Dear YAX community,

Black lives matter.

YAX stands in solidarity with the Black community and with those standing up against police murders of Black people, against systemic racism, anti-Black violence, and white supremacy. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that “a riot is the language of the unheard.” These words have become reality here in San Francisco and across the nation. YAX believes that the right to protest injustice and participate in civil disobedience is fundamental to a democracy. We must reject attempts to demonize or scapegoat those who are demonstrating for justice. As a youth arts organization, we believe that art is inherently political and we support our youth artists in using art as a way to voice their opinions and demand change at all times, especially now.

"Protect Black Lives" by Leena Barqawi, YAX printmaking student (Fall 2018)

This coordinated and militarized police violence is happening during a pandemic in which Black people are dying at higher rates due to a system that has and continues to fail them. Anti-Black racism is not only a social justice issue, but it is a public health issue and one that is so deeply entrenched in our country. We should be demanding to protect and expand community-led health and safety strategies, instead of investing in police.

We are grieving, we are angry, and we must not be silent. Now is the time to speak out against the injustice and oppression that Black people have experienced for too long. It is not enough to not be racist. We all need to play an active role in building an anti-racist society and fighting for justice.

Please do whatever you can, whenever you can. We must all work to end anti-Black racism every day, not just in this moment.

We’ve listed resources below that we hope will help you take action in a meaningful way.

Take Action:

Legal support: For anyone protesting, write the SF Bay Area National Lawyers Guild hotline number (415) 285-1011 on your arms in permanent ink. If arrested, call the hotline from inside jail. If you witness an arrest, try to get the arrestee’s full name and date of birth and call NLGSF’s Legal Hotline: 1-909-4NLG (4654).

Donate to:

Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee Bail Fund - a bail fund for those that do not have the resources to bail or bond themselves. Do not list your name when you donate to protect yourself.
Black Earth Farms - grassroots Pan-African and Pan-Indigenous farming collective doing community supported agroecology in the East Bay. Delivering free food to Black people who have been arrested, bailed, and injured from protests. Donate via Cashapp and Venmo.
George Floyd Memorial Fund - George Floyd was a 46-year-old Black man. George was murdered by Minneapolis police who knelt on his neck for 9 minutes until he could no longer breathe on May 25, 2020.
Justice for Ahmaud Arbery - Ahmaud Arbery was a 25-year-old Black man. Ahmaud was murdered by a white supremacist former police officer and his son who shot him while he was jogging in his neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia on February 23, 2020.
Justice for Breonna Taylor - Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old Black woman who worked as an EMT. Breonna was murdered in her home by Louisville police who shot her 8 times after they rammed down her door unannounced in the middle of the night on March 13, 2020.
In Memory of Tony McDade - Tony McDade was a 38-year-old Black trans man. Tony was murdered by a Tallahassee police officer who shot him on May 27, 2020 in Tallahassee, Florida.
Minnesota Freedom Fund - community-based nonprofit that combats the harms of incarceration by paying bail for low-income individuals who cannot afford to as we seek to end discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive jailing.
Black Visions Collective - Minnesota-based organization dedicated to Black liberation and to collective liberation.
Black Lives Matter - global organization whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
Reclaim the Block - organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety.

Reading List:
Consider supporting Black-owned bookstores like Marcus Books - call (510) 652-2344 to pick up or have your order shipped directly.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon
A Letter From Young Asian-Americans To Their Families About Black Lives Matter