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About Us

West County Community Action Network (WE CAN) is a grassroots organization of individuals who live and work in West St. Louis County. Beginning in 2014 following the murder of Michael Brown, a group of community members began holding Black Lives Matter vigils in their West County home.

 

Since then, we have grown to be a network of folks advocating for racial justice in schools, police departments, and communities. Together we build community, promote justice for all, and work to improve our West County home. Learn more about our work here and join us in the movement to ensure that Black Lives Matter.

Our Vision

We envision racial justice in West County

and the greater St. Louis region.

Our Mission

Our Mission

Bearing witness to injustice and systemic racism, facilitating change in social systems, and

creating an equitable, supportive community.

Our Values

Guiding Principles

  • We believe that Black Lives Matter. We support The Movement for Black Lives.
     

  • Our work centers on the interests of people of color. People of color decide what racial justice looks like and we all work towards it together.  Those with white privilege have a responsibility to employ it to move the work forward.
     

  • We acknowledge that our work is the work of The Movement.  Organizational growth is important only insofar as it supports our ability to pursue racial justice.
     

  • We take guidance for our actions from the Ferguson Commission Report: Forward through Ferguson.
     

  • We accomplish this work in community and through collaboration with other organizations.
     

  • We are a secular (non-sectarian) organization.
     

  • We are non-partisan (not affiliated with any political party), but we acknowledge that our Community Action Network is political in nature, as anti-racist work is always political.

Rules of Engagement

  • Be respectful, empathetic, and non-violent in word and deed.
     

  • Be accountable to the communities in which we work by engaging stakeholders, supporting existing efforts and infrastructure, and following through on the commitments we make.
     

  • Be curious, not judgmental. Actively seek opportunities to learn and improve our community.

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