Response To BLM Movement
BPHC is committed to our goals of implementing effective substance misuse prevention strategies in Burlington. As part of that work, it is crucial that we support an environment where everyone in our community feels safe, connected, and valued.
This week, people who live in Burlington will find a copy of our paper newsletter in your monthly issue of North Avenue News. We had intended to also distribute the next issue of our monthly e-newsletter sharing some of the same articles this week. However, we have decided this is not the week to highlight our own work. It is a time for us to be silent to honor other people doing crucial work to support health, safety and wellbeing right now.
We suggest that this week (and for many more after) our followers spend time to seek out, listen to, and support the advocates and organizations leading the hard conversations and supporting action to address racism, racialized violence and systems reform. We’ve listed a few of the VT organizations below – this is by no means an exhaustive list, but merely a starting point (please reach out if there are others we should share!):
- Black Lives Matter VT & Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Vermont
- NAACP – Rutland Area Chapter & Champlain Area Chapter
- Vermont Racial Justice Alliance
- Vermont Coalition for Ethnic and Social Equity in Schools
- Showing Up for Racial Justice – BTV chapter
- Vermont Peace & Justice Center
Our staff and board are committed to listening to others, learning, and examining ways we can connect our mission to the important work of those addressing systemic racism and elevating the voices of people of color in our communities and nation. In light of the death of George Floyd and so many other victims of racist violence, we created space this week for youth of color in our student prevention groups to come together for support and will continue to working with local youth to provide opportunities to help them use their voices for positive change.
For people looking for resources to have discussions with kids about these issues, here are just a few of the many great resources out there that we like:
- Center for Racial Justice in Education – list of resources for talking with kids about race, racism, and racialized violence: https://centerracialjustice.org/resources/resources-for-talking-about-race-racism-and-racialized-violence-with-kids/?fbclid=IwAR2PKkgEV2im6GRKAhY5dQxu4AePKJhOrouWj32_rISlPsXo5BvzIo8vpPw
- 31 Children’s books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance: https://www.embracerace.org/resources/26-childrens-books-to-support-conversations-on-race-racism-resistance?fbclid=IwAR18zbKHsSJUH8KO9wt2UWJXhdRAk38znHFIt-XncqcW-sLPDdxEhwFQU9c
- Resources for Discussing Traumatic Events with Youth: https://macmh.org/resources-for-navigating-conversations-with-young-people-about-traumatic-events/?fbclid=IwAR1H5CMVX3z-Hw8WKqRP53QyHHeUWbdBPF4nc0eAzYsj6d6IyHikN4X5dcM
- How White Parents Can Use Media to Raise Anti-Racist Kids: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-white-parents-can-use-media-to-raise-anti-racist-kids
Respectfully,
The board and staff of the Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community
