The Detroit producer pens a message to the dance community.

Theo Parrish is the latest artist to comment on police brutality in the wake of the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Stating that he is “embarrassed at the lack of overt commentary from this art form,” he asked the question in a Facebook message: “[As] an art form rooted in reaction to racism, birthed in struggle, how do you dance to this?”

He went on to refer to the recent discovery of a man found dead by hanging in an Atlanta park.

“How do you do that when on the same weekend you’re playing, in the same city, a man just like you has quietly, arbitrarily, been silenced by one paid to protect him and the public? How do you dance when we still swing from trees, when we still are murdered in front of our loved ones, murdered while subdued and harmless?”

The club should offer solidarity, he added. “Escapism has always been an adjective used to describe the dance. That’s an outsider’s view. Solidarity is what it really offers.”

Read his full statement below. Revisit our Essential… Theo Parrish to explore his work.

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