A STATEMENT FOR METRO WEST:
The foundation of the United States is built on colonialism, racism, and white supremacy. Since the inception of our country, every system developed perpetuates these ideals and violently oppresses our Black and Brown communities. Racism, white supremacy, police brutality – and every form of individual, interpersonal, institutional, and structural systemic oppression – is abhorrent and must be urgently dismantled. We stand in solidarity with our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and seek to become allies in the work to deconstruct the underlying framework of our inequitable society.
We support the Black Lives Matter movement and are committed to being actively anti-racist as we continue to engage with our community. We will align ourselves with organizations embedded in and intentionally leading the movement as we learn from, engage with, and celebrate our BIPOC communities. We pledge to donate funding to local organizations in support of their dedication to this work. In addition, we will continue educating ourselves, our residents, and our stakeholders in anti-racist ideology in the pursuit of a more equitable and just community.
We have a sense of urgency to combat the transgressions of our country. We condemn performative ally-ship and urge our colleagues, stakeholders, business owners, and residents to do the same. Our basic community structures – housing, healthcare, education, economic opportunity, food access – and the inherent inequities that manifest within them, can and have been reimagined. Together, it is our responsibility to battle these inequities and uplift the voices that have cried out for change for centuries.
“When tyranny is law, revolution is order.” -Don Pedro Albizu Campos