To our community members,
Now is not the time to look away.
Especially for those of us who can so easily turn our face from seeing/hearing/feeling the injustice that continues to spread in our communities.
We cannot - should not - look away from the harm and trauma that is wreaked upon our Black communities.
The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are on a list that is TOO LONG; a list that should not exist.
These were people who desired basic human dignity and were denied this because of the color of their skin. They deserved to feel protected - to feel secure in their home with their loved ones, to feel the exuberant rush of running for joy and not fear, to feel safe that they would be treated with respect and decency.
These overt acts of racism are happening while the COVID-19 pandemic is magnifying the health and economic disparities that Black and other communities of color have been facing for generations. The “social change” that we say we want WILL NOT happen unless we address systemic racism and injustice directly.
Life can feel overwhelming- especially right now when you may be homeschooling your children, taking care of a loved one, stressed about a job lost, and/or afraid of going to the grocery store in a way that is deeply unsettling to you.
Please don’t look away.
We all need to look and to listen and to feel this.
We all need to understand this inequity on that deeper level - a level that Black people already innately know to the core of their souls, while other parts of our community are profoundly unaware.
This is not a simple task we can do alone.
The changes we all want to see - the good we all want to do - cannot happen unless we all act to end the visible and invisible racism in our communities. We will not see that bright future we’re all striving for if we do not target our efforts to improve the livelihoods of those who are being harmed the most by our unequal systems.
Please don’t look away.