Racial Equity & Inclusion

Extreme Kids & Crew believes that every child has the right to play and make art as it holds meaning to them, that every family has the right to accurate information and supports, and that every employee has the right to a workplace that embraces a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Disability and race are entrenched ideas that have long been used as tools of division and social oppression. We work to reverse some of the psychic toll this has caused by making space for loving communities bound by the experience of disability. We work in communities with the largest African American and immigrant populations in the world, and we recognize that the experience of disability is more difficult and dangerous for our Black and Brown members. Through a combination of vision and action, we work to create more equity and understanding of intersectionality within our community, and in the general population as a whole. 

Since 2011, we have used disability to connect people across color and class. We are committed to expanding and deepening this work. Through love, creativity, mutual respect, sharing of experience, we strive to celebrate each other and dismantle the deep structural inequalities that so hobble our nation and spirit. As a community organization, we have the opportunity to influence and challenge local government, lift the voices of advocates, and support meaningful solutions to our country’s embedded racism.

We will continue to offer free programming while paying staff a living wage and offering career development opportunities to them. We will work with, and listen to, the communities in which we are located, to the parents and caregivers, and the neuro-diverse children, teens and young adults. We will keep our attention focused on injustice, ableism, racism, and other forms of dehumanization in ourselves and others and work to correct it. We will make mistakes, and we will live with it, work to correct it, and move forward.

Suggested action plan for talking to children about George Floyd and the Police

• Take time for yourself to process what you’re feeling.

• If your child starts the conversation, validate their feelings.

• Start with small conversations, and give simple details, but not information that might be above the language they’re able to comprehend or concepts that are difficult to understand (ex. systemic racism and white supremacy).

• Mention the role police officers play and the benefits of police officers, but help them understand that sometimes police interactions don’t go as they should and that sometimes people are hurt.

• Give some options about ways to remain safe:

  • You can do role-play to help them practice what to say during stressful encounters. Help them create a loose script to use in various scenarios—from a classmate making a racist comment, to dealing with a police officers. Having a default response could help alleviate stress for both of you.

  • Social Story: If the Police Stop Me [Source, Teachers Pay Teachers]

• Continue to reinforce that racism is not OK, and reinforce the beauty and value of your race and culture. You can use toys and books to help show positive representations of Black, Brown, Indigenous, People of Color, and cultural diversity .