Mission
The Westerly Anti-Racism Coalition (ARC) is a community of volunteers dedicated to embracing multiculturalism to address racism. We are not affiliated with any state, national, or international organization, including BLM.
ARC holds weekly gatherings open to everyone on the steps of the Westerly Post Office. We offer opportunities for discussion, learning, and engaging with a community of people who strive to improve our world by taking actions to create a more equitable and inclusive society.
There are currently seven members of the ARC Steering Committee and over 350 subscribers to our weekly newsletter. Learn more below about the history of this community coalition
ARC holds weekly gatherings open to everyone on the steps of the Westerly Post Office. We offer opportunities for discussion, learning, and engaging with a community of people who strive to improve our world by taking actions to create a more equitable and inclusive society.
There are currently seven members of the ARC Steering Committee and over 350 subscribers to our weekly newsletter. Learn more below about the history of this community coalition
Mission
Westerly ARC embraces multiculturalism to address racism and to educate, engage, and empower our community on its journey to equity, inclusion, and belonging for all.
Westerly ARC embraces multiculturalism to address racism and to educate, engage, and empower our community on its journey to equity, inclusion, and belonging for all.
- To Educate the community and town leaders to recognize overt and unconscious racism and bias, and understand how they affect both victims and everyone in our community.
- To Engage multiculturalism as a community and to honor and celebrate our diversity and the presence of and strength in our many cultures and ethnicities.
- To Empower citizens and local civic, political, and business leaders (current and future) to work proactively to prevent racism and bias and to address issues that arise in real-time.
Our History
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd died at the hands of a police officer who ignored his calls for mercy. All around the country and the world, people protested the increasing number of such brutal incidents. A local activist group, Westerly Area Peace and Justice, called upon their membership to hold a vigil at the Fountain near the downtown Post Office on a Saturday morning after the murder. The word passed like wildfire. About 200 people showed up that day. The following week, the group met again, and week after week, more people came from the broader community in and around Westerly, holding signs and banners calling for the end of injustice for all those others murdered at the hands of racism and bias. A loosely formed group named “Good Trouble” after John Lewis began meeting to discuss plans to continue ways to keep the vigil and engage and educate the community in a call for peace, love, and justice. The Sunday vigils continued. Many came, conversed, exchanged ideas, and developed friendships. The question became, “Now what?” One person said, “We can stand on this street forever, but if we don’t have a plan |
and know what it is we want changed, we are wasting our time.” More serious meetings continued among those living locally, followed by a development plan to create positive change and action in our beloved town. We named ourselves the Westerly Anti-Racism Coalition (ARC) and set goals and objectives after weekly meetings and intense discussions. Years later, ARC is a vibrant, dedicated group with a network of 350 people. A group gathers in communal peace every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Westerly Post Office steps. There is conversation, education, companionship, talent, and fellowship. Our ever-expanding circle of hope and action includes addressing other intersecting areas of equity and justice, including accessibility, climate, gender, housing, poverty, mental health, violence, and war. Our work and accomplishments are many. ARC creates a space for others who hold, learn, and debate values and ideals for a better, more beautiful world. It is a space to be together to seek ways to act productively and in service to one another to bring about good change. |
Being together in solidarity every Sunday is the heart and soul of Westerly ARC.
Learn more about us and subscribe to ARC’s newsletter at westerlyarc.weebly.com. Contact us at [email protected]
Learn more about us and subscribe to ARC’s newsletter at westerlyarc.weebly.com. Contact us at [email protected]
This website is a publication of the Westerly Anti-Racism Coalition. ARC is a community coalition unaffiliated with any state, national, or international organization. ARC embraces multiculturalism to address racism.