My colleague Veronica Young, on behalf of CFA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, shared this note along with some resources with CFA brigade leads yesterday evening:
Hello all,
In regards to the murder of George Floyd and the necessary uprising against police brutality and racial injustice in the United States, I’d like to share a note from Code for America’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee which two members of the Network team (Meredith and myself, Veronica) sit on:
For those who are hurting right now, many of us feel your pain. For those who are sympathetic to what is going on right now, we want to support you in helping those affected by both the tragic events that have happened recently, and the ongoing systemic racism that plagues our communities and infrastructures.
We are extremely proud of the work that every individual as part of the Code for America Network does in order to serve our populations, many of which are most vulnerable. We also painstakingly know that there is so much work that needs to be done in dismantling the systems that have led to systemic and ongoing racial inequality. And work to be done within ourselves. We want to support you in showing up and doing that work.
Code for America’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and Black employees at CfA engaged in a collaborative process to create an Anti-racism, Accountability, and Support Resources document that lists out:
- Our guiding principles and values on racism
- Organizing and donating resources
- Educational resources to learn more about the history of racism and its manifestations.
- Resources for Code for America staff
We know that there are people in the Network who want to support racial justice work, and are wondering how Brigades can be involved. We ask that you start by following the calls to action and supporting the organizations that have been doing this work in many cases, for generations, and are led by Black people and voices. You can find resources for these calls to action and support in the Resources document. If you are looking for language that your Brigade can use when discussing this issue, please see Code for America CEO Amanda Renetria’s statement. Thank you for the work that you do and for continually showing up for your communities.
-The Code for America Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee