To Our Community

Dear Sales Tax Institute Community,

Recent events triggered by the senseless murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others have shaken our home city of Chicago, our state, and our country. We are encouraged by the many peaceful protestors advocating for change across the country and the surge of information and educational content shared in recent days. We stand in solidarity with those striving to create lasting change to eliminate continuing injustices that disproportionally impact the black community.

As individuals, we must intentionally acknowledge and dismantle our own internal biases, speak up when we see injustices, and listen closely to the black community. Standing by silently is not supportive – we must act.

As a company, education is at the core of everything we do. You, our students, faculty members, and staff, represent a wide diversity of backgrounds. It is critical to our mission that our courses and workplace are spaces of inclusion and respect.

We will be taking the following steps to demonstrate our support and deepen our understanding.

• We are making a contribution to My Block, My Hood, My City which is a local Chicago organization that provides underprivileged youth with an awareness of the world and opportunities beyond their neighborhood.  Their core values are interconnectivity, empathy, hope and civic responsibility. A second contribution will also be made to the NAACP to help them ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race.
• We commit to furthering our own education of racial injustices and inequality by reading books and articles and discussing them as a company. We are starting with The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.
• We are sharing some of the exceptional resources for our collective learning and growth (see lists below).
• We will be involved in getting out information about the importance of voting, at all levels of government.

We go forward valuing the differences that make all of us a better community.  We will heal with respect and knowledge for all the things that are different about each of us.

Your Sales Tax Institute Team

Diane Yetter
John Londay
Tatisa C. Joiner
Hannah Bannister
Emma Boland

Read

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Uluo
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
• The New York Times Anti-Racist Reading List
• Anti-Racism Resources

Donate & Engage

• NAACP + NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• Black Lives Matter
• Color of Change
• African American Policy Forum #SayHerName Campaign
• Grass Roots Law Project
• George Floyd Scholarship Fund
• My Block, My Hood, My City
• New Life Centers of Chicagoland

For Those in Accounting

• Article: Advancing Diversity within the CPA Profession
• Article: Challenges continue for African-American accountants
• Documentary: Making it Balance