Dear OppNet,
The past two weeks have caused an emotional whiplash in our community. While we build our individual, collective, and institutional resilience, we also strive for moments of grace and respite to keep us going. We were able to extend grace to one another, but we were not given the respite we needed.
As George Floyd’s daughter and loved ones miss him everyday, they now continue to grieve with the basic accountability of Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict.
20-year old Duante Wright’s family, 13-year old Adam Toledo’s family, and 16-year old Ma'Khia Bryant’s family spend their waking moments yearning to hug them, to love them, to laugh with them. Their futures were stolen because we live in a country where the lives of Black communities and communities of color are devalued and deemed worthy only when convenient.
The AAPI community continues to reel from having targets on our backs in our day-to-day lives––when we walk down the street, when we go get groceries. We urge our elders to stay home and tell loved ones “text/call when you get home safely” a dozen times a day. We limit our movements because we can’t limit the violence.
10-year old Kai Shapley paused her childhood to tell a roomful of politicians and adults to not hate her and her existence because transkids like her deserve to live full lives.
Everyday, we face a news cycle filled with stories of relentless harm toward our communities. We bear the unjust burden of parlaying loss into hope, harm into grace, grief into justice. Yet you see us persisting. We persist because our collective resistance is rooted in mutual care, love, and hope.
In service,
AiLun Ku
President & CEO
The Opportunity Network
