I’m a resident in the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood, and I just received the July-August issue of the BWNA newsletter. I was concerned that the second page was the only place that referred to the protests or the unprecedented national conversation happening around racial justice. It made it seem like the national and local protests and police reform initiatives were deprioritized to articles about gardening parking strips, demolition dust, and a park playhouse.
Some context: I’m a person of color, and it’s been very important to me to live in a neighborhood with so much support for this social justice movement. One need only drive around to see the BLM signs, including the many hand-painted ones, to appreciate that this IS an issue our neighborhood cares deeply about.
I’d love to see the September-October issue make up for this oversight. I absolutely understand how very scary it must feel for the newsletter to talk about this subject, but it being scary is not a reason to not do it.
Imagine if the next issue of the newsletter featured a calendar of racial justice events happening in September and October that neighbors could attend, or interviews with Black-owned businesses on Fremont and 42nd, or coverage on the questions asked at the local hearings on police funding? I’d love for the newsletter to represent the neighborhood around this issue, since it’s clear so many of us care about it, and many of us are deeply personally impacted by it.
Big thanks in advance for listening. I can’t imagine you have an easy task, but it matters so much for our neighborhood association that the magnitude of this historical moment not be buried.