We, the SEAPAX Board, released a statement on 6 June in support of Black members of our Peace Corps community to affirm that Black Lives Matter, recognize past and present harm, and create awareness around areas of complacency in our community.
A group of SEAPAX Board members met in June to begin an ongoing conversation around racial justice, privilege awareness, and awareness of colonialist legacies along with current forms of imperialism. We would like to be transparent about our path forward. Our goal is to create change both internally as a Board and externally in our Peace Corps community. We are still working through what these changes will be and how we will put them into action.
Potential steps discussed included:
- Creating a Diversity & Inclusion Chair
- Creating a Diversity & Inclusion Committee
- Offering anti-racism training to the SEAPAX community
- Offering awareness training around privilege and forms of supremacy
- Weaving awareness into planned events on a consistent basis
- Promoting opportunities to intentionally ensure support for Black Americans and other underrepresented groups interested in Peace Corps service
We are also asking for your help. We would like to seek input from you, our SEAPAX community, on how we can best use our role as an RPCV group and an NPCA affiliate to promote inclusivity and anti-racism in our community. Please visit our Facebook group to join the discussion. If you would like to send feedback and/or suggestions anonymously, please use this form.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge that this process was ignited by recent police brutality and the increased awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement. We aim for our next steps to support Black (R)PCVs, and further equity in our broader Peace Corps community.
Suggested for Facebook group:
We, the SEAPAX Board, released a statement on 6 June in support of Black members of our Peace Corps community to affirm that Black Lives Matter, recognize past and present harm, and create awareness around areas of complacency in our community.
A group of SEAPAX Board members met in June to begin an ongoing conversation around racial justice, privilege awareness, and awareness of colonialist legacies along with current forms of imperialism. We would like to be transparent about our path forward. Our goal is to create change both internally as a Board and externally in our Peace Corps community. We are still working through what these changes will be and how we will put them into action.
Potential steps discussed included:
- Creating a Diversity & Inclusion Chair
- Creating a Diversity & Inclusion Committee
- Offering anti-racism training to the SEAPAX community
- Offering awareness training around privilege and forms of supremacy
- Weaving awareness into planned events on a consistent basis
- Promoting opportunities to intentionally ensure support for Black Americans and other underrepresented groups interested in Peace Corps service
We are also asking for your help. We would like to seek input from you, our SEAPAX community, on how we can best use our role as an RPCV group and an NPCA affiliate to promote inclusivity and anti-racism in our community. Please comment on this post to join the discussion. If you would like to send feedback and/or suggestions anonymously, please use this form.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge that this process was ignited by recent police brutality and the increased awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement. We aim for our next steps to support Black (R)PCVs, and further equity in our broader Peace Corps community.
