As an organization, we understand and acknowledge the rage that is currently sweeping American cities including Philadelphia. For 400 years, white supremacy has informed, infiltrated, and impacted every institution that this country holds dear. The murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Aiyana Jones, Walter Scott, John Crawford, Oscar Grant, Michael Brown, Tony McDade, Eric Garner, and many other black people dying at the hands of police, is not only morally wrong, it is vehemently against the values of Mariposa Food Co-op. We demand justice for all these names and the countless others who have been forgotten or remain unknown, across this nation.
As the Board of Mariposa Food Co-op, we want to let our black member-owners, black staff members, black board members, and the black community with whom we share this neighborhood, we are standing with you, we hear you, we see you and we support you. Your lives matter, and have always mattered and will continue to matter.
To the white community, understand your privilege. For centuries, this world has been centered around you and your ability to prosper on the backs, labor, and sacrifices of people of color. As a food cooperative, we are constantly and continuously working toward dismantling all systems of oppression including tearing down all semblances of white supremacy. We challenge our white member-owners, our white staff members, our white board members, and those who are white who live in the neighborhood to do the same. We especially challenge white-owned businesses in the neighborhood to examine what more they could be doing to dismantle white supremacy and counteract the ills that it creates.
As support, Mariposa is donating water, milk, and other necessities to protestors, community members, and organizations that need it. As a Board, we are committed to donating a portion of our funds to the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, an organization dedicated to ending cash bail in Philadelphia.
We remind our community that one of our stated goals is to ensure that “Mariposa is a community in which systems of oppression have been dismantled.” We are here for you as your community-owned grocery store, and we will uplift and support, as long as we need to.
In Cooperation,
The Board of Delegates