ECIC joins millions of Michiganders who are grieving and outraged by the horrific killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and far too numerous other Black Americans.
To children, parents and families and our early childhood colleagues who root your identities in communities of color, ECIC stands with you.
To our colleagues who identify as allies, we support you in recognizing personal implicit and explicit biases, in learning, growing and challenging our mindsets, and in talking about, confronting and responding to racism.
All lives will matter when Black lives matter.
Racism has a powerful and pervasive effect on young children and their families and the early childhood field that supports the health, education and well-being of children and families. Because racism is insidious, we are witnessing disproportionate impact on communities of color in the COVID-19 pandemic. And we highlight the work of national partners at EmbraceRace who have gathered news links, data and resources that “begin to tell the story of the impact of COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous and People of Color and other racialized communities.”
ECIC is committed to fighting for racial justice. We must create avenues to listen to and amplify voices from communities of color. We know that the structural and systemic inequities that we see in the state of Michigan exist as a part of a history of racism in our country. Our governing board adopted a new vision and core values in September 2019, as a first step and roadmap for our work going forward:
At ECIC, we envision a future where all young children and their families in Michigan thrive. In order to make this vision a reality, we work to ensure:
- Race, culture and community are celebrated assets in a young child’s life
- Our work is informed by research and driven by the voices of diverse populations to achieve equitable outcomes for all children
- Collaboration is central to our work, and we strive to co-create knowledge and innovation for the field
As we reflect on everything happening in the world right now, the state of early childhood and how recent events bring tremendous challenges and opportunities, we are part of a national growing movement that’s focused not just on restoring a fragile, under-funded, inequitable early childhood system, but on building back better.
Building back better requires true systemic change that starts with confronting hard truths. At ECIC, our vision for the future and our commitment to equity is now more important than ever.
We commit ourselves to action.