6/2/20 – The end of the school year typically calls for a celebration. Yet this past week has been one of anger, outrage, and sorrow.
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
–– James Baldwin
Dear Friends,
The end of the school year typically calls for celebration. Yet this past week has been one of anger, outrage, and sorrow.
What do we say to our scholars? How do we talk to them about senseless racial violence, police brutality and murder? How do we have these conversations amidst the emotional anxiety of a global pandemic that has disproportionately affected communities of color and upended all sense of normalcy? How do we answer the scholar who asks, “Will I be next?” or “Does a good education really mean a future of opportunities if the color of my skin makes me a target?”
These are some of the questions we have been wrestling with. While we don’t have all the answers, we know that we need to raise our voices and that we must do more.
Each of us can acknowledge the deep impact these repeated racial attacks have on our Black and African-American scholars, colleagues, friends and loved ones. We can speak up. We can listen. We can take action. We can be stronger, louder, and more tenacious allies.
We can be honest with our scholars — and ourselves — about the pervasive racism that exists in our country. We can share the painful truths about the embedded inequities in America’s criminal justice, healthcare, economic, housing and education systems. We can listen and learn from those who live those injustices every day, who walk in a different world than some of us — a world of threats and horrors that we do not know. And we can continue to develop our scholars into the next generation of advocates and leaders for a more just and equal nation.
We stand united with our Black and African-American scholars, families, staff, and communities during this tragic and painful time.
We are profoundly grateful for all of you who have demonstrated your compassion and willingness to join us in standing with our scholars and the communities we serve.
With deep appreciation,
Dan Katzir
Chief Executive Officer, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools
Catherine Suitor
Executive Director, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools Foundation
