Healing Vigil Brings Community Together
July 1, 2020
"I am George Floyd. I am Philando Castile. I am Jamar Clark. I am every Black person who has been killed at the hands of the police in the state of Minnesota over the last several years. I will not sit idly by. I will not say it's the politicians' fault. I will not say they shouldn't burn down their own neighborhoods. I will not say it's the protesters' fault. I will say that I want to be a Black American rather than Black in America. I want to live more than 8 minutes and 46 seconds and I don't want to say 'I can't breathe.' I want to be treated as human. I am a Black man. I am proud of that. But I want people to see me for who I am, what I bring and the things I can do in community." – James Burroughs, Chief Inclusion Officer, Children's Minnesota
Our community has experienced extreme pain and anger. Together, YWCA Minneapolis and YWCA St. Paul held two simultaneous virtual events to give space to grieve and honor the lives of those lost to police brutality and racism. Through our vigils, we came together to work toward healing and generate support for ways to enact change to eliminate systemic racism and police brutality among Black men and women. As we listened to community leaders, participated in a ceremony by Kalpulli Ketzal Coatlicue and watched a dance performance by ShapeShift, we connected in our unified hope to build a more just community.YWCA Minneapolis commits to fighting for racial justice. We do this work with you — together, we advance our mission to eliminate racism, empower women and girls and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.View the program below:
- 13:34 Michelle Basham, President and CEO, YWCA Minneapolis
- 15:16 Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue
- 20:10 Rubén Vázquez, Vice President of Racial Justice and Public Policy, YWCA Minneapolis
- 21:15 Sharon Day, Executive Director, Indigenous Peoples Task Force
- 24:16 Rev. Kelli Clement, Assistant Minister, First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis
- 28:46 Kaltun Karani, Founder of Hikma Academy and Author of “Intentionally Rising”
- 32:04 James Burroughs, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, Children’s Minnesota
- 36:22 Rubén Vázquez, Vice President of Racial Justice and Public Policy, YWCA Minneapolis
- 38:28 Dance performance by ShapeShift
Looking for resources to guide you in your antiracist journey? YWCA Minneapolis Racial Justice & Public Policy team has compiled a number of resources to help you heal, learn and take action.Learn more about YWCA Racial Justice WorkDonate to YWCA Minneapolis