Join these on-going projects! Help us build relationships and alliances and find ways to address the systemic issues that keep us from giving all people equitable opportunities and outcomes.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Wherever you are in your anti-racism journey, we welcome you. Join us as we face blatant, subtle and implicit racism with a mindset of curiosity and accountability.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Police Reform in Yarmouth
YCARE members are engaged in relationship building with Chief Dan Gallant virtually and in person. Information has been shared about Yarmouth's Use of Force policies. YCARE registered Yarmouth in the Campaign Zero/8cantwait data base (https://8cantwait.org) and discovered that Yarmouth is in compliance with 5 out of 8 use of force policies.
Ongoing research and advocacy:
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Understanding what is happening with use of force policies in practice
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Gathering data on traffic stops and other police actions to discern differences in treatment (requests of the YPD and anecdotal reporting by Yarmouth residents)
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Advocating for compliance with the last 3 outstanding use of force policies
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Advocating for the purchase of body cams by the local police
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Educating ourselves on the use of tasers over firearms
RESTORATIVE HISTORY: Spotlighting The Untold Stories
Have you noticed that historical signage around the town called Yarmouth tells a colonial history? YCARE has noticed! And we’ve been organizing to both address harm and begin to tell the story of the Abenaki people who pre-dated white settlers by thousands of years.
An early YCARE initiative led to the removal of the “Historic Yarmouth” sign in front of the Ledge Cemetery. The sign, erected in 1969, told a one-sided story that maligned indigenous people and erased their history. With support from the Yarmouth History Center, the Yarmouth Village Improvement Society and Wabanaki REACH, Town Manager Nat Tupper relocated it into storage at YHC.
YCARE is now engaged in an initiative to uncover and tell this history. A group of volunteers is now researching the archives of the Maine Historical Society, Yarmouth and North Yarmouth History Centers. We expect these historical records will support new signage for our community.
EDUCATION REFORM: Serving on Yarmouth School Equity Task Force
In 2020, the School Committee authorized formation of the Equity Task Force to promote inclusion, identify systemic inequities, and illuminate all forms of institutional bias in the Yarmouth Schools pertaining to race, religion, country of origin, gender or gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability, socio-economic status, or any other protected category or group identity. In the Fall 2021, the Equity Task Force invited community members to participate in 4 working groups: policies and protocols, student leadership, academics and programming, and family engagement. YCARE members are now serving on each of these working groups and will be meeting together in 2022 to reflect on the work they are doing in each sub-committee and support each other.