Just For Kidz Stands with Black Lives.

People gather to protest in outrage after the death of George Floyd, the recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and other victims of police brutality, in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 29. Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images. See more on this news story at: https://www.vox.com/2020/5/30/21275600/george-floyd-protest-photos-minneapolis-atlanta-new-york

We at Just For Kidz want to take a moment to respond to and mourn the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Tony McDade, and the thousands of other Black people and youth that have been killed or brutalized at the hands of police officers or have faced systemic and individual racism or oppression at the hands of white supremacy.

We apologize for the delay and apologize to any community members who were waiting to hear from us or were disappointed in our silence. We wanted to take some time to put together a statement that does not just pay lip service to the cause, but one that actually analyzed how we have been a part of the problem, how we have been allies, the actions we have or going to be taking in in the near future, and how we will be better going forward. Our timing decision is also rooted in the belief as stated by Tarana Burke: “this is a movement, not a moment.” Thus, we would like to reaffirm our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement when your email inboxes, social media, and news sources have stopped being filled with such support.

We are part of a society designed to oppress Black, Indigenous, and other people of color through structural racism, unequal access to opportunities and disparities in life outcomes, and violence from state, institutional, and individual actors. While the most recent examples have displayed themselves in the injustice and violence of the police and criminal justice system, non-profit organizations can often be complicit or complacent in racism by recreating systems of oppression in the name and aim of doing good. This can be reflected in a phenomenon called the non-profit industrial complex, whereby non-profits model themselves after/work with harmful and oppressive corporations or governmental institutions in a way that affirms/furthers the oppression they claim to fix or in a way that monitors, manages, and controls social movements rather than working towards transformative change. Another closely related way of recreating systems of oppression is through functioning in/promoting white saviorism, a complex or power dynamic whereby those with privilege serve those with less privilege in a self-serving manner and unnecessarily and inaccurately portray those who are oppressed as helpless, unfortunate, and needing saving. These complexes and power dynamics were used to justify practices like slavery and colonization that we now universally condemn as racist and oppressive.

Just For Kidz recognizes that it, too, has been a part of the problem. In 2010, it, too, was started on a well-meaning but misguided idea to “save other youth” who are “needy” and “underprivileged.” Such a narrative reaffirms a harmful power dynamic, harmful stereotypes about who gives/receives help, harmful emphasis on the need but not the oppressive institutions that caused the need, and the harmful assumption that those most affected by the problem would not be more equipped to solve their problems than those with privilege. For being founded and grounded in this ignorance at first prior to 2016, we want to wholeheartedly take responsibility and apologize. We want to be a part, but not a leader, of a movement that we know has long been led, championed, and fought — often at the sacrifice of life — by Black people and other marginalized communities.

Credit to @alyssaosasere. See more of her work at: https://alyssaosasere.tumblr.com/

In this vein, since we relaunched the organization in 2016 and gained 501(c)3 status in 2017, we have actively worked to dismantle the ways our organization may be promoting saviorism and narratives of “who helps” or “who receives help.” We operate under the teachings of The Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Friere: “No pedagogy which is truly liberating can remain distant from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates and by presenting for their emulation models from among the oppressors. The oppressed must be their own example in the struggle for their redemption.” We have:

1. Removed narratives about “those in need” or “needy” from our mission statement and rather recognized that these needs were created by a failing and oppressive system.
2. Refocused our mission on working WITH and empowering young people most affected by these problems to ensure they have access to the skills and resources necessary to lead their best lives.
3. Attempted to and continue to aim for creating a majority BIPOC Board of Directors since 2016
4. Paused our involvement with international projects knowing that we do not have a firm understanding of the problems facing young people there and do not have the capacity to bring about youth-led change there
5. Refrain(ed) from using “poverty porn” or posting/using inciting/emotional photos of those we work with in pitiable or destitute conditions as a way to fundraise or promote our organization, but rather sharing photos of our volunteers and those we support in positive, inspiring, and empowered lights.
6. Let those most affected by the problems we seek to address lead the change by developing trusting relationships with the community and letting their voices, thoughts, leadership, and stated needs guide our program development

We are inspired by the hundreds of youth across the country who have taken action against racism — those who have organized marches and protests, those who have had difficult conversations and attempted to change the minds of their family members, those who have advocated for local policy and programmatic change, and those who are putting in the work to educate themselves. To those who are condemning the few who looted, rioted, and caused property damage over the thousands of people who are demonstrating peacefully to demand justice, we would like to point towards a statement by Coretta Scott King that has always guided our work: “I must remind you that starving a child is violence. Neglecting school children is violence. Punishing a mother and her family is violence. Discrimination against a working man is violence. Ghetto housing is violence. Ignoring medical need is violence. Contempt for poverty is violence.” Our work actively works to mitigate the causes and effects of violence inflicted on children and families.

