June 3, 2020
To all students, parents, staff, and partners of College Bridge Academy and The Education Corps,
The recent killing of George Floyd has shaken our nation. This incident is not necessarily a new thing, however. If you’ve been around as long as I have, you’ve seen this same old story happen multiple times, year after year. Those names may not be known by most. Two in particular that have haunted and stuck with me over time include Margaret Mitchell, the 102-pound African-American homeless woman with a screwdriver who was shot and killed by LAPD on La Brea Avenue, and Tyisha Miller, a 19 year-old African-American woman who was semi-unconscious in her car experiencing a medical emergency in Riverside, and when the police broke her window to “help” her, she was startled awake and they shot her to death “in defense” 12 times, including 4 times in the head. There are countless stories like this, and the same pattern extends back hundreds of years.
While I think all people of good will agree that the recent George Floyd killing (and just so we get our facts straight, this was the 46-year old African-American man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who slowly suffocated as a white police officer held him down for almost 10 minutes with a knee on his neck) was a terrible and unjust tragedy, the level of one’s personal connection and emotional resonance to this event tends to vary. It is hard to adequately characterize the level of personal pain, anger, fear, and suffering experienced by African-Americans, in particular, in response to this incident. It opens old wounds, it reinforces a seemingly never-ending denigration and devaluation of Black lives, it hammers home a fear that “that could have just as easily been me.” Again, I know my words do not adequately capture the depth and complexity of this. But I wanted to underscore the sensitivity and realization that while all may be shocked and hurt by this most recent tragedy, there is a whole other level (or levels) to the pain for African-Americans. If I were to try to draw a metaphorical comparison, it’s like when a family loses a child. Friends, family, co-workers – we all feel that loss and grieve that loss, but it is the mother who feels it the deepest.
And so what are we to do in this situation? Like the metaphor above, one of the most basic things we can do is to recognize the loss and the unbearable pain underneath, and to come along side and support each other. This letter is an expression of that … it is an expression that our organization and charter school family stands in solidarity, grieving the loss of George Floyd and standing against the systemic inequities that surround us. We support each other, and particularly our African-American students, staff, and families, for many of whom this incident taps into an intimate pain that, like a lost child, only a mother can completely understand. Now, more than ever, is the time to explicitly express our love and support for each other, and to help hold each other up.
Secondly, as a school, it is our duty to educate our students … not just about math, reading, and writing, but about life. We will be spending some time in the next weeks providing a forum to discuss this most recent incident, and some of the surrounding systemic injustices that lead to this story happening over and over again. We will give students a chance to process some of their complicated feelings and pain surrounding this, and share their experiences. We will also work with them to focus upon solutions. Lastly, we will also be working together as a school staff to reformulate some of our curriculum and practices, to be more intentional about focusing upon social justice in the future.
Finally, from a big-picture standpoint, it is hard to comprehend how one person or organization can change the world. But collectively, through many different avenues, change can and does take place. Our charter was founded to help participate in the creation of this change. We are committed to working with young people, for whom the traditional school system did not work out for one reason or another. We strive to provide not only fantastic academic services, but also counseling, vocational training, employment opportunities, and college transition. We have assembled a staff of very dedicated people who truly care about the students and families we serve, and who ultimately want to help change the world through their efforts. Our mission statement states that we will create “small, supportive learning communities that meet the educational and personal needs of underserved students resulting in changed lives, families, and generations.” We promise that we will love, protect, and guide all of our students towards a better future, which we believe will ultimately help change the world. I realize that this mission doesn’t specifically fight back against, for example, police brutality. But our efforts are aimed squarely at fighting back against the underlying systemic inequities that perpetuate a system where a George Floyd can be killed. And as we carry out this mission, we will provide a holistic education and set of services, which involves making our students aware of the greater world of challenges around us and helping them navigate safely through this system in order to achieve a better future for themselves and the world.
