What Will We Choose?

The past few months have been a very strange and challenging time for all of us. We find ourselves often vacillating between despair and hope. Despair at our inability to ensure all are treated with justice and equity. And hope as we witness the beauty of human resilience from families who have overcome Covid-19 to protesters doused with tear gas tending to one another. 

As I began to write this letter, the news that yet another Black man had been murdered by a police officer surfaced, this time in the parking lot of a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant in Atlanta. Again, we hear the anguished cries of “when will this end”?

We are at a pivotal moment in our country and the path we will choose to collectively follow remains unclear. Will we acknowledge that for all children to receive the quality education that is their birthright we must make fundamental and permanent changes in how we fund schools? Will we acknowledge the heavy legacy of enslavement, Black Codes and Jim Crow? Will we acknowledge the housing segregation and employment discrimination that Black Americans experience each and every day? 

I believe that the past few weeks of peaceful protests, difficult conversations, and legislative efforts mirror what the majority of us are striving for: A more perfect America. An America where we can acknowledge our collective sins and wrongs and work toward justice and equity for everyone. Black Lives Matter. 

With sincerest wishes for your well being, 

Cynthia B. Knox
CEO CHHOP