Dear Bridges Community,

We hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during these difficult times.

We are writing to make it known that the board of Bridges ESL 20-21 stands in solidarity with Black communities and the families of victims of police brutality incidents, including George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Regis Korchinski-Paquet and countless others. We, moreover, voice our full, unwavering support for the protests and marches that have swept the nation and world this past week. We are also thinking of our own community, which is made up of immigrants and refugees from all different walks of life and of many different creeds and colors, all of whom, we can only imagine, have been victimized and subjugated in one way or another by this country’s racism.

We recognize that now is not the time to be silent, and as an organization have committed to contributing a portion of our budget to Black Lives Matter, Black Visions Collective, Reclaim the Block, and the Breonna Taylor Memorial Fund. We are asking members of our organization and our followers to speak up and take direct action to demonstrate solidarity. Please donate to Black organizations and family funds if you are financially able, sign petitions to demand justice for victims, call local and state officials to defund police departments, and have conversations with your relatives and non-black friends about anti-blackness and racism.

Now is the time to educate ourselves and those around us. We are proud that our community consists of people from all different backgrounds speaking many different languages, and recognize the language barriers that make it difficult to navigate these conversations. For these circumstances, we point you here where you can find translations of Letters for Black Lives in many languages.

List of Black Organizations/Bail Funds/Family Funds: https://tinyurl.com/ycvxgsw9

Anti-Racism Resource List: https://tinyurl.com/y856legq

Please don’t hesitate to reach out directly to us should you have any further questions about how to best get involved in this fight.

Sincerely,

Jacy Scott and Johnny Gross

Bridges ESL Co-Presidents