Each and every day, people of color wake to a country rife with racism and inequality. Each and every day, people of color — our family and friends, neighbors, and co-workers — face aggressions that take away their dignity, their self-worth, their livelihoods, and their lives.
There is more than COVID-19 plaguing our country, institutional racism is breaking us. It killed George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many more.
In a year that was meant to herald the fresh hope of a new decade, we instead find ourselves mired in a pattern of racist violence and the resulting anger and frustration of people who have waited too long for justice. Those of you who remember the fight for civil rights during the Johnson administration remember that it, too, was volatile and explosive, a juxtaposition of peaceful protests by “flower children” that ended all too often with riot police, tear gas, rubber bullets, and curfews.
Your community action agency, LEO, was founded during those times of upheaval to change the conditions that conscripted Black Americans to second-class status, to dead-end jobs and segregated neighborhoods. LEO, and community action agencies across the country, was meant to establish a credible path towards opportunity and equality.
Amidst the turbulence today, our mission will not waver. We remain committed to strengthening the Greater Lynn community through resources and services that provide opportunities for children, families and individuals to thrive. We will continue to partner actively with residents of Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Nahant, Saugus, Swampscott, and Wakefield to increase participation in programs that maximize their potential.
Too little has changed in America in 55 years. People of color continue to be suppressed by a lack of opportunity due to the adverse effects of systemic racism. Lynn households remain among those in the state with the lowest median incomes and the poorest education and health outcomes.
As a community action agency, it is central to our mission to identify and address disparities resulting from income, race, and ethnicity. It is our moral imperative to actively engage in advocacy at the federal, state, and local level, to raise up the existence of economic and public policies that create disparities and leave people of color behind their white neighbors. It is our responsibility to denounce all forms of violence, to commit to being anti-racist, to speak out rather than remain silent, and to work peacefully for meaningful social justice.
At LEO, I know firsthand that we work towards a brighter future for every human being in our service area. Every call is answered with respect and compassion; we go the extra distance to help an individual through a referral; we respond calmly and rationally to a child acting out from trauma and fear.
My commitment to LEO and to the Greater Lynn community is to continue to identify and address racial disparities as well as to seek resources that can help us to learn and to evolve together, to make the time for us to engage in dialogue that is open, genuine, and non-judgmental. My door is open, come to me directly.
I remain so very proud of all that we do here at LEO.
We are a team that makes a genuine difference.
Birgitta S. Damon is the chief executive officer of Lynn-based Leading through Empowering Opportunities.
