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.

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).

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