Dear RISE Family,
As an anti-racist organization, we base our practices on liberatory culture–our way of intentionally divesting from white supremacy culture which means we work to create conditions for our children, families, and staff to thrive and live a life full of choices. One important element of this way of being is finding the “and” in all situations. You see, in white supremacy culture, there tends to be “either/or thinking”… things are either good OR bad, right OR wrong, you are with us OR against us–you get the point. This is a scarcity mindset that limits our ability to achieve our greatest potential.
At RISE, we replace this scarcity mindset with an abundance mindset and believe that instead of responding to challenges through “either/or thinking,” we view the challenges as an opportunity to find the “and.” Finding a location for RISE is an example of how we’re operationalizing liberatory culture at RISE and choosing to find the ‘and.’
Update on our location search
As we mentioned in our April Newsletter, one of our greatest challenges this year has been finding the perfect location for our first center. And, as a valued member of the RISE community, we wanted to provide you with a little insight into what we are exploring and how we are finding the ‘and.’
When exploring our options to get started, we are working on three pathways forward.
- First, we are connecting with other organizations with aligned missions that need on-site child care for their staff, families, and community members.
- Second, we are looking into short-term leasing opportunities where we can get open and up-and-running in a few months.
- Finally, we are working on a long-term strategy to purchase and/or build a building that will be owned by RISE forever.
Finding the ‘and’ in our location search means we can launch in big AND small ways as we march towards fulfilling our mission: We make it possible for all children to have access to a transformative early childhood education.
Do you have another pathway that we haven’t thought of? If so, please share it with us!
News You Can Use
A commitment to being anti-racist means a commitment to learning and unlearning. Every month, I’ll be sharing a few readings related to anti-racist work, social justice, and education reform. If we’re going to do the work, we should also work on ourselves. Have an article you’d like to share? Just send an email to dr.hamilton@risecdc.org.
- Want to talk to your young children about race? The Sesame Workshop has great resources! I especially like this sound, I am Somebody (Giant Song).
- Are you interested in getting a deeper understanding of white supremacy culture (and how to divest from it?) Check out this remixed website from Tema Okun, one of the original authors defining white supremacy culture.
Together We Rise,
