Heartbreaking Events This Past Week

My heart is broken for the city of Buffalo this morning, where a white supremacist opened fire at a Tops market on Saturday, killing 10 and injuring 3. Eleven of the victims were African American, including a 77 year old grandmother who ran a food pantry. This horrific act of violence underscores the essential need for us as an organization to recommit to dismantling white supremacy and racism in all its forms. Each of us has a part to play, whether it's educating ourselves, speaking out against racism, or working to change policies and practices that allow racism to continue. My thoughts are with our Black community members who are grieving this traumatic event. We see you and we are with you in solidarity. 

I also want to acknowledge that this week has been extremely painful for the Native American community as well. On Thursday, a federal report initiated by Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, identified 400 residential boarding schools in the U.S. that operated from the early 19th century until the late 1960s. The report also identified over 50 associated burial sites of Native children, a figure that is likely to grow exponentially as the research continues. https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/inline-files/bsi_investigati... I am calling on the entire CDS community to raise our awareness about the history of boarding schools and the part they played in the attempt to erase indigenous cultures from this continent. To our Native American community members, we stand with you. 

In peace,

Shira May

President/CEO