A Statement of Solidarity from Dundalk Renaissance
June 5, 2020
Like many of you, the Board and staff of Dundalk Renaissance are deeply disturbed by the murders of unarmed Black men and women and other recent incidents of racism across the country by police officers and private citizens. We join the call of so many people seeking justice and an elimination of personal and structural racism in our society.
We embrace diversity of all kinds as one of our organization’s core values and believe that diversity and inclusion strengthens the Dundalk community. But clearly, supporting diversity as a value is not enough to protect our Black neighbors from harm or address historically entrenched racial inequities.
We recognize the role Dundalk Renaissance can play as a community development organization that works to improve our neighborhoods, economy, and quality of life. We seek to include and serve everyone who lives here and we need to do more to address racial disparities in housing, education, health, and economic opportunity in our community. We also need to do more to promote understanding and healing across racial and ethnic lines within our neighborhoods.
We look forward to hearing from you and working with you to address these challenges as we clarify the best ways to bring people together in the midst of ongoing social distancing protocols. As always, we welcome your ideas and concerns. Please feel free to share your perspective with our Executive Director, Amy Menzer, at amy@dundalkusa.org. No one organization or leader will move our community forward, and we hope to join with you in this collective effort.
Alex Montanio, President
Amy Menzer, Executive Director