Dear YELLS Family and Friends,
We are in a moment where pain and hurt and despair are real for our community. My heart hurts for the breath taken from George Floyd and the many lives that have been lost, the families that grieve, and for our community that cannot breathe because they must carry this grief and fear.
Reflection and action are both needed to mend our nation. In this spirit, I want to share my own personal journey as a white woman working in the space of youth empowerment. When we founded YELLS in 2008, this country was about to elect its first black president—who had himself been a community organizer. There was shared—if cautious—optimism in our communities about meaningful progress toward equality of opportunity and greater racial justice. But this moment is not one in which optimism feels possible, and it is one in which silence about the violence that threatens black and brown families is impossible. I have dedicated my life, first as a teacher, and subsequently as the founder and Executive Director of YELLS, to working for those ends: particularly opportunity, justice, and access for youth who are discriminated against, marginalized, and brutalized by a deeply racist society. I have always hoped that the work that YELLS does—and my service to the Franklin Gateway community—would speak for itself, and that my commitment to our mission would be testament to my condemnation of police brutality and my support of and deep appreciation for my courageous black colleagues. But assumptions and hopes cannot stand in for strong and clear statements. In learning from the insights and wisdom of the YELLS staff, as we ready ourselves for summer programming, they showed me that I need to speak out myself, and speak personally, prioritizing both the values that YELLS stands for and those that I seek to enact in my own life. It’s critical I make clear that I in no way consent to or accept the pain, injustice, fear, anger, and despair that black people have felt for years. As an advocate for racial justice and radical change in our communities, it is both my personal and my professional duty to utilize my resources and acknowledge that we, as white people, have created and benefit from a system that has always subjugated black lives and suppressed black voices. I take on the responsibility of being on the front line: figuring out how to create change and respond to the historical and present-day violence inflicted on communities of color. I pledge my own support for the change-makers of color and promise action as a white person to uplift the work of my colleagues of color. White people have a responsibility to seek change first in themselves so that they can be in true community with black activists and black community members seeking justice.
I need to speak because George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery cannot speak. But I want to be clear that although these are the names we hear right now, this issue did not start with them, and if we don’t hold people accountable, it won’t end with them. Unfortunately, our youth share the burden and sting of racism that follows them each day, and many feel a duty to speak up in protest not only for themselves, but for others. We have staff that deal each day with racism and discrimination, and now they are pushing through their own pain in order to help our youth with theirs. I need to speak up and stand up so our youth and community know that they are not alone.
We’re an organization with a mission of empowering our youth to raise their voices and shape their community. And we’ll continue to do that work. We’ll fight harder than ever to do that work and ensure our work meets this moment and confronts injustice. This summer, our staff are battling a pandemic to try to wrap their arms around our kids virtually and help them cope with yet another trauma. We will do the hard work of helping our youth process what they should never have to process. And we’ll empower them to work through their feelings, find their power, and grow as problem solvers in this historic fight for justice, for equality, and for their lives. However, while I believe in the power of our youth, this is not theirs to fight on their own. We must each look inside ourselves and figure out how we can make change in this time, and in this moment. I commit to looking deep, being vulnerable, using my platform as a non-profit leader, and learning and growing so I don’t let our youth down. I call on every person to do the same. We believe in community, and we believe in progress through action, and we believe that together we can find hope.
Black lives matter, and we must be vigilant and act until this rings true.
In service and solidarity,
Laura Keefe
YELLS Executive Director
