In the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery and others, educators are determining options for a thoughtful response. At first, school principals and college presidents responded by releasing public statements to their campus communities. See Peralta Community College District's Executive Leadership statement as well as statements by Chancellor Stanback Stroud, President Gilkerson at Laney College, President Johnson at Merritt College, President Garcia at Berkeley City College, and President Karas at College of Alameda. 

In addition to these public statements we need thoughtful action that addresses the pervasive real and symbolic violence against Black communities.

The Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement (CORA) hosted a webinar on June 24, 2020 that featured esteemed scholars offering tangible strategies for addressing anti-Blackness in schools, colleges, and universities. The scholars included Dr. Frank Harris III and Dr. J. Luke Wood (both from San Diego State University),  Mr. Lasana Hotep (University of California, Berkeley) and Peralta Community College District Chancellor Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud. 

The webinar drew a huge audience with over 12,000 registered viewers watching the webinar  or the broadcast on YouTube in real time. The recording is available here:

Chancellor Stanback Stroud's comments begin at the 44 minute point here. The entire video is highly recommended. It is 1 hour 44 minutes well spent. 

Chancellor Stanback Stroud and the Peralta Community College District are fully committed to confronting and ending Anti-Blackness on the campuses of the Peralta Colleges. The Board of Trustees in a unanimous show of support recently approved a resolution outlining the strategies of the District. You can read more about the resolution here.