YWCA Minneapolis and YWCA St. Paul Host Community Vigil Events in Honor of George Floyd

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 26, 2020 – Together, YWCA Minneapolis and YWCA St. Paul are holding two simultaneous virtual events to join communities, give space to grieve and honor the lives of those lost to police brutality and racism. The events will be livestreamed on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, 7:00 – 8:00 pm and are free and open to all.Our community has experienced extreme pain and anger. Through these events, participants will hear from community leaders and artists to collectively heal and generate support for ways to enact change to eliminate systemic racism and police brutality among Black men and women.YWCA Minneapolis’ event will include remarks from James Burroughs, chief equity and inclusion officer at Children’s Minnesota, Kaltun Karani, founder of Hikma Academy, author and speaker, Rev. Kelli Clement, assistant minister of First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, Sharon Day, executive director of Indigenous Peoples Task Force, Michelle Basham, president and CEO of YWCA Minneapolis and performances by ShapeShift and Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue. Community members can register beforehand at ywcampls.org/vigil or view the livestream at Facebook.com/ywcamplsYWCA St. Paul’s event will include remarks from The Reverend Craig Lemming, associate rector at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church and Gaye Adams Massey, CEO of YWCA St. Paul with performances by Jamela Pettiford, Tish Jones TruArtSpeaks, Arts Us – Sankofa Youth Drumming and T. Mychael Rambo. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/leUZwNjNLt4About YWCA MinneapolisYWCA Minneapolis is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. For more than 128 years, we have worked to create opportunities to overcome social injustice, particularly in matters of race and gender. Last year, YWCA Minneapolis served more than 30,000 people in our community through high-quality programs and advocacy focused on racial justice, early learning, youth development and wellness. To learn more, visit ywcampls.org.About YWCA St. PaulFor more than 100 years, YWCA St. Paul has been breaking down barriers and building up communities. We are on a mission to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. We advance our mission through education and advocacy on issues of racial justice and gender equity, and through programs that help women, girls and their families overcome barriers in areas of significant racial & gender disparities – housing, employment, youth empowerment and wellness. Learn more at ywcastpaul.org.Contacts:

Cori Mattli	Michelle Daniel
YWCA Minneapolis	YWCA St. Paul
612-460-1125	651-265-0722
cmattli@ywcampls.org	mdaniel@ywcastpaul.org

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