The board of directors at The Writer's Place stands together in this moment of national reckoning and commits itself to the work of change that lies ahead for each of us and for our nation. 

We know that we cannot go back to life as it was before a Minneapolis police officer knelt on George Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds, or back to the way life was before Louisville police shot Breonna Taylor eight times while she slept in her bed in her apartment. We can never accept the vigilante justice that allowed white men in Georgia to hunt and kill Ahmaud Arbery in cold blood while he was jogging. 

We invite you to join us in this collective journey toward change, to help us educate ourselves and each other toward anti-racism, to inspire each other with our art, to embrace all people of all groups with shared dignity, care, and concern.

We say the names of those we’ve lost to the brutality of racial injustice, we speak out against systems that uphold White supremacy, we acknowledge that we can do more to support diverse voices within our own Kansas City community, we are committed to justice and equity for all, and we believe that Black Lives Matter.