Our Communities Cannot Wait

“As Jacob Blake fights for his life, his kids are fighting off their trauma.”
– Ibram X. Kendi

Jacob Blake’s experience is an all too frequent experience for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in this country.

His children watched their father shot, in the back, SEVEN times, in their community, in their car, by police. The layers of trauma they are now fighting are not just from this event but contextualized in culturally-biased racism, and generational trauma. Beyond police brutality, these layers of trauma include historical oppression which impacts the health and well-being of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, as evidenced by COVID-19 continuing to devastate Black and Brown communities much more than their white counterparts. 

We continue to witness ongoing oppression and more incidents of violence against Black people despite worldwide social uprisings calling for justice and reform.  These unanswered calls and continuous acts of violence are creating lasting damage for young people and their families.  Any choice to remain complacent is a choice to be complicit in perpetuating this damage.

We join with our member communities and national partners in calling for immediate justice and swift change. Our communities cannot wait. 

Youth Collaboratory continues to maintain a list of resources to support the imperative work of being actively anti-racist. Additionally, as communities, families, and organizations begin to work through the impact of these traumas, Youth Collaboratory welcomes you to review and utilize our tip sheet on engaging youth impacted by violence and trauma,  toolkit module addressing the impact of stress and trauma on children, as well as our toolkit on trauma-informed mentoring.  We know these resources are just a starting place, but we hope they may be useful during these increasingly difficult and traumatic times.