Words are powerful, but there are no words powerful enough to describe the amount of hurt, fear, and anger we as a community feel about the deaths of Breona Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery. These are just a few of the names in the last few weeks, but we hold in our hearts the names of many other black men and women who have unjustly had their lives taken.
What we are seeing right now, is a time in history where we are forced to confront the very systems that many of us as non black women have benefited from. Systems that we’ve let idly pass us by. This cannot be a time of inactivity, change must start from within ourselves, our homes and our communities so we can better support one another and disassemble unconscious bias stereotypes that have plagued our society for too long. As we and our fellow Angelenos protest, demand reform, donate and write to our legislators and leaders in our community, we stand in solidarity with black communities and other marginalized communities in their fight for equality.
They say as goes California so goes the rest of the nation. And here at WNBA-LA, we will do our best to create real and effective change within the Los Angeles community. We are committed to amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and furthering the conversation in a meaningful way.
It’s in WNBA’s DNA to support people dismissed by those in power. In the coming weeks, we will be launching initiatives to help us achieve our goals of inclusivity. If you have any ideas about how we can improve upon the diversity of our programming, please do not hesitate to contact us. We aren’t perfect, but we are committed to learning and taking action in all the ways that we can.