The Belonging Blueprint: Designing Spaces Where Everyone Thrives

#LoveisTheBridge: Call 2 Action on Racial Injustice Killings

Written by Admin | Nov 12, 2022 10:28:01 PM
#LoveisTheBridge: Call 2 Action on Racial Injustice Killings (Message to Staff)

Greetings All,

Confusion and Anger and Fear and Dispair are alive in our nation, today.  Precious lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and countless others have lost their lives to the brutality of those who are called to protect them.  Many of you seek truth, justice, action, and peace.  Our Scholars and Parents are looking to us for answers. We are looking to each other for them as well.  

This morning the Leadership Team poured out our hearts to one another in reaction to the events of this week.  We too, are reeling and trying to figure out how to support each of you through this.  

As part of a brainstorm, we have curated some ideas and would appreciate your reaction and suggestions to what we have identified so far:

  • Whole Staff Zoom Call to support with processing our feelings; providing self-care strategies; and more
  • Town Hall Zoom Call with parents to provide a space for processing their feelings and access to mental health resources in the community
  • Outdoor Vigil at Bridge to provide a safe and nurturing space for community members to connect and be present for one another
  • Participation in Vref="https://www.universalhub.com/2020/more-protests-vigils-planned" >igil at Franklin Park on Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. near Shattuck Hospital entrance
  • Restorative Circles/Resiliency Groups to provide participants with ways of engaging positively with past acts of harm and trauma to begin the healing process
  • Summer Book Club
  • White Fragility/Ally Group
  • Weekly Breakfast Club (Zoom/Google Hangout) to provide healthy social conversations on issues of race, bias, and social-emotional learning & healing
  • Webinar with Mental Health, Public Health, Education, Law Enforcement experts who can provide resources, tools, and advice on how to manage the complexities of the social, emotional, and spiritual impact of being Black & Brown in today's environment.  

We welcome your leadership and participation in each or any of these activities and/or suggestions you may provide.  

Black & Brown Leaders have often driven the fight against oppression in all forms in this country. June 1st signifies the launch of #PrideMonth in celebration of the lives of our LGBTQIA community members. Audre Lorde, civil rights activist, feminist, American thought leader, posits: “You do not have to be me in order for us to fight alongside each other. I do not have to be you to recognize that our wars are the same. What we must do is commit ourselves to some future that can include each other and to work toward that future with the particular strengths of our individual identities. And in order for us to do this, we must allow each other our differences at the same time as we recognize our sameness.” 

We collectively can grow stronger for #LoveIsTheBridge with each heart, mind, and spirit that chooses to actively and intentionally engage in our development and healing. 

RESOURCES:

Love Liberates.
Love conquers fear, doubt, anxiety, and hate...
Love enlivens spirits to dare greatly despite the darkness.
Each of us was born in Love.
Together, we are #OneBridge!

Cheers,

Craig Martin
Executive Director