PBKNY Leadership Statement on Recent Events

​

In the wake of the most recent killings of unarmed Black Americans, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery, we want to take a moment to recognize the hurt and pain many in our community are facing. The violence Black Americans face in this nation due to overt, subconscious, and systematic racism is unacceptable, and the Phi Beta Kappa New York Association and Young Professionals Network stand in solidarity with those fighting against injustice. 

In this moment of history, it is important for us to uphold the Phi Beta Kappa values of Friendship, Morality, and Learning and stand with those striving to achieve equality for all people of color. We also encourage our members to both educate themselves on the history of these issues and the structures that uphold the violence we are witnessing, as well as share this knowledge with their communities and beyond.

As the leaders of PBKNY and YP, we are personally taking steps to continue learning about these complex and important issues. Below we have included a sampling of books we’ve been reading that have been helpful to us in our own journeys. 

Personal Recommendations:
“Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Medical Apartheid” by Harriet A. Washington
"Evicted” by Matthew Desmond
"Give Us the Ballot” by Ari Berman“
"How to be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi
“The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander
“White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo
“The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin 
“Sister Outsider” by Audre Lorde

PBKNY Book Club Reads:
“White Teeth” by Zadie Smith
“The Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
“Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neal Hurston
“Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” by Barack Obama


Signed,
The Phi Beta Kappa New York Association (PBKNY) Executive Committee and Young Professionals Committee

​

​