Last week, we shared the following message with our supporters and partners. Please join us in uplifting the work of the organizations mentioned below – and many others – working on racial, economic, and environmental justice throughout Minneapolis.
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June 5, 2020
Dear Friend of the Parks Foundation –
This last week changed our city. We are all saddened by the racism, police violence, and the murder of George Floyd, and we mourn the damage in neighborhoods many of us know and love.
I have struggled to find words that can begin to give shape to the anger, sorrow, and loss we are feeling with our staff and throughout our community. I have resisted the urge to respond immediately. It has felt appropriate to wait, to listen, and to remain attentive to other voices in the community as this horrible story unfolds.
The mission of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation remains meaningful and even more necessary, but we will recommit to showing up for all the hard work to help move our community toward real racial equity in the public realm.
We support the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s first steps taken this week to sever long-standing ties to the Minneapolis Police Department. Parks and public spaces must be safe and welcoming for all of us, and none of us should be satisfied until they truly are.
Right now, there are organizations in the community that would benefit from your generosity. We are asking our supporters to please donate to these organizations that are working for racial, economic, and environmental justice throughout Minneapolis and especially on the North- and Southsides:
- Pillsbury United Communities
- West Broadway Business & Area Coalition
- Juxtaposition Arts
- Northside Achievement Zone
- Urban League Twin Cities
- Hope Community
- Migizi
We have a role to play in bringing forth voices and perspectives of a new generation that will shape our city’s public realm without ignoring our collective complicity in injustice. We are resolved to deepen our relationships and partnerships with organizations focused on justice and healthy community, and support necessary changes to truly become the city we’ve often claimed to be.
Sincerely,
Tom Evers
Executive Director
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Featured image: View of Minneapolis from Farview Park, courtesy of MPRB.