Standing with the AAPI Community
Dear BFS Community:
Brooklyn Friends School does exist as a Quaker Independent School to educate children on the building blocks of learning, and yet most importantly, we exist to partner with families in the shaping of human hearts and minds that we believe with all of our might will change the world in critical and necessary ways. Our students are called to use their voices and engage in actions against all manifestations of hatred, division, and injustice. With respect at the core, they are called to uplift values of equality, stewardship, peace, community, integrity, and simplicity. Although imperfectly, we work each day to clear their paths in ways that allow all of our students to exist as their beautiful, strong, and authentic selves, wanting them to never compromise who they are.
As such, we are called to pause in this moment and raise our voices and consider our co-conspirator actions of care and change against the growing hatred and violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community and anti-AAPI racism. Silence is something that we hold sacred as a Quaker community, and silence has purpose. This is a moment to use our silence for deepened reflection about our own beliefs, biases, and challenges in respecting and exhibiting compassionate care of others. It is a time to use our silence to contemplate how to use our voices and how to engage in positive action that equates to a lasting social impact that makes this hatred and violence stop. We cannot count on our success towards transformative and necessary change if we do not try. Hatred in all forms is simply unacceptable.
To our BFS AAPI adult and student community members, we stand with you. We are here for you. As a nation and world, we have much work to do to realize justice in ways that we can be proud of. As a school, we too have a responsibility to grow and always do better.
To aid in our collective growth and reflection, below are suggested sites:
Anti-Asian Violence Resources Carrd (Comprehensive collection of valuable resources)
In peace,
Crissy