(June 2020) Across the country, we are witnessing with pain and indignation the protests to combat the persisting violence and systemic racism towards the Black community. We condemn this persistent racial injustice in a clear and unequivocal voice.
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. Ahmaud Arbery. Each a human being. A world that is lost. Eric Garner. Trayvon Martin. Tamir Rice. Stephon Clark. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Emmett Till. And so many, many more.
On June 3rd SMART staff stopped our usual business and intensive work in solidarity with our Black and African American staff, Scholars, and communities. We created necessary space to reflect on our own experiences with racial injustice and the way race shows up in our lives.
In the face of racial injustice, at SMART we continue to affirm our commitment to ensuring our Scholars meet their full potential. This means also affirming what should be obvious: Black lives matter.
We work tirelessly to ensure equitable access to opportunity. And we know that for our Scholars to fully thrive, the social conditions of White supremacy and the social systems that oppress Black people must be acknowledged and confronted head on.
We want our Scholars, their families, our staff, and volunteers, to be able to show up in their whole selves. If we do this hard work together, then our Scholars can grow, thrive, and lead a better future for our communities.
However, saying a better world is possible, with no action, is merely wishing. We continue to push ourselves, and urge you, to move beyond wishing into hope. Unlike wishing, hope involves looking forward and taking action.
Here are resources and ways to act and meet this moment:
Donate: We appreciate your generous support of SMART’s educational vision! We also encourage you to support our partners at Urban Ed Academy. Based in the Bayview neighborhood, UEA is a San Francisco nonprofit organization working toward education equity by increasing the number of Black and Brown male teachers in classrooms.
