Source: Sacramento Kings
Coalition to Host a Youth Healing Forum on Friday
SACRAMENTO, CA – The Sacramento Kings is proud to announce that it is partnering with the Build. Black. Coalition and Black Lives Matter Sacramento in an unprecedented effort to fundamentally transform Black communities through deep investment in Black youth in Sacramento.
As part of their commitment to the goals of the Build. Black. Coalition, a group of Sacramento community leaders who have organized in the wake of the Stephon Clark shooting, a tragic death of a young man by Sacramento police, the Sacramento Kings will create an education fund for the children of Stephon Clark. This fund cannot fix the issues that led to the death of their father, but it will secure opportunities for their futures while the family and the city grapples with healing.
To support transformational change for Black communities in Sacramento, the Sacramento Kings are creating a multi-year plan in partnership with the Build. Black. Coalition to support the education of young people and to provide the workforce preparation and economic development efforts needed to truly #BuildBlackFutures.
The effort to support and lift up Black youth begins this Friday, March 30 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. when Sacramento Kings players Vince Carter, Garrett Temple and Kings Legend Doug Christie will join Kings and Queens Rise: A Youth Voice Forum for Healing at the South Sacramento Christian Church (7710 Stockton Boulevard). *Media is invited . Interviews are available. Media should contact Darcy Totten (512) 577-3107 or Lindsey Nitta (916) 862-1781 before or during the event to coordinate.
The players will join Build. Black. leaders Pastor Les Simmons, Voice of The Youth activist Berry Accius, Sierra Health Foundation President and CEO Chet P. Hewitt , Greater Sacramento Urban League President Cassandra Jennings, SacACT Community Organizer Ryan McClinton, Sistallect founder Kellie Todd - Griffin, NAACP President Betty Williams , and Tanya Faison founder of Black Lives Matter Sacramento to host an unapologetic conversation about Sacramento’s Black community, police violence and facilitating healing the grief that youth are experiencing in the wake of the Stephon Clark shooting. The event will include food for the youth, healing activities and entertainment as we focus on how to build a better template for Black futures.
The evening kicks off with dinner provided by local Sacramento food trucks. Sacramento Regional Transit will offer passes to provide transportation for youth, which will be available at different locations throughout Sacramento. Visit www.blackchildlegacy.org/neighborhoods for a list of locations where passes will be available.
At 5:30 p.m. Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS) will lead an intensive writing workshop with the several hundred young people expected to attend. Embodying the intersection of art, activism, and education, the workshop will provide a space and an outlet for deep transformational healing through art and literacy, resulting in a book, created by and for the youth of Sacramento. This book is the first step of many in providing the support needed for our young people to become the authors of their own lives and agents of change.
For more information on the Build. Black. Initiative go to www.buildblack.org.
About #BuildBlack
The Build. Black. Initiative is spearheaded by a coalition group of activists, non-profits, legal support teams, youth advocates, faith leaders, police accountability and policy experts, and Sacramento community leaders in the fight for equity. Resting on four foundational pillars, the Build. Black. Coalition is working in key areas: 1) Uplifting Black Youth Voices 2) Health Equity and Access 3) Justice and Policing in Black Communities and 4) Investment in Black Neighborhoods and Businesses. We have come together in the wake of yet another tragic death of an unarmed Black man at the hands of police to commit our time, our resources and our considerable experience to a shared mission of proactive investment and radical transformation for Black communities. To learn more about Build. Black. Go to www.buildblack.org or find us on Instagram at @probuildblack
