St Louis News July 2020

By Jonathan Pulphus, Program Associate

Jul 7, 2020

AFSC St. Louis Peer Mediators at Sumner High School AFSC

Greetings Family,

On behalf of American Friends Service Committee St. Louis, we wanted to thank you for joining us in our campaign calling for St. Louis Public Schools to defund its present policing model and invest in #realstudentsafety. Due to your support, we are currently at 1000+ signatures on our Change.org petition and are in the process of meeting with the Superintendent of SLPS Kelvin Adams to move our efforts forward. This is the work of the people and cannot be done without your will.

In solidarity,

Jonathan Pulphus
Program Associate

AFSC ST. LOUIS / YUIR

NOTE FROM OUR STAFF

Since our call to action, it's been up there. We've been in awe of the support and consensus around addressing systems that uphold and further systemic racism disproportionately impacting our black youth and families in the region. We've been amazed at the partnerships and coalitions that have formed across youth, families, and community. Let's continue moving forward.

AFSC CALL TO ACTION CONTINUED...

There is no progress without resistance. In partnership with Keep Kids in Class coalition, we are helping organize a Children's March that will take place Saturday, July 11, 2020 at 10am. If you are well and available, consider participating. Text #cmarch to 31996.

MEETING WITH SLPS TUESDAY 07.07.20

Around the country, school districts are reimagining what the safety and wellbeing of their student bodies look like. Here in St. Louis, AFSC in concert with a coalition of organizations regionally have been calling for a divestment from security services and investment in proactive/preventative efforts that enrich students instead of diminishing them. You’ve been in support and are a partner in this push specific to SLPS that exists under the banner of #RealStudentSafety. This Tuesday, July 7, we have a meeting with Dr. Kelvin Adams and members of his team. We ask that you connect and stay tuned to updates following this engagement. Let’s get a win for our youth and families.