North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools will hold a “Rally 4 Racial Justice” event June 14 to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters.
The event is for students, teachers, staff, parents and alumni of Atlanta Public Schools’ North Atlanta Cluster. It will gather at 7 p.m. at Sara J. González Memorial Park, 2411 Coronet Way in northwest Atlanta. The event will be livestreamed on the NAPPS Facebook page as well.
According to an emailed announcement, the event will include a period of silence lasting 8 minutes and 46 seconds — a reference to the time a Minneapolis police officer kept a knee on the neck of George Floyd during his protest-spawning killing last month — and the reciting of a student-created pledge.
“As a cluster of IB [International Baccalaureate] schools, our mission [is] to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help us to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect,” NAPPS said in the announcement. “We all value the diversity found in our schools. With this diversity comes a great responsibility to all of our students and families. Through this rally, NAPPS aims to help us grow as an inclusive community by drawing attention to the issues of racial injustice and systematic racism.”
The Atlanta Board of Education and APS Superintendent Meria Carstarphen recently issued similar condemnations of systemic racism.