Dear Phoenix Family:
On Sunday, Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old unarmed black man, was killed by police during a routine traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Police report that the officer thought they were using a taser and instead fired their gun by accident. This, as many have said, is yet another in a long line of excuses used to justify the assault on Black bodies in the United States. The loss of Daunte Wright's life - and so many other precious lives - at the hands of law enforcement is tragic and inexcusable.
This horrific event is part of an ever-increasing landscape of pain and trauma. Together, our nation is reliving the details of George Floyd's final breaths, as we witness an attempt to reinforce racial tropes in defense of his senseless murder. We continue to face incidents of excessive police force, such as that inflicted upon a uniformed Black army medic, pepper-sprayed during a routine traffic stop in VA. We are faced with anti-Asian hate and misogyny, as we bear witness to the murder of eight people in Atlanta. We are surrounded by continued gun violence -- mass shootings in grocery stores and schools, such as yesterday in Tennessee. We are inundated with efforts that suppress voters’ rights and limit the rights of the transgender community. And these examples are just a small sample of recent publicly-known events.
It is truly all too much. We are filled with anger, pain, exhaustion, and grief. In this moment, we call on our community to do two things:
Care for ourselves and one another. We must hold each other close and create time to provide ourselves and those around us love, support, and psychological safety, recognizing that each of us will have unique needs in this moment. We will use our classrooms, advisories, and community meetings as safe spaces for our students to reflect on recent events in the ways they wish to do so. Our Health & Counseling department is ready and able to work with students, and our school leaders have compiled a list of mental health resources for those that are interested. Please reach out if we can be of assistance to you.
Continue to take deliberate action. Let us be inspired by Vice President Harris’s words: “Dismantling systemic racism in our nation starts with demanding justice and holding offenders accountable.” We must continue to dismantle racist systems and policies and increase opportunities and justice for all, recognizing that the ways in which we each need, and desire, to take action in this moment will differ.
While we all have individual needs and ways we want to engage right now, what is important is that we commit collectively to active engagement, while we continue to affirm each and every whole person and to center equity and liberation.
This moment is horrific and comes amidst a period of exhaustion. We send love and support to our Phoenix Family, and especially to our Black students, alumni, teachers and teammates, families, community partners, and friends. This moment once again highlights the systemic racism and systems of white supremacy built into the fabric of this country, and we will not become complacent. We will deliver what this moment demands: our continued attention, outrage, action, and affirmation that Black Lives Matter.
In solidarity,
Eileen Callahan, Chief Academic Officer
Julie Duran, High School Principal
Margaret Gregory, Middle School Leadership Team
VaLonda Harris, Interim Middle School Principal
Sharon Liszanckie, Executive Director
Vanessa Shiu, Director of Systems and Operations
Eric Tabb, High School Assistant Principal
Lucie Torrey, Interim Middle School Assistant Principal