Immediately following the elections, H.O.P.E received two of the most appalling and degrading letters in the history of our organization. In over 11 years of serving the greater Atlanta community, we’ve never received racially-driven hate mail of any kind, so imagine how shocked, hurt, and angry we were when we read what was written.
We wanted to share these letters with you, not to encourage division, but to let our H.O.P.E family know that your continued support ensures that our single parents, who are 95% African-American, can never be categorized as “lazy”, “unemployed”, or “uneducated”.
You have given us and our students the power to combat this ignorance— and the insight to be affected by these incidents only insofar as they fuel our mission and make us even more determined to succeed in this all-important work.
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During President Joe Biden’s inauguration, we were reminded again of what it means to be fighting for the single parents raising the next generation of Americans— and no one can explain it better than poet laureate Amanda Gorman in her reading of ‘The Hill We Climb’:
“We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour, but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves so while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe? Now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be a country that is bruised, but whole, benevolent, but bold, fierce, and free. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation. Our blunders become their burdens. But one thing is certain, if we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.”
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From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for all the ways you continue giving HOPE to our community.
Sincerely,
Team H.O.P.E
