For George.
For Breonna.
For Sean.
For Tony.
For Ahmaud.
For Black Lives.

Dear SJECCD Community,

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sean Reed, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery are among the countless Black people who were recently murdered due to persistent anti-Blackness and racist, targeted state sanctioned violence.

The vision and mission of our District includes advancing opportunity, equity, and social justice. As educators, leaders, and community workers, our voices and efforts are fundamental in this advancement. In light of what has been happening and continues to happen to our Black brothers and sisters, I am writing to encourage all of us to remain informed and diligent in caring for the Black community.

Here are ways you can support, even as we continue sheltering in place.


1. Contribute to grassroots organizations that are currently on the ground protesting and supporting protesters including the Minnesota Freedom Fund, Black Visions Collective, Louisville Community Bail Fund, Columbus Freedom Fund as well as local police accountability efforts through Silicon Valley DeBug.
2. Support the petitions and memorial funds seeking justice for George, Breonna, Sean, Tony, and Ahmaud.
3. Help to protect local protesters by providing them with needed supplies including water, food, masks, unmarked clothing, hand sanitizer, and bottles of baking soda with water to help neutralize tear gas.
4. Be mindful of your language. Words like riot, rioting, rioters, looting, and looters are racialized and used to criminalize Black communities. Consider others words like uprise, uprising, and uprisers. To uprise is to ascend--it is the practice of standing up against violence and one’s own and community’s dehumanization.
5. Share information about local Black mental health, support, and community services from Ujima Family Recovery Services, Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet of Silicon Valley, and the African American Community Services Agency of San Jose.

Listen to Black people with humility and raw openness.

Use this link for the hyperlinks found in this statement: http://wix.to/t8COC98.