Since the killing of Michael Brown in August 2014 and the protests that ensued as a result in Ferguson, Mo., Black Lives Matter has brought race relations into mainstream social commentary. Police brutality, inequality of opportunities and systemic racism throughout America are and ought to be common subjects of conversation for people of all ages and races.

This issue of the Budget started this summer at the Gloria Shields Journalism Camp in Dallas. News instructors stressed the importance of issue-based, relevant coverage. Black Lives Matter was the clear choice for the main package of this issue, as the movement has come to prominence and established itself in Lawrence.

Students’ involvement allowed the Budget staff to get key interviews, moving photos and a beautifully-written guest editorial.

Beyond discussions of how race affects students, students and faculty have been working on creating a more welcoming environment for transgender students. This has been a continuing process led by the former and current superintendents, administrators and members of student and faculty advisory boards.

The Budget hopes to hear more voices from students and is ready to assist any interested student in writing a guest editorial to run in future issues of this publication or on our website.

This year, I want this publication to be seen as a platform for positive change and as an opportunity to inform students, teachers, parents and the community as a whole on issues relevant to them.

Though the easy route is to think to oneself, “These are far away issues that don’t affect me or the people around me,” that’s the wrong route. Equity issues, especially those pertaining to race, affect your school, work and home lives.

Being aware of the issues around and within Lawrence High School is imperative. Accepting that people of color have faced disproportionate amounts of prejudice, discipline and grief due to systemic racism is the first step for students and faculty to begin to understand the way race affects our daily lives. This issue of the Budget seeks to do that.