From the Pathways Vermont’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee
June 5, 2020
Pathways Vermont stands in solidarity with the movements to end police brutality and systematic violence against Black people. We recognize that systems of white supremacy culture run deep and the history is long. We stand with the Movement for Black Lives, the legacy of civil rights leaders, Black voices, Indigenous voices, the voices of People of Color (POC), and white allies supporting racial justice work.
We stand with Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Phil Grenon and Tony McDade. We stand with Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Manuel Rice, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Trayvon Martin, Alton Sterling, Neulisa Luciano Ruiz, Yampi Méndez Arocho, Monika Diamond, Serena Angelique Velázquez Ramos, Layla Pelaez Sánchez, Penélope Díaz Ramírez, Nina Pop, Amadou Diallo, Rodney King, Marsha P. Johnson, Emmett Till, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair. We stand with Queer and Trans Black folks. We stand with the countless Black people whose lives have been lost to racist, white violence and whose names we do not know or who have been un(der)reported.
We acknowledge that police work is embedded in systems of white supremacy culture, encompassing all the institutions we know. We recognize the disproportionate number of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people who experience homelessness is a direct result of a racist and white supremecist culture that treats Black bodies and people of color as the enemy. We recognize racism has a direct impact on mental health through the consistent experience of chronic stress, racial trauma, lack of access to health care, and myriad other impacts of oppression that have operated since colonization.
We are committed to actively engaging in the movement to end violence against Black people and to continuing to unlearn institutional racism as an organization:
- We will implement anti-racist training, including anti-racists texts, at hire and quarterly training for all staff.
- We will develop guidelines for being an educated ally.
- We will offer supports for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) staff and board members that are responsive to the individual and their work at Pathways Vermont.
We will continue the conversation about racism and oppression as long as the lives of Black people and people of color continue to be lost to violence perpetrated by white supremacy.
