Black Lives Matter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We don’t believe it’s a controversial thing to say. It’s not a way of saying that other people or lives matter less, it’s a way to say out loud what we want to see: for Black lives TO matter, to everyone. And in our world, that is not yet a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Posting this now could come across as “jumping on the bandwagon”. We share here as a way to make it clear where we stand as an organization – we want to see an end to violence being enacted on Black people by an unjust system, an end to police brutality, and we want to actively participate in ending those things. There is also a great deal of systemic racism and inequity within the food system and farming, and if we value the work we already do in School Gardens, we need to make those issues a more intentional part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We’re not as far along as we ought to be; we should have said it out loud years ago, instead of waiting until after David McAtee, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, Sean Reed, and far too many precious lives were violently ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s not enough anymore to just NOT be racist; we’re working on what it actually means to be an organization and people who are actively anti-racist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We know this work of learning and unlearning is difficult, uncomfortable and sometimes painful. We also know that it is deeply important and those challenging feelings are so small compared to the actual pain and suffering that racism causes.
Here are just a few of the resources we’ve been learning from lately:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.drronbell.com\/post\/do-not-look-away<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/projects.tampabay.com\/projects\/2017\/investigations\/florida-police-shootings\/if-youre-black\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.tolerance.org\/magazine\/fall-2018\/what-is-white-privilege-really<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n