As a person of color living in one of the country’s poorest cities, it has been heartening to see how many people with privilege and power have turned up at protests against inequality and police brutality. As the protests fade, we must not forget about one of the most important perpetrators of fundamental inequalities in the country today: zoning.

My dad died because he couldn’t breathe. And George Floyd died because he could not breathe. It doesn’t matter whether it was from a police officer’s inadequacy or a doctor’s inadequacy, Black lives were lost at a disproportionate rate because the people we depend on for help do not give it to us the same way they give it to others.

Is remaining silent in the face of racial injustice an act of racism? Whether silence rises to the level of racism is open to debate; but it is, unequivocally and categorically, cowardly and insupportable. The leadership of the Connecticut Association of Schools, representing education leaders across the state, has shared its individual and collective perspectives.

The first class of Hartford Promise students – 75 strong – graduated from colleges in Connecticut and beyond, this spring. Two of the Hartford Promise scholars delivered messages to their fellow graduates, and the community, as part of the hour-long Night of Promise celebration webinar, honoring their graduation in the midst of challenging times. Their messages resonated with their peers and their community.