As Founder and Executive Director of Redeeming Injustice (The Roosevelt Coffeehouse), my heart aches for our friends protesting for their humanity and dignity to be known and heard. We are built to advocate for those who have voices that aren’t heard. Nothing humbled me more than Sole Classics response this weekend. For those who don’t know, they were broken into and stolen from with video to prosecute and their response was, “I’m not worried about the stuff, I’m worried about the people”.
As a coffeehouse built on the model of justice, we have great pain and anguish in our spirit to see the wounds created because of our country’s inability to treat all persons equal. The Roosevelt’s core values are love, justice, coffee, humility, and optimism. And as we process the state of our country we continue to believe that our most core value is love. It is in our DNA. Our love advocates for the unheard. We are here to raise voices and make everyone we connect with know their incredible value to the world. To see our black brothers and sisters suffer from systems that silence them is sad and horribly wrong.
This past weekend, it was a no brainer for us to sign a letter initiated by team Jeni’s and Council Member Priscilla Tyson to Columbus City Council in support of the resolution to declare racism a public health crisis. The unification of this stance with local leaders was incredibly encouraging. Columbus City Council passed a resolution Monday evening to officially make the declaration. The full details of that letter can be found here
As you know we are committed to fight the injustices of unclean water , hunger, and human trafficking. We will be working to align with more black led organizations in these areas. We want to be part of the solution. We will not stand idly by.
Humbly submitted,
Kenny Sipes
Founder and Executive Director
Redeeming Injustice
The Roosevelt Coffeehouse