Completion of BUSD Anti-Racist Statement & Land Acknowledgment Poster

The Destiny Education Project collaborated with artist C.A.P. Ward to create this stunning visual reminder of our district-wide commitment to anti-racist action. 

C.A.P. Ward wrote this beautiful statement about their work on this project:

When starting this land acknowledgement and anti-racist poster, I knew it was important to keep in mind the limits of my own experience. While I am marginalized as a Black person, I am not indigenous nor do I have a personal history with the unceded lands that Burbank was built on. Research would be key to handling this in a manner respectful to the Tongva, Chumash, and Tataviam people.

I also wanted to create a work centering the land in question, especially because the natural world sparked my interest in visual arts to begin with. My research process involved learning how the natural and constructed world interact, becoming a unique locale that’s as much a figure in this poster as the people depicted. The distinct profile of the  mountains surrounding San Fernando Valley and the cityscapes nestled within it frame the composition. The plant life in the foreground includes local species like sedge and california thistle and species like the jacaranda, introduced from South America. These environmental changes in some ways reflect the diverse communities, indigenous and diasporic, living in solidarity. All of these factors synthesized to inform the poster you can now find throughout the Burbank Unified School District.