Members of MTAM-

The Board members of the Music Therapy Association of Minnesota would like to express our current standing after the events that have happened over the last week in our community. In doing so, we hope to issue a call to awareness and action around social justice infringements that pervade our state, country, and the field of music therapy.

The murder of George Floyd, the unjust deaths of so many other black lives, and the targeting of communities of color in Minnesota are clear indications of the irreparable harm of racial trauma, systemic racism, and cruel treatment disproportionality affecting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). These events have affected—and continue to affect—the individuals we serve, their communities, and our music therapy community. The effects are pervasive and systemic; overt and covert.

We condemn police brutality against BIPOC, and particularly against black individuals. We stand against racism and systems of oppression that perpetuate white supremacy. We demand justice, and support those who will accept nothing less.

We, as a predominantly white person board, have a lot to learn. We acknowledge—and aspire to continue to unpack—our own biases and shortcomings in regards to our perceptions, levels of understanding, and knowledge when it pertains to the systemic endangerment and mistreatment of Black people. We also aspire to set forth expectations to listen to, fairly compensate, and amplify voices of BIPOC— voices that are not being valued due to systemic racism, and particularly anti-black racism. To do this, we will continue to actively engage in our own cultural humility education, prioritize conversations that isolate race and challenge whiteness, seek to provide various means of tangible support for BIPOC within our communities and profession, and prioritize thoughtful and careful provision of cultural humility-focused professional development opportunities for music therapists in our state.

We ask for white people, and white music therapists in particular, to:

  • Work through your own feelings and ideas. Process in your own way, or with another person (take care not to ask a BIPOC to process for you). Keep listening.
  • LISTEN to voices of people (and organizations run by/for people) who do not look like you.
  • Continue to educate yourselves through reputable continuing education, listening to concerns, and finding reliable resources to gain a better understanding of your own biases, and how they negatively impact your community.
  • Stay in the learning zone: Repeat suggestions 1-3 with consistency—and especially when you find yourself inserting your own commentary or going to a source that makes you feel more “comfortable” instead of listening openly.
  • Take informed action steps to engage in allyship efforts. Expect that you might not get it right every time. Be mindful that this is not about you as a white person. Allow BIPOC to speak for themselves.
  • One of many urgent action steps is to engage your white friends, colleagues, and family members in difficult conversations about race and systemic racism.
  • Keep in mind this is a continued effort, and not an isolated response. Keep regulating; keep listening; keep learning; keep calling people into conversation; keep doing tangible work.

    • We make these asks, because we believe, as mentioned by the MAR-AMTA Cultural Humility Accessibility and Inclusion (CHADI) Committee, that when white people become aware of racial injustice and of white privilege, they can take action to dismantle it – beginning within them/ourselves.

    We invite dialogue and continued conversation.

    Sincerely,

    The Music Therapy Association of Minnesota Board of Directors

    Stephanie Holman Hubbard, MA, MT-BC
    President | MTAM

    Ericha Rupp, MA, MT-BC
    President Elect | MTAM

    Jessica Nagel-Nnebedum, MA, MT-BC
    Member at Large | MTAM

    Beth Engelking, MA, MT-BC
    Newsletter Editor | MTAM

    Melody Schuldt, MA, MT-BC
    Treasurer | MTAM

    Linnea Larson, MT-BC
    Secretary | MTAM

    Mark Burnett, MA, MT-BC
    Reimbursement Co-Chair | MTAM

    Margaret M. Sonsteby, MA, MT-BC
    Government Relations Co-Chair | MTAM

    Michelle Sieben Doree, MT-BC
    Past-President | MTAM

    Amy Furman, MM, MT-BC
    Member at Large | MTAM

    Melissa Spiess, MM, MT-BC
    Government Relations Co-Chair | MTAM

    Amber Stefan, MT-BC, NMT Fellow
    Vice President | MTAM

    Megan Druckrey, MM, MT-BC
    Member at Large | MTAM

    Erin Lunde, MT-BC
    Minnesota Public Relations | MTAM

    Christy Holland, MT-BC, CDP
    Website Coordinator | MTAM

    Kay Luedtke-Smith, MT-BC
    Clinical Training Representative

    Lindsay Markworth, MMT, MT-BC
    Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapist
    Reimbursement Co-Chair | MTAM