06/16/2020
To our GELS Community,
The Global Ethical Leaders Society is committed to culturing a safe space where everyone feels seen, heard, and supported. We respect and celebrate both differences and commonalities. GELS stands in solidarity with the Black community, supports the Black Lives Matter movement, and drives against racism. We are here to speak up against racial injustices and advocate for change that our nation desperately needs.
In recent days, our executive board has been discussing what actions we can take to be better allies and to better support the movement. We recognize that there is work to be done internally within our organization as well.
Proposed initiatives include the following:
1. In addition to regular programming and discussions, we will be hosting speakers dedicated to the ethics and repercussions of socioeconomic disparities, diversity training, and amplifying underrepresented voices in our campus and community (this may involve partnering with other organizations)
2. Additional recruitment strategies (for example, working with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and student organizations) for greater outreach aimed at further diversifying our organization.
3. Continuing our plan to host ethics conferences and establish relationships with nearby high schools to promote a legacy of ethical leadership beyond socioeconomic barriers.
As always, we appreciate hearing from you and encourage you to reach out to us with your thoughts, ideas, and opinions, be it by attending meetings or by messaging us directly. Given that none of our current executive board is Black, we absolutely want to be sure that we are hearing from our members who are.
Those with the most privilege have the greatest duty to be actively anti-racist and work to dismantle the systemic racism that exists in our communities. Our organization wants to educate and learn more about how we can be better equipped to fight against racial injustices. We encourage our members to promote diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice. Below are a few links for donations and resources to help us continue to educate ourselves.
While we do not currently plan to fundraise as a club, we still encourage you to donate, if you have the means, to any of the numerous organizations working hard to make a difference. Before you donate, please do check whether or not a specific organization is still accepting donations as some have received overwhelming support (the Northstar Health Collective is one example) and are requesting donations be sent to other groups.
DONATE:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd
https://www.joincampaignzero.org/
https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home
https://action.aclu.org/give/fund-every-fight-ahead?cid=7014A000001Zs9uQAC&initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=sem&utm_medium=sem&initms=200114_evergreenun_sem-402136072219-85034108803-aclu-p_segmenta_ggl&utm_source=ggl&utm_campaign=evergreenun&utm_content=200114_sem-402136072219-85034108803-aclu-p_segmenta&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=sem&ms=200114_evergreenun_sem-402136072219-85034108803-aclu-p_segmenta_ggl&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInsa04Y6F6gIViI7ICh3iZAQaEAAYASAAEgKeQPD_BwE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInsa04Y6F6gIViI7ICh3iZAQaEAAYASAAEgKeQPD_BwE
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yLWGTQIe3967hdc9RSxBq5s6KKZHe-3_mWp5oemd7OA/edit
EDUCATE:
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
http://www.racialequityresourceguide.org./
TEXT:
FLOYD to 55156
ENOUGH to 55156
JUSTICE to 668366
FILMS:
Selma
The Hate U Give
The 13th
Just Mercy
Ali
Brian Banks
The Secret Life of Bees
Antwone Fisher
America to Me
BOOKS:
How to be Antiracist
So You Want to Talk About Race
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
They Can’t Kill Us All: The Story of the Struggle for Black Lives
Unapologetic: A Black, Q***r, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements
PODCASTS:
The Sunday Read: ‘The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning’ (New York Times: The Daily)
Code Switch
Floodlines (The Atlantic)
1619 (The New York Times)
Intersectionality Matters! (The African American Policy Forum)
Throughline (NPR)
Furthermore, June is PRIDE month and in light of recent policy changes, we also want to take this opportunity to explicitly state our support for the LGBTQ+ community. That said, we recognize that the Black Lives Matter movement is not only a two-week trend and our support for the LGBTQ+ community is not limited to this month. With your help and support, we plan to continue to take measures aimed at inclusivity based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, and more.
This is not the time to be neutral. We encourage everyone to be an active part of this movement and to begin advocating now.
Sincerely,
Your GELS Executive Board
Grace Zhang
Rachel Chan
Annie Du
Olivia Thomas
Ways To Help
