Black Lives Matter.

Committing to Action.

Black Lives Matter.

At WestSide Baby this means black children, black families, and black health matters. We cannot be in alignment with our WestSide Baby values of humanity, of intentional action, and of resilience; our vision that all children have their basic needs met cannot be realized until black lives matter and until race no longer determines how likely it is that a child will have their most basic needs unmet.

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We acknowledge and apologize that we have stayed safe, we have avoided rocking the boat, and we are therefore complicit in allowing racism to persist. We at WestSide Baby mourn deeply and stand in solidarity with those in Seattle and beyond protesting and calling for justice for the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Charleena Lyles, George Floyd, Manuel Ellis, Tony McDade, and many more.

At WestSide Baby, we know the following to be true:

Basic needs disparities are not coincidental.
COVID-19 disparities are not coincidental.
Our country, and King County specifically, was intentionally designed with racism and injustice systematically built-in. These injustices continue in our community today.

WestSide Baby is a white-led and white-founded organization. In 2018, WestSide Baby made a commitment to equity and social justice, with an emphasis on racial justice. We know that we have only just begun, we know that we have not done enough, and we are committing publicly now to action and accountability in addressing systemic racism and the resulting basic needs gap.

• We are committed to listening to and amplifying the strength and leadership of our community-led partners, including API Chaya, El Centro de la Raza, Global Perinatal Services, Open Arms.
• We are committed to building and empowering a more diverse staff and board so that we fully reflect the racial demographics of the community most impacted by basic needs gaps.
• We are committed to addressing white supremacy culture and institutional racism within WestSide Baby, so that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are empowered as leaders in our work.
• We are committed to living out the belief that our community knows best what they need; we will center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who are most impacted by basic needs gaps, and prioritize partnerships with community-led organizations to most effectively address unmet basic needs.
• We are committed to using our resources and platform to call for systemic policy change to address basic needs gaps, informed by our community, and focused on families of color furthest from access.

We ask you to learn and join us in our commitment to action.

We ask the parents in our community to talk to your children about race and racism.
We ask you to support and give generously to black-led organizations and their agendas for action.
We ask when you buy art you value buying black and when you eat out, consider black-owned restaurants.
Because we can’t just say black lives matter without action.

Listen. Believe. Act in support. Black lives matter.

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