It is with great sadness that we have witnessed the loss of valuable life, the pain of our communities, and the despair of our nation. These challenges force all of us to consider the injustices that people of color face on a daily basis in our country. In light of recent events, we feel it necessary to express our commitment to stand in solidarity with communities of color and we pledge to amplify their voices.

NNELL shares the outrage of our fellow citizens and vows to work harder than ever to change and improve an educational system that has been exclusive, unfair, and unjust for too long. NNELL is working diligently to expand our network to include as many teachers, parents, and community members as possible in order to give EVERY child in the United States the opportunity to embrace the languages and cultures of our world.

But hoping is not enough- we actively need to bring social justice topics and culturally relevant pedagogies into our early language learning profession by educating ourselves, our organization, and our students.

We have a lot of work to do, and we need your help! Yes, we feel great sadness and disappointment today. We need to work harder and we need to work together. We also hold out hope for the future, our children are counting on us to do so. We invite all who believe in giving our children a future that is inclusive, respectful, and safe to join us.

The NNELL Executive Board
June 2, 2020