A message from Spark Central

 “No one becomes a racist or an antiracist. We can only strive to be one or the other.” - Ibram X. Kendi

Spark Central is pausing our social media this week to honor the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the countless Black lives lost to systemic racism and oppression throughout our country’s history. Each of these people were someone’s child, someone’s sibling, someone’s partner. They were members of the community, and our community—both local and national—is grieving both the loss of their lives and the ongoing racist systems of oppression that allow Black lives to be taken so easily and without justice. 

We stand beside our Black members, volunteers, makers, teachers, and community members this week to affirm that Black lives matter. And yet we know this statement is not enough. 

We at Spark Central commit to actively dismantling systemic racism as we carry out our mission. Our programming has always aimed to break barriers to opportunity, and this includes barriers of racial inequity, discrimination, and oppression. The very West Central neighborhood we serve is historically under-resourced because of Spokane’s history of redlining, a racist practice aimed at geographically segregating Black families and families of color, denying these people the opportunity to build brighter futures. 

Dismantling racist systems of oppression is the work of many, and we are committed to action, including:

• Ensuring our programs are safe spaces for Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as for LGBTQ+/Queer individuals and other marginalized populations whose voices are too often silenced or de-prioritized;

• Actively recruiting Black, Indigenous, and people of color to be instructors and leaders in our programs so the children and adults we serve have the opportunity to learn from role models of various races and from their inspiring stories and histories;

• Actively recruiting Black, Indigenous, and people of color to hold leadership roles on our board of directors, advisory board, and to fill staff positions when we hire;

• Paying artists and vendors of color for their work, as historically in our country, this was not the case;

• Intentionally partnering with cultural organizations to serve West Central youth;

• Continuing to seek out and participate in ongoing racial bias training with our staff, board, and volunteers and apply this training to our daily practices and programs;

• Continuing to diversify our library collection with the voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as voices from LGBTQ+/Queer communities.

Our staff has been reading How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, who writes that “No one becomes a racist or antiracist. We can only strive to be one or the other.” We strive to be an antiracist organization, and we invite you to join us. If we fall short of this pledge, we will treat such moments as opportunities to learn, listen, and grow so we can better support the diverse members of our community as they build the future they imagine for themselves, for Spokane, and for our country.

In solidarity,

Brooke Matson, NCBT  ·  Executive Director
Melissa Dziedzic  ·  Program Manager
Wilson Faust  ·  Program Manager
Nicole Adamson-Wood  ·  Development Director
Nicki ·  Americorps VISTA Resource Coordinator