Sincerely,
Noel Rauda-Trout, CEO
Los Angeles Education Corps
To all students, parents, staff, and partners of College Bridge Academy and The Education Corps,
The recent killing of George Floyd has shaken our nation. This incident is not necessarily a new thing, however. If you’ve been around as long as I have, you’ve seen this same old story happen multiple times, year after year. Those names may not be known by most. Two in particular that have haunted and stuck with me over time include Margaret Mitchell, the 102-pound African-American homeless woman with a screwdriver who was shot and killed by LAPD on La Brea Avenue, and Tyisha Miller, a 19 year-old African-American woman who was semi-unconscious in her car experiencing a medical emergency in Riverside, and when the police broke her window to “help” her, she was startled awake and they shot her to death “in defense” 12 times, including 4 times in the head. There are countless stories like this, and the same pattern extends back hundreds of years.
While I think all people of good will agree that the recent George Floyd killing (and just so we get our facts straight, this was the 46-year old African-American man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who slowly suffocated as a white police officer held him down for almost 10 minutes with a knee on his neck) was a terrible and unjust tragedy, the level of one’s personal connection and emotional resonance to this event tends to vary. It is hard to adequately characterize the level of personal pain, anger, fear, and suffering experienced by African-Americans, in particular, in response to this incident. It opens old wounds, it reinforces a seemingly never-ending denigration and devaluation of Black lives, it hammers home a fear that “that could have just as easily been me.” Again, I know my words do not adequately capture the depth and complexity of this. But I wanted to underscore the sensitivity and realization that while all may be shocked and hurt by this most recent tragedy, there is a whole other level (or levels) to the pain for African-Americans. If I were to try to draw a metaphorical comparison, it’s like when a family loses a child. Friends, family, co-workers – we all feel that loss and grieve that loss, but it is the mother who feels it the deepest.
And so what are we to do in this situation? Like the metaphor above, one of the most basic things we can do is to recognize the loss and the unbearable pain underneath, and to come along side and support each other. This letter is an expression of that … it is an expression that our organization and charter school family stands in solidarity, grieving the loss of George Floyd and standing against the systemic inequities that surround us. We support each other, and particularly our African-American students, staff, and families, for many of whom this incident taps into an intimate pain that, like a lost child, only a mother can completely understand. Now, more than ever, is the time to explicitly express our love and support for each other, and to help hold each other up.
Secondly, as a school, it is our duty to educate our students … not just about math, reading, and writing, but about life. We will be spending some time in the next weeks providing a forum to discuss this most recent incident, and some of the surrounding systemic injustices that lead to this story happening over and over again. We will give students a chance to process some of their complicated feelings and pain surrounding this, and share their experiences. We will also work with them to focus upon solutions. Lastly, we will also be working together as a school staff to reformulate some of our curriculum and practices, to be more intentional about focusing upon social justice in the future.
Finally, from a big-picture standpoint, it is hard to comprehend how one person or organization can change the world. But collectively, through many different avenues, change can and does take place. Our charter was founded to help participate in the creation of this change. We are committed to working with young people, for whom the traditional school system did not work out for one reason or another. We strive to provide not only fantastic academic services, but also counseling, vocational training, employment opportunities, and college transition. We have assembled a staff of very dedicated people who truly care about the students and families we serve, and who ultimately want to help change the world through their efforts. Our mission statement states that we will create “small, supportive learning communities that meet the educational and personal needs of underserved students resulting in changed lives, families, and generations.” We promise that we will love, protect, and guide all of our students towards a better future, which we believe will ultimately help change the world. I realize that this mission doesn’t specifically fight back against, for example, police brutality. But our efforts are aimed squarely at fighting back against the underlying systemic inequities that perpetuate a system where a George Floyd can be killed. And as we carry out this mission, we will provide a holistic education and set of services, which involves making our students aware of the greater world of challenges around us and helping them navigate safely through this system in order to achieve a better future for themselves and the world.
Sincerely,
Noel Rauda-Trout, CEO
Los Angeles Education Corps
