As the devastation surrounding the tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade by police officers reverberates around the world and in our hearts, we want to reiterate our commitment to racial justice. This is an invitation to the white members of our community by the white members of InsightLA’s leadership to strengthen our solidarity with black people in our community and beyond. The murder of just one person should be enough to cause all of our hearts to crumble, and yet we know that violence against black people sanctioned by institutionalized white supremacy has been part of a 400 year long enduring history in our country.
What does white supremacy mean? As white people with compassionate hearts, we recoil from these words. They evoke images of neo-Nazi’s and domestic terrorism. But white supremacy also means the subtle or overt belief that white people are somehow better. It refers to an entire economic and political system that has been built and maintained on the beliefs of white superiority, designed to benefit white people and to oppress black people. We are steeped in it. There is no escaping that truth.
It is up to each of us to learn about ways we benefit from and uphold these systems without even realizing it. It’s up to each one of us to learn about, awaken to and heal the racism internalized from the cultural surroundings. As a community of practitioners, it is up to all of us to turn toward the pain of these truths together and allow our hearts to continue breaking open, to rightfully grieve, and to take wise action that moves us towards a truly beloved community.
Retrofitting a predominantly white organization to be a welcoming space for people of all races, ethnicities, gender identifications, abilities, and ages is messy work. InsightLA is actively doing this work so we can honestly walk our talk of diversity, equity and inclusion. We invite you, our community, to join us; let’s work together! To support our continued education, we have created an anti-racism resource page on our website that we invite you to explore and contribute to.
We are in the process of expanding our affinity programming for people of color and white people so that all of us can heal and grow in safe, encouraging spaces with folks from a shared experience. We aspire to create a truly inclusive multicultural space at InsightLA where everyone can experience true belonging and community, and to taking the steps necessary to get there.
Please stay in the conversation with us! Let’s continue to lift our voices and use our power and privilege to create change in the world we love. Let’s stand as a community with black people against state-sanctioned violence and for racial justice. Let’s help each other wake up and free our hearts so we can walk together lovingly in this life.
In solidarity,
Trudy Goodman, Founding Teacher
Mark Koberg, Executive Director
Martin Vitorino, Deputy Executive Director
Bill Resnick, Board Chair
Lisa Kring, Co-Chair DEI Committee