Symbols of racism propagate racism. Symbols of hope propagate hope. Let's put Tennessee on the right side of history.

Based on current statistics in the United States, kids represent only 3.5% of confirmed cases and only .01% of deaths! In Kentucky, there has been ONE death in the 29 and under category – and that death, of a 6 month old – the one referenced in the June 5th Board meeting - based on admission from our Governor was not directly due to the virus. “While COVID-19 was not the lead cause of death, Beshear said, it will be counted in the coronavirus death toll, as has been custom.” https://www.wlky.com/article/coronavirus-contributed-to-death-of-kentucky-9-month-old-governor-says/32759141 Yet, in the effort to ostensibly protect them from this virus that is virtually non-existent in kids, we are instead willing to guarantee long-term damage to 100% of our student body?! We have “flattened the curve” here in Kentucky – but the reaction to this virus has robbed our kids of a normalcy that is imperative to their OVERALL health. And now, it is time to stop with these drastic measures that have already caused– and WILL continue to cause - harm to our kids. Of course we want our children to be safe and healthy!! Besides their physical health, though, we have to consider what will provide the best opportunity for academic achievement… and we HAVE to consider their social, emotional, and mental health. • Kids need structure. • They need adults - in addition to their parents – to help guide them. • They need socialization and peer interaction. • They need to be able to see facial expressions and for their facial expressions to be seen. • They need in-person instruction – they need their teachers! • They need sports and extra-curriculars – coaches, leaders, teammates, structured physical and recreational activity. • They need to be IN school, with their friends. It seems that the decisions being made are fear and liability driven, rather than being data driven or in the best interest of our kids. The data does NOT support the measures being considered and the current proposal does not allow for parent choice. If liability is a big concern, have parents sign a waiver! And allow parents that want their child to wear a mask or want to opt for virtual attendance, to do so. Everybody wins. Their OVERALL HEALTH should be the consideration of this administration and school board. And WE, as parents, are the ones that have a FRONT ROW SEAT to how all of this is affecting them. PLEASE LISTEN. WE NEED TO BE HEARD.

To Posse National, Posse Alumni, Current Posse Scholars, and all friends/supporters of Posse, Pain. Grief. Hopelessness. Fury. Exhaustion. For many of us we are experiencing the full range of these heavy but familiar emotions, yet again. Even in the middle of a global pandemic, our Black family is being hunted down like animals. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Justin Howell, Sean Monterrosa, Jamel Floyd, Freddie Gray, Korryn Gaines, Sandra Bland, Botham Jean, Jamar Clark, Dreasjon Reed, Ezell Ford, Michael Brown, Michelle Shirley, Redel Jones, Kenney Watkins, Stephon Clark, Laquan McDonald, Eric Garner, Eleanor Bumpers, Alberta Spruill, the list goes on. We Posse alumni and scholars are reaching out to rise in solidarity as “one Posse” against racial injustice. Based on the 2019 Posse Alumni Report, the Black community makes up the greatest percentage by race of our reported alumni and together with the Latinx community represents the majority. Therefore, the majority of our Posse community is facing racial injustices head-on and deserves to be supported by the organization, which quite frankly benefits from the systemic injustices that exist in this nation - specifically educational inequity. There would be no Posse without the Black community. As Debbie Bial explained in her June 2nd email, we too believe that this is precisely the time to tap into our collective capacity as an organization. But words like “leverage” and “network”, we are afraid, are performative at best, and complicit at worst. It has become evident that moral support and statements are not what drive progress. Action does. We request that The Posse Foundation publicly support, advance and adopt the three efforts below in a much needed attempt to combat racial injustice: A) NAACP’s 10 Demands We request that The Posse Foundation publicly support the NAACP’s 10 demands for all police departments. These 10 demands also align with the #wearedonedying social justice movement campaign. We believe this is a key step towards lessening police brutality nationwide and elevating the importance of Black and brown lives. B) #8toAbolition We request that The Posse Foundation publicly support the #8toAbolition campaign whose chief priorities are to “focus on concrete actions such as reducing police budgets, rather than introducing abstract procedural rules that are easily undercut by police”. Conversely, the 8cantwait campaign has already been adopted in a variety of states, yet continues to prove ineffective at curtailing the gestapo-like tactics that continually claim Black lives for sport. The #8toAbolition mission forces us to reimagine this country without police. A country that heals and nourishes communities of color rather than criminalizing and crippling them. C) Create a “Posse Peace Program” at Each Posse City Site We have seen organizations use their gifts/resources/power to put weight behind their words. Ben & Jerry’s issued a powerful statement calling for action to “Dismantle White Supremacy”. Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey donated $3 million dollars to Colin Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights Campaign.” LA Mayor Eric Garcetti cut $150 million from LAPD and is planning to reinvest in communities of color. Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian resigned from its board and is asking for his seat to be filled with a Black candidate. Even beauty companies are stepping up to the plate. Everlane is donating $75,000 to the ACLU and EJI, respectively. Anastasia pledged $1 million dollars and several others followed suit. Below are the ideas and on how The Posse Foundation can go about creating a “Posse Peace Program”: 1) Similar to PNAAC representatives, Posse city sites will work with appointed peace representatives in each city to fully support our scholars who risk their safety at protests. The representative will help disseminate protest information. They will remain peaceful at protests via adhering to a set of guidelines that scholars, alumni, and the Posse Leadership Team will have agreed upon.. 2) Allocate funding to gather/provide materials for protesters: face masks, gas masks, heat resistant gloves, protective eyewear, protective headgear, earplugs, elbow/knee pads, and water. While it pains us that protection is necessary, it is necessary nonetheless. In many states across the U.S. peaceful protesters have been met with violence, so we must take a “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst” stance. If you do not fear for your life the way we do, then your privilege allows you to do so. 3) If adopted, The Posse Foundation should publicly announce the start of the Posse Peace Program initiative to scholars, alumni, donors, employees, etc. 4) The Posse Foundation should also encourage members of its sites’ staff to be present at these peaceful protests and demonstrations. To our Posse family, we are certain we are not alone in feeling the urgency of this moment. Therefore, we have created a petition to solicit signatures from Posse scholars and alumni across the national network. Click here to sign the petition. To Posse National, we expect you to take these requests to heart & we look forward to collaborating in the very near future. #WeAreDoneDying and we are done asking. Lastly, if you would like to to share thoughts and opinions on the petition, the role of Posse in ending racial injustice, etc., click here. ---> https://forms.gle/4L2no82tDiDwcSNq5 Sincerely, and with Posse Love, Shaquille Anderson (Boston Bucknell Posse 5 and NAACP 2020 Next Gen Member) Gia Ciccolo (Boston Bucknell Posse 4) Nigel Henry Robinson (Boston Bucknell Posse 4) Alvaro J. Peters (Boston Union Posse 5)

