Black Lives Matter - A Note of Solidarity
“The function of freedom is to free somebody else." – Toni Morrison
"If your success is defined as being well adjusted to injustice and well adapted to indifference, then we don't want successful leaders. We want great leaders -- who love people enough to be unbought, unbound, unafraid, and unintimidated to tell the truth." - Dr. Cornel West
Dear Literacy Trust community,
Literacy Trust serves school communities and students in ways that are guided by our core values of being individualized, impactful, and acting with integrity. In light of the tragic events that have unfolded we felt it incumbent upon us to reach out and to let all of our partners and the communities they are embedded in know that we stand in solidarity with you. Our community is reeling in this time of inconceivable loss and reckoning with injustice along with you. From the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color to the events of the past several weeks – the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade – we grieve alongside you.
At Literacy Trust, our mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of their race or socioeconomic status, has the opportunity to thrive. We are committed to serving school staff and young people in economically challenged communities throughout our city. We know that our young Black students represent a disproportionate number of those students across our city who have access to less resources. We believe in schools as centers for education and also refuge; where kids can be kids, and learn both content and social-emotional skills from adults who care for them. We have the privilege of working with thousands of families, mostly Latinx and Black, and we see the impact that racism and systemic inequity have on our young people and their families. We are here to support and advocate for our communities and to help them process their traumas.
We are resolved to turn these feelings of despair into action; to be a part of dismantling the systemic oppression that has created a culture where brutalization of Black communities can flourish. While we are overwhelmed with grief for our school communities, our city, and our nation, we are mindful that we have a duty to the thousands of children we serve and literacy is a social justice issue.
We have curated a specific book list about anti-Black racism and protest that's appropriate for first grade readers, which we invite you to use or share. We are committed to doing our part to achieve a world where Black and Brown lives can thrive, starting with nurturing our youngest learners. We believe that literacy is a critical pathway to lifting up entire communities.
We stand with the protesters across this country who are demanding justice and accountability for these individuals, and for the change we need to see to ensure this does not keep happening.
To actively do our part as an organization to combat the pervasive effects of inequality, Literacy Trust is doing the following:
We are currently seeking grant funding to expand our offerings to agency, school, and CBO partners to broaden our impact in the communities we serve.
We are improving our virtual offerings - which we developed quickly to meet urgent need - so that schools can hit the ground running in the fall and no student will have to wait to learn to read, whether school is remote or in person.
We hope that you find moments of peace, rest, and meaningful learning over during the final few weeks of this school year. We will spend our summer continuing to fight for the kind of education system and country we believe our students deserve.
In solidarity,
Salma Muro
Executive Director