NOTORIOUS is an act we created as friends and collaborators seven years ago out of a love for hip-hop and comedy, and a desire to explore these art forms. Over this time the organisation has always been run by white producers and managers. We, Mat Mailandt and Ryan Sheedy, want to take this moment to acknowledge our privilege and mistakes over our history, to apologize for the ways we’ve appropriated and profited off of Black culture, and to commit ourselves to action moving forward.
When NOTORIOUS was formed in 2013 we contributed to the oppression of the Black community through our caricaturization of hip-hop and by choosing costumes that misappropriated Black culture. For some time afterwards we affected our voices for performance and online presence by misappropriating AAVE. All of these actions were, and are unacceptable to us.
Over our history, we have made efforts to assess and change our behaviours on and offstage, by changing our performances and costumes, changing our online presence and imagery, our artwork, and how we cast our shows. But we recognize that this is not nearly enough and comes too little too late.
Despite conversations and changes to how we cast our shows and seek new performers, we have had, and continue to have, a disproportionate lack of BIPOC and LGBTQ2IA+ artists in our cast. This is unacceptable to us, and means we have failed to seek out and make space for the voices that are necessary in our troupe and in our shows to accurately represent our city and pay respect to hip-hop and Black culture.
Another, and perhaps our biggest and most unacceptable shortcoming of all, is using hip-hop and Black culture in these ways while simultaneously failing to support Black lives through community activism. We’ve listened to Black artists' music without actively listening, without internalizing the messages and calls to action contained in the music of these artists, without using our privilege for a purpose. In our efforts as NOTORIOUS give back to the communities in which we work and live, we have failed to contribute to Black communities, while simultaneously taking art created by these same communities and using it for our benefit.
For these harmful actions, and equally harmful lack of actions, we humbly and deeply apologize.
Moving forward as an organisation we commit to the following:
As individuals, we commit to:
Black Lives Matter.
Mat Mailandt & Ryan Sheedy
When NOTORIOUS was formed in 2013 we contributed to the oppression of the Black community through our caricaturization of hip-hop and by choosing costumes that misappropriated Black culture. For some time afterwards we affected our voices for performance and online presence by misappropriating AAVE. All of these actions were, and are unacceptable to us.
Over our history, we have made efforts to assess and change our behaviours on and offstage, by changing our performances and costumes, changing our online presence and imagery, our artwork, and how we cast our shows. But we recognize that this is not nearly enough and comes too little too late.
Despite conversations and changes to how we cast our shows and seek new performers, we have had, and continue to have, a disproportionate lack of BIPOC and LGBTQ2IA+ artists in our cast. This is unacceptable to us, and means we have failed to seek out and make space for the voices that are necessary in our troupe and in our shows to accurately represent our city and pay respect to hip-hop and Black culture.
Another, and perhaps our biggest and most unacceptable shortcoming of all, is using hip-hop and Black culture in these ways while simultaneously failing to support Black lives through community activism. We’ve listened to Black artists' music without actively listening, without internalizing the messages and calls to action contained in the music of these artists, without using our privilege for a purpose. In our efforts as NOTORIOUS give back to the communities in which we work and live, we have failed to contribute to Black communities, while simultaneously taking art created by these same communities and using it for our benefit.
For these harmful actions, and equally harmful lack of actions, we humbly and deeply apologize.
Moving forward as an organisation we commit to the following:
- To seek and pay for Black consultancy, to address if it is appropriate for us to continue as a troupe.
- If so, to utilize this consultancy to ask how best to include BIPOC and LGBTQ2IA+ voices in our organizational strategizing and leadership of NOTORIOUS.
- To utilize this consultancy to address how to best seek out, develop and make space for new BIPOC performers.
- To carefully consider and internalize this and any other feedback, particularly from BIPOC members of our community, surrounding the structure of how our group operates, and commit it to action.
- To donate a portion of all future income to organisations that support BIPOC youth and culture, such as Black Youth Helpline.
As individuals, we commit to:
- Donating our money and skills to organisations that support BIPOC youth and culture, such as NIA Centre for the Arts, or ArtCity Toronto.
- To continually evaluate the appropriateness of our position and place within an art form that is Black in its origin.
- To advocate to our government, family and peers about policies and practices that are anti-racist.
Black Lives Matter.
Mat Mailandt & Ryan Sheedy