Yesterday, the board of directors approved a statement on racism. We have posted it to the band website, at https://siliconvalleypipeband.org/announcements. This is not a new position for our organization; we have always affirmed that racism has no place here. However, we felt it was important not to stand silent while people are crying out for justice. Stay safe. Stay healthy.

Stephen and band board members, thank you very much for the statement -- I appreciate and wholeheartedly agree with and support it. Well done. As it suggests, it's a good starting point. In that spirit and to take it a step further, I'd like to pass along to everyone something that was posted recently on the NextDoor site which I found very helpful and interesting. This is a very comprehensive list of books, articles, videos, podcasts, etc. all intended to help white people deepen their understanding of racism. No matter how enlightened and non-racist we may believe ourselves to be, it turns out there is still a lot more we can learn and increase our awareness. Here is the list: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic So far, I have only read a few of the articles -- and all are excellent -- but this one in particular (notwithstanding a few typos) is extremely illuminating and thought-provoking: http://convention.myacpa.org/houston2018/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf Jeff ________________________________ From: Stephen Beitzel <sbeitzel(a)pobox.com> Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2020 9:36 AM To: allband(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org <allband(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org> Subject: [Allband] Statement on Racism Yesterday, the board of directors approved a statement on racism. We have posted it to the band website, at https://siliconvalleypipeband.org/announcements. This is not a new position for our organization; we have always affirmed that racism has no place here. However, we felt it was important not to stand silent while people are crying out for justice. Stay safe. Stay healthy.

Board: Thank you for crafting a message that makes clear our values and is constructed in a way that encourages us to confront and discuss our conscious and unconscious biases. Importantly, the message does not convey optical allyship (i.e., saying black lives matter to look “woke” to the political moment, but not doing anything substantive beyond that). Jeff: Well put. I agree wholeheartedly. It is one thing to make a statement, but that good start needs to be followed with action on our part to ensure that our message does not become an act of optical allyship. Thank you for continuing the conversation with the reading sources. All: The events over the past two weeks have been heavy on my heart, especially as a member of a community which is uniquely impacted by these events. If you follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram, you might have noticed. I am sure that many of you are also affected, even if you haven’t been expressing it on social media. I understand that everyone is processing and reacting in their own way and that there isn’t one “right” way to go about it. It’s awkward and we don’t want to step on any toes, but we also have strong feelings. I avoided band practice this week because of this tension. And then on top of that, I’ve been feeling guilty for skipping practice. Anybody else feeling this struggle? I am so happy that the board created a safe space for us to discuss how these events are impacting us. This is exactly what allyship and family is all about. Would anybody be willing to join me in a Zoom discussion? Without prescribing the topics or flow of the conversation, we could start off the discussion by talking about the ways in which our community is uniquely impacted, and we can also discuss the articles that Jeff shared. Much love, Lesley > On Jun 6, 2020, at 11:10 AM, Jeff Gordon <notcar24(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > > Stephen and band board members, thank you very much for the statement -- I appreciate and wholeheartedly agree with and support it. Well done. As it suggests, it's a good starting point. In that spirit and to take it a step further, I'd like to pass along to everyone something that was posted recently on the NextDoor site which I found very helpful and interesting. This is a very comprehensive list of books, articles, videos, podcasts, etc. all intended to help white people deepen their understanding of racism. No matter how enlightened and non-racist we may believe ourselves to be, it turns out there is still a lot more we can learn and increase our awareness. > > Here is the list: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic <https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic> > > So far, I have only read a few of the articles -- and all are excellent -- but this one in particular (notwithstanding a few typos) is extremely illuminating and thought-provoking: http://convention.myacpa.org/houston2018/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf <http://convention.myacpa.org/houston2018/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf> > > Jeff > > > From: Stephen Beitzel <sbeitzel(a)pobox.com <mailto:sbeitzel(a)pobox.com>> > Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2020 9:36 AM > To: allband(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org <mailto:allband(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org> <allband(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org <mailto:allband(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org>> > Subject: [Allband] Statement on Racism > > Yesterday, the board of directors approved a statement on racism. We > have posted it to the band website, at > https://siliconvalleypipeband.org/announcements <https://siliconvalleypipeband.org/announcements>. This is not a new > position for our organization; we have always affirmed that racism has > no place here. However, we felt it was important not to stand silent > while people are crying out for justice. > > Stay safe. Stay healthy. > > _______________________________________________ > Allband mailing list -- allband(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org <mailto:allband(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org> > To unsubscribe send an email to allband-leave(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org <mailto:allband-leave(a)lists.siliconvalleypipeband.org>