder/Director, The Aftermath Project, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Hank Willis Thomas, Artist, For Freedoms, Brooklyn
- Anna Thomas, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Anne Thompson, Director and Curator, Suzanne Lemberg Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Bennington, VT
- Anne Thurmond, Assistant Director, Sylvia Wald & Po Kim Art Gallery, New York, NY
- Lynne Tillman, Professor and Writer in Residence, English Dept, The University at Albany, New York
- Julie Tolentino, Artist, Joshua Tree, CA
- Julia Tompkins, Associate Strategist, 2x4, New York, NY
- Ashley Tucker, Director of Programs, Artistic Freedom Initiative, New York, New York
- Erin Turner, Artist, New York
- Melanie Cooper Umberger, Jasper, GA
- Jason Underhill, Los Angeles, CA
- Jessica Vaughn, Artist, Brooklyn, NY
- Annie Verhallen, Co-founder, Art at a Time Like This, New York
- Cecilia Vicuña, Artist/poet, New York City
- Anuradha, Vikram, Curator and Writer, Curative Projects, Los Angeles, CA
- Caroline von Kuhn, Producer, Los Angeles, CA
- Polly Walker, Associate Professor Emeritus, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA
- Amei Wallach, Director, Gert Productions/Gert Literary Services, Mattituck, NY
- Helen Warwick, New York, NY
- Lilly Wei, Art Critic, Independent Curator, Journalist, New York, NY
- Louise Weinberg, Co-Director, Godwin-Ternbach Museum Queens College, New York, NY
- Andrew Weiner, Department of Art and Art Professions, New York University , New York, NY
- Jeffrey Weiss, Brooklyn, NY
- Stephanie Weissberg, Associate Curator, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, MO
- Amy Westpfahl, Artist/Administrator, The Cooper Union, New York, NY
- Allan Wexler, Artist, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
- Patricia White, Professor, Swarthmore College, Philadelphia, PA
- Robert Wiesenberger, Associate Curator of Contemporary Projects, Clark Institute of Art, Williamstown, MA
- Maya Wiley, Former Candidate for NYC Mayor, Brooklyn, NY
- Evan Calder Williams, Associate Professor, Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
- Patricia Williams, Professor of Law Emerita, Columbia University, New York, NY
- Sarah Williams, Executive Director, Feminist Center for Creative Work, Los Angeles, CA
- Martha Wilson, Artist, New York, NY
- Juliette Wolf-Robin, National Executive Director, American Photographic Association, Los Angeles, CA
- Ben Wood, Visual Artist, San Francisco, CA
- Caitlin Woolsey, Assistant Director, Research and Academic Program, The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
- Kathy Wright, Artist, Sarasota, FL
- Nanette Yannuzzi-Macias, Professor, Oberlin College & Conservatory
- Annie Young, Film Fatales, Brooklyn NY
- Constantina Zavitsanos, Artist, New York, NY
- Hai Zhang, Artist, New York
- Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director, Women Make Movies, New York, NY
- F Anthony Zunino, Architect, Zuberry Development Corp., Hobe Sound, FL
More names are being added regularly. For an updated list of additional signatories, see here.