Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.
On the heels of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and in recognition of the countless African Americans who have built and fought for a better version of this country, we at the Foundation for Tacoma Students would like to share this opportunity to work in partnership and operationalize our collective commitment to being anti-racist.
On behalf of the Foundation’s Board of Directors and the leadership of Executive Director Dr. Tafona Ervin, we tenaciously believe that in order to truly achieve racial and social justice, acknowledging Juneteenth is an important step toward our ongoing commitment to anti-racism. Observing the day in history when African Americans were at last informed of their freedom from slavery on June 19, 1865 recognizes our country’s history of slavery while acknowledging the oppression of institutional racism that remains today, and is a step toward honoring the history of Black Americans.
We know this is just one step on a longer road to operationalizing our commitment to being an anti-racist organization. In the year ahead and in years to come, we will continue to look for opportunities to share our progress and encourage the community to publicly join us in our efforts. While we know that not all organizations can find it in their budgets to offer a paid holiday, it is our hope that Graduate Tacoma partners can join us in formally recognizing Juneteenth. We have demonstrated time and time again that when we come together magic can happen. We, likewise, hope this will initiate further action in our community to conceive policy and practice that actively works to undo systems of oppression
We encourage you to use the Foundation’s policy statement acknowledging Juneteenth to also recognize this day of rememberance with your colleagues
