Taking Collective Action for Racial Justice

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Racial equity for students in Marin will be achieved when race and ethnicity no longer predict the outcome of a young person's educational future. As a Marin Promise Partner, our organization commits to identify and dismantle racial inequities, and to provide equity-based supports so that our most vulnerable children can achieve their full potential.

-- Marin Promise Partnership Racial Equity Statement

On Behalf of the Marin Promise Partnership,

We believe every child should have the opportunity to succeed in school and in life, cradle to career. Marin Promise Partners refuse to settle for a world in which a child’s potential is dictated by race, ethnicity, zip code or circumstance.

We know racism is the root of many problems across our country. Recent events, particularly the killings of Black men and women including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, again bring to light the structural racism inherent in our society.

Marin Promise Partnership mourns the loss of these precious lives, and we extend our deepest condolences to their loved ones and communities. As a partnership that is deeply committed to educational equity, we feel the pain racial injustices have caused throughout the country and in Marin.

To instill equity deeper into our operations and across the partnership, we work every day to:

Make racial disparity gaps in education public and visible by publishing and continuously updating our Cradle to Career Progress Report.

Build a common understanding of racial justice and to publicly post racial equity statements like the one adopted by the Partnership.

Support one another in continuously improving our cultural responsiveness.

Recommit ourselves to recruiting and retaining people of color to lead our organizations and the Partnership.

Partner with other California Cradle to Career networks to influence local and state-wide policy that addresses structural racism.

Continue to listen and learn collectively, reaching out to local organizations working for racial equity (click here to read partner statements).

We know our work is important, and we know we cannot do it alone. In order for our youth to have a chance at an equitable future, we must work together, holding ourselves and our institutions accountable by using leveraging assets such as student lived experience, community partner expertise and data that exposes the systemic racism in our country and our community. Led by communities of color and listening to their experiences, together we can build more equitable systems.

We must not remain silent.

In solidarity,

The Backbone Team

P.S. The Backbone Team would also like to share a list of book recommendations that can be used to continue the work of educating ourselves on race, racism, and white supremacy.

Marin Promise Partnership | marinpromisepartnership.org