Black Lives Matter Statement from FCM Equity Committee
6/12/2020
Dear FCM community,
Recent weeks have provoked layers of heart-wrenching emotion in our country and our community—layers of grief, anger, pain, and other intense feelings. Our unrest is rooted in the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the countless other lives unnecessarily taken or impacted by police brutality and systemic racism.
The Equity Committee acknowledges the anguish that FCM families are feeling, especially by Black and Brown families in our community. We affirm the message on race recently shared by Rebecca. For our community and our children, we commit to answering the call to dismantle racism and reaffirm the value of Black lives.
Support, empathy, and compassion are woven into the fabric of the FCM community—these attributes make us who we are. As a committee, we hope to augment these traits as we seek to answer the question many of you have asked: “What can I do?” We believe this work is communal, and we are here to support you as we engage in examining and rooting out racism, including implicit biases and microaggressions.
The Equity Committee has curated a list of resources (attached) to support FCM families’ learning on anti-racism. Included are resources on how to have age-appropriate discussions with children on race and its history in our country, and specific resources for different racial groups. The number of resources on the topic of anti-racism continues to grow. Accordingly, this resource guide will evolve, and its curation will be an ongoing effort. Together, we can use these resources to guide our understanding, dialogue, and action steps.
It is incumbent on each of us to understand, acknowledge, and confront racism in the various spheres in which we have influence. We can then steward change, no matter how seemingly small, to combat racism.
“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” ~Robert F. Kennedy
In hope and solidarity,
FCM’s Equity Committee
