[Alta-Logic] BLM Statement

[Richard Zach]

Hello all,

The Logic Supergroup has drafted a statement in support of Black Lives 
Matter starting on the ShutDownSTEM day of action (June 10). It is ready 
to be posted on the Logic Supergroup site; I will be posting it on the 
Peripatetic Group website tomorrow. It follows below:

Statement on Black Lives Matter


The killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police have resulted 
in deep sadness and outrage worldwide. This sadness and outrage has 
swept through academic communities as well. We members of the Logic 
Supergroup join our colleagues throughout academia in denouncing 
anti-Black violence in North America specifically, and systemic racism 
affecting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color generally. We are 
committed to working with our BIPOC colleagues in logic and with our 
colleagues in other fields to speak out against injustice and to work to 
make logic an inclusive community. Black Lives Matter.


In early 2020, logic groups around the world began to combine their 
meetings into an online Logic Supergroup as a reaction to the 
coronavirus pandemic. As part of #ShutDownSTEM 
<https://www.shutdownstem.com/>, the Supergroup held 24 hours of 
Inclusive Logic on June 10, 2020 to build concrete actions against 
racism in logic.


Here are four concrete actions that we identified as important and have 
committed ourselves to immediately, and which we encourage our member 
groups to commit themselves to as well:


We commit to doing our small part to increase the diversity in logic, as 
a discipline, by first increasing the diversity represented in our 
speaker series. We acknowledge that we have, to this point, failed in 
this regard. We acknowledge, in fact, that we have failed to have a 
speaker series that even manages to be representative of the diversity 
that is present in logic, let alone one that contributes to increasing 
this diversity.


Second, we commit to seeking funding from a broad range of sources in 
order to overcome barriers to participation in the supergroup, and in 
logic meetings and seminars more broadly. Such funding could be used, 
for example, in order to allow for graduate student travel stipends if 
the supergroup holds in-person events in the future, or to aid 
researchers who need equipment in order to participate in our virtual 
events now. This will lessen some of the barriers faced by BIPOC 
students to entering and participating in the logic community.


Third, we commit to hosting periodic events to discuss, evaluate, and 
develop resources for logic education that are inclusive and that 
encourage participation in logic from a diverse audience. This includes 
setting regular Logic Supergroup meeting times to discuss further 
actions in support of inclusion. We recognize that addressing issues of 
inclusivity and working in support of anti-racism within individuals and 
within academia require continued recommitment and ongoing, sustained 
effort.


Fourth, we commit to developing, promoting, and enunciating guidelines 
and codes of conduct for our conferences, workshops and other events, as 
well as other events associated with our constituent organizations.


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