by Heather Hedlund

The many recent incidents of racial injustice along with the ongoing coronavirus situation have spurred some members of the BelPres community to act. We'd like to share some of their actions here to give you ideas and encourage you in your personal journey. If you'd like to share what you've done, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can include it in future newsletters.

• I sent a letter to our legislative representatives encouraging them to advocate for the undocumented workers who are "essential" to keeping our food supply.
• In response to the unjust and heartbreaking killing of Ahmaud Arbery: I bought two copies of "Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice" from our local bookstore. I kept one and read it to our 4-year old. I gave one to a friend. It generated a great conversation with our daughter and helped us turn the page from conversations about how differences are beautiful to the injustices in our world in an age-appropriate way.
• I have been sewing masks and donating them to Jubilee REACH.
• As a white woman, I've been trying to talk directly to other white people about racial identity and help them identify themselves. I have been hearing for years about my POC (people of color) friends who are exhausted by whites asking them to provide the labor of education. We whites need to take it on ourselves to educate each other and not lean on POC to do it for us.
• Since we are extremely fortunate that our income is unchanged, we have continued paying for childcare and house cleaning services (that are obviously closed).

I have signed petitions at The Action PAC to advocate for justice for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.