We cannot be silent in the face of continued and constant racism, anti-Black violence and police brutality. The deaths of Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and George Floyd, Jr. at the hands of police officers and of Ahmaud Arbery by two white men are outrageous and devastating. Our individual and collective grief is palpable.
Amara stands in solidarity with the Black community in Western Washington and communities across the country who are protesting, speaking out, and expressing outrage. We are heartened by and grateful for the work of organizations like the Northwest Community Bail Fund, the Tacoma Urban League, and Black Lives Matter Seattle King County and encourage you to donate and support their work. Our White community members can and should access anti-racism resources here. And we can uplift and center the voices and experiences of those who dedicate themselves to advocating for change including Rachel Cargle, Nikkita Oliver, Ijeoma Oluo, Erin Jones, and Angela Tucker.
We also stand with our colleagues of color—particularly our Black colleagues. While incidents like the ones we’ve witnessed in the last week are deeply disturbing to all of us, we know that they impact Black and Brown people in a way that white people cannot possibly comprehend. Anti-Blackness is deeply embedded in our society – and that includes the child welfare system, of which Amara is a part. It is incumbent upon Amara to not only speak up during times of extremely public displays of racism but to invest in and do the work of changing the systems that keep Black and Indigenous children at greater risk of being separated from their families and placed in foster care. That means we must show up every day with the desire to create real, deep, lasting change; to look at ourselves and challenge our own racism and to forge forward until justice is achieved.