# data[].attributes.body
On September 11, 2018 Kimberli Meyer was fired from her position as the Museum Director of the Cal State Long Beach University's University Art Museum in Long Beach, California. Meyer was appointed Director of the University's Museum in 2016 after leaving her position as Director of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in West Hollywood, California. After walking into what she thought would be a routine meeting, Meyer was given her last check and escorted out of the building without warning. After asking the College of Arts Dean why she was being fired, she was given no reason for why she was being terminated. Many suspect Meyer was fired because of her fervor to start a conversation about social justice through art, something that the Museum was not used to.

# data[].attributes.headline
American MONUMENT: too controversial for campus?

# data[].attributes.subject
American MONUMENT: too controversial for campus?

# data[].attributes.body
Meyer's termination came five days before her exhibit in collaboration with lauren woods (artist prefers name to be written in lowercase) was set to open. The exhibit titled American Monument was to feature twenty-five vinyl recordings of police brutality against African Americans. The College Dean and the campus police claim they were not aware of the content of the exhibit and thus were not given adequate time to prepare for the uproar that would ensue because of such a controversial exhibit. However, woods claims that the campus police was repeatedly invited to meetings regarding the exhibit. After Meyer was fired, woods paused the exhibit and declined to move forward without Meyer as Director. The College Dean continues to claim that Meyer was not fired because of her involvement in the exhibit but still has not given any reasons as to why Meyer was fired.

# data[].attributes.body
Here is the statement released by the University regarding the firing of Museum Director Kimberli Meyer.

# data[].attributes.body
In the wake of Meyer's termination, many students organized protests against the University, claiming Meyer's had only been fired because she supported social justice movements. Students created their own movement "#UnpauseAmericanMonument" to bring awareness to the wrongful termination of the museum Director. Below are quotes from students:

“If you will not hire people who look like us or share our experiences as people of color then at the very least administration, faculty, and staff must be trained to recognize unconscious bias" -CSULB School of Art Concerned Students of Color and Allies

“On top of that, the school has a majority non-white population. Where are our voices in all this?” -Nicola Lee

# data[].attributes.headline
Students Petition to Reinstate Kimberli Meyer 

# data[].attributes.subject
Students Petition to Reinstate Kimberli Meyer 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Lauren Woods puts MONUMENT on hold after Kimberli Meyer's termination

# data[].attributes.body
After much criticism over the firing of Kimberli Meyer, the museum organized a Q&A/forum, to answer questions regarding the incident and to give students an outlet where they could voice their concerns. The forum did not produce any answers in regards to why Meyer was fired; Dean Parker-Jeannette said they could not comment on the reasons. Meyer, herself, has not been given a formal reason either. There are no plans to reinstate Meyer, though she is calling for her reinstatement alongside several students. The University Art Museum has appointed Brian Trimble as the Interim Director.

# data[].attributes.body
In doing research on what buzzwords can be associated with this event, I found a new word that I have yet to see but I believe is pertinent to the termination of Kimberli Meyer. Emotional intelligence is the "ability of a person to recognise, understand, empathise, and react to how people are feeling: including themselves" (Frank, 2018). Meyer's emotional intelligence amid the Black Lives Matter movement lead her to work for more than two years on an exhibit that would bring awareness to the decades of police brutality against African Americans. Inclusion is another buzzword that is associated in this case; American Monument was an exhibit aimed at creating an inclusive space in a very white dominated institution. Meyer was only trying to make students' voices heard in an age where their anger and frustration at the killings of African Americans is ignored and labeled as a violent outrage even though protests have been peaceful.

# data[].attributes.body
Kimberli Meyer finds herself in the same position as former Director of the Queens Museum, Laura Raicovich, who resigned after taking much heat over her political activism. Both women are prime examples of the departure from the perception that museums are neutral grounds with no stance on the politics of today. I stand firmly behind both Meyer, Raicovich, and others alike who have pushed their museums to incorporate politically progressive programs. As cultural institutions who serve to protect the cultural products of a people, museums should also direct their attention to protecting those people who provide the content for their museums. As the truth tellers of the world, museums are tasked with telling narratives as they are, without sugar coating the situation, and without the eurocentric filter that is always placed on the narratives of POC. Meyer was placed in a conservative museum that rarely stepped out of their comfort zone to promote non-white artists. What Meyer and Raicovich both tried to do was decolonize their museums and reinvent them as safe spaces for the marginalized, the underserved, and underrepresented. I think CSULB was not prepared for a Director that cared so profoundly about social justice, mainly because CSULB and their museum is only comfortable with superficially caring about social justice. The UAM at CSULB is more concerned with who they will piss off rather than who they will help through the exhibition of art. And in these situations those who will likely be angered by exhibits like American Monument, are the white male racists of the world. If CSULB cares more about not angering the white male racists, then it is obvious on whose side they are on.

# data[].attributes.body
Addison, B. (2018, February 05). CSULB's University Art Museum Announces Brian Trimble as Interim Director • Long Beach Post. Retrieved from https://lbpost.com/life/arts-culture/csulb-s-university-art-museum-announces-brian-trimble-as-interim-director/

Cascone, S. (2018, September 21). Fired Before Her Show Devoted to Police Shootings of African Americans, CSU Long Beach Museum Director Vows to Fight Back. Retrieved from https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kimberli-meyer-will-fight-keep-director-job-csu-long-beach-museum-1352266

D'Avignon, A. (2018, October 11). Union at Cal State Long Beach Leaks Email from Fired Museum Director, Revealing Divisive Perspectives. Retrieved from https://hyperallergic.com/465155/cal-state-long-beach-leaks-email-from-fired-museum-director-revealing-divisive-perspectives/

Morris, A. (2018, September 14). University Art Museum director is out just days before opening of groundbreaking exhibit • Long Beach Post. Retrieved from https://lbpost.com/life/arts-culture/university-art-museum-director-vacates-position/

Stromberg, M. (2018, November 20). Cal State Long Beach Students Protest    Museum Director's Firing. Retrieved from https://hyperallergic.com/471912/cal-state-long-beach-students-protest-museum-directors-firing/

Stromberg, M. (2018, October 01). Forum at Cal State Long Beach Provides Few Answers on Museum Director's Firing. Retrieved from https://hyperallergic.com/462840/forum-at-cal-state-long-beach-provides-few-answers-on-museum-directors-firing/