Dear Design Dance Community,
We, like so many members of our community, are heartbroken by the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless others. We stand in solidarity with those speaking out against racial injustice and we're here to support our students, their families, and our teachers through this healing and learning process. Over these past few days, our team has been looking inward towards one another, working to keep each other safe and providing the space and mental health support to respond to the traumatic events and outrage throughout our city.
Today, we’re looking outward to our community to share our belief that supporting our young people cannot truly happen until we dismantle the oppressive systems that put Black communities at risk.
We believe…
We aren’t supporting students unless we support Black students.
We aren’t supporting education unless we support schools in Black communities.
We aren’t supporting families unless we stand with the Black parents who fear for the lives of their children.
While the social injustices of Black communities may be prevalent across our news feeds this week, we understand the long, systemic racism in this country is not new and won't be gone by next week. We will be taking time away from marketing and promoting out Design Dance content to use our platforms to amplify and call attention to initiatives and businesses that are prevalent to the movement for black lives.
And so, our team is looking inward, examining the part we’ve played in creating the world we live in, and using this tragic moment as a reminder of our role in building an organization that is not only inclusive for all, but actively works against unjust systems of racial inequity.
Here are just a few small actions our staff will be taking in the coming week. If taking action feels good to you right now, please join us:
We’re reading this toolkit for fostering productive conversations about race and civil disobedience from CPS featuring a plethora of mental health resources.
We’re organizing by Phone Banking on Thursday, June 4th to activate white voters.
We’re giving to The Movement for Black Lives.
We’re learning techniques for talking to young people about racism and law enforcement.
We’re helping our community heal by reminding ourselves of the power of self-care in all its forms. and using this guide as a reminder of how to support our community through this difficult time.