Here are some of the action items we have engaged in recently or are planning on engaging in the next couple of days/weeks:

1. JFK’s executive team is a majority non-black POC team, namely youths of South Asian descent. We recognize that the South Asian community has actively contributed to anti-black racism in America, and are both complacent and complicit in upholding white supremacy. We have participated in a few anti-racism trainings and conversations specifically geared towards addressing this issue within our own ethnic community. We know many of our youth volunteers/organizers are educating themselves, having tough conversations with their families, attending/organizing protests and marches, signing petitions and writing to their policymakers, and donating their time and money to pro-Black causes.
2. Just For Kidz has been/is going to get way more involved in Mutual Aid. Systemic change takes time, and we cannot wait for corrupt and racist systems/governments/institutions to address corruption and racism. We need to redistribute power and resources now, and in a way where those who contribute recognize that helping their neighbors is an investment in strengthening their community and themselves. We recently worked with the Wesley House to supply and package over 200 foodshare boxes for low-income families in the Ferguson-Florissant area. We applied for a grant to support a mutual aid project in St. Louis, and regardless of the outcome, we are partnering with community organizations like STL Mutual Aid and A Red Circle to provide school supplies for youth in North St. Louis County and get them involved in (and hopefully compensated for) meaningful mutual aid organizing themselves.
3. We are working on/helping organize a couple of youth advocacy and civic education trainings, focused on racism, police brutality, criminal justice reform, and the racial health disparities highlighted by COVID, for foster youth in St. Louis and low-income and/or minority high school students in New York City. The curriculum will be rooted in the history, philosophies, ideas, struggles, thoughts, and activism of Black people and leaders.
4. We are helping organize and promote the July 11th Children’s March in St. Louis aimed at dismantling the school to prison pipeline as a member of the Keep Kids in Class coalition. Please stay tuned as we will be posting about it ALL week! We hope you come and show your support!

Just for Kidz worked with the Wesley House to supply and package over 200 foodshare boxes for low-income families in the Ferguson-Florissant area.

Here are our long-term commitments to making our organization more anti-racist:

1. We will continue to break down notions of “those who help” and “those who receive help,” and ensure that those most affected by oppression are leading the change. We will uplift and promote Black voices, leaders, and activists doing work in the children’s rights and social justice space.
2. In all future efforts, we will prioritize the recruitment, hiring, mentoring, and promotion of Black and Brown youth. We will conduct outreach and recruit from HBCUs, school districts that serve Black, Brown, or low-income youth, state and community colleges, and youth organizations serving predominantly Black/Brown communities to serve in leadership positions. This will not be rooted in tokenism, or a symbolic/external appearance of diversity and inclusion, but in actively working towards redistributing power and access to resources and letting more Black and Brown youth benefit from the human/social/future financial capital and professional development that comes with working with an organization like JFK. We will work towards fundraising/securing funding to allow those individuals who may be prevented from participating due to financial barriers to participate.
3. We will strongly vet all future corporate partnerships to ensure that their values align with ours and that they promote anti-racism. We will start by divesting/cutting partnerships/not working with any company that uses prison labor to the best of our ability and knowledge. We will do similar vetting to ensure that future grant-making foundations, non-profits, and community partners that we work with hold anti-racist values and practices, are Black-led, work to bring power and resources back to marginalized communities, and do not recreate systems of oppression or uphold the non-profit industrial complex or white supremacy.

While we do not believe it is the responsibility of Black or other oppressed community members to educate us and we are going to put in the work to educate ourselves and communities, we always welcome suggestions, guidance, leadership, and support from BIPOC, low-income, or otherwise marginalized folks within our community. If you’ve read this far, we want to thank you. We also want to thank the Just For Kidz community for all of their support throughout the years and hope you continue to support us as we all further embark on (or begin) our anti-racist journey. We are committed to creating a future, through dialogue and meaningful action, where all children, regardless of race, caste, ethnicity, age, religion, national origin, sex, gender, sexuality, disability or economic status, are able to live a life of dignity free of violence and harm and reach their greatest potential.