As a school, we are shocked, outraged and heartbroken by the events unfolding in our community this week.
George Floyd was murdered in Minnesota.
And we are Friends School of Minnesota.
We have students who live just a few blocks away from where this happened. Where violence, pain and brutality continue as I type. We are holding those students and families in the light and hope for their safety.
The sorrow and rage many of us are experiencing is real. I don’t really have words for it.
All I can say is, at Friends School of Minnesota, Black lives matter. I think it is important as a school to say it explicitly. Silence enables the dehumanization of our community members.
George Floyd’s life mattered. As a school we stand in solidarity with our colleagues, students and parents of color, especially our Black community members. Their lives matter too.
This can not stand. This must change. Those of us who help shape the hearts and minds of young people can do better.
Schools must teach our students to see and value our shared humanity. We must prepare students to see the systems that continually dehumanize Black lives. If there is hope for something different, it lives in children who can see injustice and have the will and skill to do something about it.
As we grieve together, we hold George Floyd’s family in the light. We hold the Black community in the light. We hold our FSMN community in the light. We mourn with you all and share your sorrow and anger.
George Floyd was murdered in Minnesota, and as Friends School of Minnesota, we demand justice for his murder.
