Minneapolis Public Schools issued the following announcement on Sept. 16.
This evening the MPS family is grieving.
Once again, one of our principals had to start today notifying his staff and students of the death of one of their school’s 12th graders due to gun violence in the community.
Three weeks ago, we lost a 17-year-old female student, and two weeks before that another MPS student was killed in what has been a relentless and devastating spate of violence this summer in Minneapolis.
I know it is late, but I have spent much of the day processing how to retain my own hope in what feels like an overwhelming sea of despair.
I have tried to think through what I can do or say that might pierce the apathy that seems to have taken hold in our community; to fight the pull toward becoming numb rather than wrestle with the sorrow, frustration and anger that comes with each report of one of our students being injured or killed.
Ultimately, while I still don’t have answers that seem adequate, I am compelled to acknowledge what is happening here and nationally that continues to contribute to heightened trauma in the communities we serve - especially the African American community.
It is this constant triggering of anger, fear and othering that many of our young Black men – frankly many of our students of color and Indigenous students – bring with them to school whether virtually or in person.
I urge staff to allow space for them, and all our students, to give voice to how all of this is impacting them. Please.
The ongoing violence in our community will have both short- and long-term consequences for our city because these young people are not just our future; these young people are valuable, contributing members of our community right now.
Schools are one piece of the puzzle, and we will do all we can – even amid this pandemic – to help our youth feel respected and valued and cared for.
But we cannot do it all. I ask you to join with me in calling for, and supporting, a broad spectrum of community interventions to end this cycle of violence and trauma that impacts so many of our students.
I applaud the dozens of MPS principals who stood in solidarity this afternoon at the site of the latest shooting, praying and declaring that enough is enough; that the violence must stop, and our children must be protected.
Together, we can work to change our system and to call for systems change throughout our city. We owe this to our students who have left us too soon, and to the thousands who remain in our care.
In solidarity on behalf of the children,
Original source can be found here.
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