Dear Friend,
Like so many of you, we have been closely following the developments around the country with regards to violence against Black Americans. We know that the civil unrest of the moment is in response to a systemic problem, not an isolated incident. As an organization, and as an Alliance, we want to directly acknowledge the effects of systemic racism on our nation’s young people—particularly young Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and actively engage in strategies to mitigate and prevent it in the systems that affect our nation’s youth.
Over the past several days, we have outlined why this issue is critically important to our work as an Alliance, and how we as an organization plan to move forward to more effectively fulfill our promise to youth. No young person can thrive without feeling safe, seen, and respected, and we know it will take all of us to make sure that happens.
On June 1, the Alliance released a statement, Racial Trauma and Young People: Why We Can’t Stay Silent, to articulate the collective commitment of more than 80 Alliance partner organizations to more explicitly address the effects of systemic racism in our work with and for young people. We thank those partners who have signed on to this statement and invite others to join us.
