Dear Community:

It is with deep pain that we write this today.

Pain for George Floyd. Pain for Breonna Taylor. Pain for Ahmaud Aubery. Pain for so many Black lives lost – taken – because we as a community and as a country have not valued Black lives as we should and must. Pain for the loss of our own humanity that permits us to live in an unjust society, to remain unmoved and unchanged in the face of deep injustice and inequity. Pain that we can and do say: “Minneapolis is not us.” “Ferguson is not us.” Pain that because of our inaction, more lives will inevitably be lost. Today in Minneapolis. Tomorrow anywhere. And everywhere.

For us at Maine Initiatives, this pain is individual and collective. We all feel it and own it. For us at Maine Initiatives, this pain can only be cleansed through taking action. We affirm that we can and must change: ourselves, our communities, our systems and our culture. We must prioritize and support the lives and flourishing of our Black neighbors and communities.

We are doing this and will do this by supporting the Black-led organizations and the Black leaders in our community that are doing the work that belongs to all of us: clamoring for justice and demanding that our communities and our state be safe and just and fair.

Because it still isn’t. And because it isn’t, our work is not yet done.

In Solidarity,

The Board and Staff of Maine Initiatives