It’s time and past time that we at Ekone Ranch, Sacred Earth Foundation, and White Eagle Memorial Preserve speak up in support of the uprising against police brutality and systemic racism. We condemn and grieve the murders of George Floyd and thousands of other Black people by those who uphold white supremacy, and the racism, genocide, and oppression that this nation is founded on and continues to perpetuate. We have generations of trauma to repair. It’s time and past time.
Black Lives Matter.
We’ve been searching for the honest and authentic words we can speak on behalf of this entity that is Ekone Ranch. We acknowledge that the leadership of the organization and the people crafting these words are white. Most of you reading this are white. We care deeply and we believe we are making a positive impact on this world. But at the end of the day, we know there’s much left to do, and we’ve only just begun. Let’s do more, together.
Ekone Ranch commits to the work of anti-racism. Individually, organizationally, programmatically, and as an influence in our local and wider communities. The details are murky, but we commit to being challenged, taking risks, spending time and money, making mistakes, being humbled, learning and growing together in pursuit of a more just, equitable, and therefore sustainable future.
We support demilitarizing and reducing the police in a way that shifts our focus towards social and community services. We support investing in a social fabric that lifts people up. We support direct action, peaceful protests, and the righteous expression of outrage and grief. We support reparations and the redistribution of wealth.
We are deeply hopeful and inspired by the leadership of young people in this uprising. And our core competency will continue to be supporting, challenging, and equipping our youth for the journey, even as we walk beside them and learn with and from them.
We’re leaning in to the conversations about what else we can do. We’ll be talking together as a staff and board, and with visitors, program participants, teens, and you, about how we can learn from and respond to this inflection point and the long work of anti-racism, in the days, months, and years ahead.
We’re very much at the beginning. We promise to keep you posted, and we welcome your input, feedback, and support.
Black Lives Matter.
With love, humility, courage, and solidarity,
Shonie, Liz, Jodie, and Caitlin, the Ekone Ranch leadership circle, on behalf of the board and staff of Sacred Earth Foundation
Sacred Earth Foundation stewards 1,138 acres in the upper Rock Creek watershed, and is the home of Ekone Summer Camps and White Eagle Memorial Preserve.
