“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” ― James Baldwin
At ABA services of Colorado, it is our mission to use compassionate, effective therapy for lasting change that is socially meaningful. It is clear, and has been clear, that this must include the dismantling of white supremacy as it exists within this company, in the United States, and in the world at large. The oppression in the United States and around the world that people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, the neurodiverse community, and women experience can no longer be accepted.
To be silent is to be complicit.
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Tony McDade, Elijah McClain, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, and so many others who were killed for being Black in America cannot and must not go unnoticed. We will say their names because Black Lives Matter.
To begin our commitment toward dismantling systemic and individual racism, we make the following commitments:
We pledge to actively oppose racism in the many forms it presents itself. We commit to engage in anti-racism work, to acknowledge our privilege, to actively listen and learn, both as a company and as individuals. Some of our action steps include the following:
- Continue anti-racism trainings as a core part of staff training at all levels.
- Engage and compensate experts in training our employees in anti-racism work.
- Support BIPOC in the field of applied behavior analysis to increase the diversity in our field.
- Ensure we teach our clients in ways that promote anti-racism, anti-bias, and awareness of differences in sexual orientation and gender identification.
- Begin each meeting across the company with acknowledgment of anti-racism and education in anti-racism.
- Decolonize our curriculums.
- Acknowledge our own contributions to systemic racism.
- Continue our commitment to pay equity.
- Give employees a voice in employment policy decisions.
- Promote participation in democracy (assist people with registering to vote, reminders of voting dates for all parties, etc.).
- Democratize job applications.
