Happy New Year! from Santa Cruz Black

From the Director

THANK YOU

Settling into this New Year has been a bit rough for some of us. The rain though, the sound of the rain falling can be so soothing yet the precipitation coupled with the winds and the ocean were very rough in their play, frolicking and engulfing anything in its path.

As we settle into this new year one thing is abundantly clear, our resolve to continue making tangible and intangible changes for our entire community, with the focus on the Black community. I use the collective ‘we’ because we can not create and reimagine change in a silo or alone.

Our spiritual refuge also remains strong. It is because of all of you, your support, your dedication to our causes and incredible generosity for which we at Santa Cruz Black are very grateful will help us gain some ground in obtaining our goals. So yes our hearts are brimming with gratitude for the love you as a community have shown us. And it doesn’t have to stop with the Santa Cruz Gives campaign, if you have the financial capacity please consider supporting us on a monthly basis with as little as $5 per month.

(Please contact us at programs@santacruz.black for more info)

MOVING FORWARD IN 2023

As we push our way into 2023, fully aware of the loving-kindness from our collective community, we have some robust programs that will be launched this year. Santa Cruz Black will be partnering with a few organizations for community events during Black History Month. These events will be amplified in future newsletters. So please stay tuned. We also plan to bring you a few pop-up fun social + educational events throughout the year. Social and racial injustices have yet to abate; so, therefore, we can not rest. I know you will continue supporting us in the manner that is the most meaningful to you.

Just as a reminder Santa Cruz Black started as a grassroots group of community organizers back in 2020. And we morphed and transformed into the organization that we are today. Because the Black community is less than 2% we do want to become more visible in the greater Santa Cruz community. And this is the moment when I want to talk about unicorns.

Briefly, in 2018 the electorate of Santa Cruz City elected the first two Black men ever to serve on the City Council in almost 2 centuries. And of course, both men created current Back History in Santa Cruz. Drew Glover and Justin Cummings. Justin Cummings, Ph.D., went on to become the 1st Black Mayor of Santa Cruz City in 2020. This was during a politically charged time for the Nation and also, the County of Santa Cruz was experiencing some environmental chaos, the CZU fires. This unicorn, Justin Cummings along with Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson Sonja Brunner, Martine Watkins, and Drew Glover were all unicorns and all elected to the City Council as firsts in the history of the City of Santa Cruz. Did you know that a group of unicorns is called blessings? YES, that’s right. Justin Cummings went on to become the first Black person ever to be elected to the Board of Supervisors. I think we need some more blessings in Santa Cruz County, don’t you?

As an organization, Santa Cruz Black endeavors to connect and link up with other Black-led, Black-focused groups creating tangible change for our communities all the while maintaining joy and loving-kindness. [I have inserted this link- joy: https://youtu.be/1TbDPwA09Bc]. I perceive our organization as a continuation of the greater Black Freedom movement as defined by us in the 21st century.

With that said, May this year continue bringing us challenges so that we can realize our strengths when we triumph and even if we fall short of our goal, we will see what we need to do to triumph or change the goal to a more attainable one.

Peace, Power, and Love

Cheryl M. Williams,

Executive Director