The murders of George Floyd, Sean Monterrosa, Stephon Clark, Oscar Grant and many, many other instances of racism, brutality and murder by police, highlight the need for major reforms in law enforcement, including enhanced training, transparency, and accountability. We can no longer allow police departments to self-regulate. Too often, police misconduct gets swept under the rug, and officers are able to continue working or transfer to another department after documented instances of misconduct. Police are granted extraordinary power and authority over the rest of us and carry around dangerous weapons, yet they have less training, experience, or oversight than many others who perform valuable services to our community.

We need the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) to make a statement denouncing racism and systems of white supremacy. We ask you stand with us. Thank you to the "SLPs of Color" for drafting their original petition to ASHA. Please also directly submit feedback to AAA here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VFGBN5K AAA is the world’s largest professional organization of, by and for audiologists, representing the interests of approximately 14,000 audiologists, as well as students and faculty at the university level. Per AAA’s website, one of the core values is Cultural Sensitivity and Diversity, defined as: “to value diversity and to treat all patients fairly and equally without discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, creed, religion, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, or national origin.”  The deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd are just the recent accounts of police brutality (towards Black people) and white supremacy. As a large professional organization, even if white-majority, we cannot stand idly by. Our silence speaks for us. Our silence says we are complicit. Our silence says we do not care. This silence not only affects those we serve, but also students and professionals of color within the organization.  Furthermore, intersectional identities are, by definition, not mutually exclusive. You may know of the Black students, audiologists, and faculty members in our organization, but what about those who may be Black AND d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing? Our students and professionals also serve numerous Black and d/Deaf + hard-of-hearing patients around the world, either through service trips and/or their everyday work. How can you actively choose to remain silent and not acknowledge their pain and experiences?  As a profession, we are stewards of health and communication and are charged with improving the quality of life for our patients, clients, and students. This includes our audiologists and patients that are directly affected by the systematic injustices seen in our country. We implore AAA to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and subsequently our Black students and professionals.

In 1939, when Eleanor Roosevelt realized that the DAR was not allowing the esteemed Black opera singer, Marian Anderson, to perform for them on the racist rule that they only wanted white performers for their events at Constitutional Hall in D.C., Eleanor not only resigned from the DAR but also invited Marian to sing at the White House. As alumni from Roosevelt University, we stand for every person’s life mattering. We believe that we can make a difference in our brothers’ and sisters’ lives moving forward, with the understanding that education changes the world. With students learning about America’s racial history, we can help grow a greater connection to the principles of social justice that our university was built on. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/09/23/black-history-white-privilege-course-graduation-requirement-column/2389375001/ https://www.fdrlibrary.org/anderson

Given the recent events in our home state of Minnesota concerning black lives matter, we feel a better education about black oppression could have aided us during this time. To this extent, our education system has failed our generation and many before us. Our classrooms have ignored the plight of blacks and minorities, for too long. Please know, we do not write to condemn but rather to inform and improve. We want to change the status quo to build a future that benefits all, white people and people of color alike. We believe change begins with education. We know that TG cares about its students of color, but we need to see this represented in the classroom. Below is a list of alumni who support this initiative.

We believe it is necessary to educate and inform students about race, prejudice, and privilege at Wake Forest University. In order to achieve this goal, we believe that the university should incorporate education on racial issues into the academic curriculum, develop online training modules on racial bias, and enhance the diversity education included in orientation material. It is vital that Wake Forest University makes a permanent change to show that we stand with the African American community, especially in light of the racial injustices that have occurred during this time of civil unrest across the nation.

If we want to change the epidemic of mostly black men being murdered by police, we have to take strong action and this proposal is just one change that is needed.

These kids have been robbed of so much already their senior year due to COVID-19. Please don't take this from them as well. They deserve this!!! They need this!!! Please sign our petition so our kids can be recognized the way they deserve to be!!! Thank you!

If he is not immediately removed from office (and subsequently arrested for his multiple crimes against humanity), this country, with all the immense challenges it is facing, will not survive until November. He has made it abundantly clear he will not cede control of the office of president, regardless of the outcome. He has sanctioned the murder and open violence against the majority of the electorate by his sharing the despicable vitriol of a supporter stating "the only good Democrat is a DEAD Democrat". He has openly called for the unlawful and illegal suppression of our constitutional rights to redress our grievances and lawful assembly- as he did in his phone address to our Nation's Governors on June 1st, 2020.

This is to save what is left of the United States. We as Americans have to do our part in making sure we save our country.