We know that you, our community who loved our Lace, will want to know more about our plans to honor her and celebrate her personally, as well as to uphold and continue this community as her legacy, in her honor, and according to her vision.

In full transparency, we have to admit that there is just a lot that we do not know at this time, and so cannot share with the community or make plans around. Things we’ve learned from Lace, such as how to live a life of complete integrity, completely out loud, and that everything is fodder, give us some guidance with how we’re approaching this. This message is to let you know what we know at this time, and what plans we currently have.

It has been confirmed that Lace passed away from heart-related issues. She had been feeling unwell for a day or so, and when we stopped hearing back from her in our board and leadership group chat, we became worried. Thankfully one of our board members is local to Lace, and was able to check up on her. She found Lace recently passed and notified the appropriate authorities. Lace’s passing appears to have been peaceful, which is a comfort to us, and we know will be a comfort to you. This brings home to us so painfully the challenges Black women face in receiving adequate health care, and the stress their bodies have to process, just by virtue of existing in this society that is structured around white supremacy.

Some have asked us, in the context of our starting the Lace Watkins memorial fund, what the arrangements for Lace’s funeral services will be, and who will be responsible for them. Long time members of Lace on Race will know that Lace was married, and that her husband lived apart from her due to his need for professional care and support. Lace’s family in the San Diego area is currently acting on the assumption that they will be responsible for her funeral arrangements. However, her husband is the immediate next of kin from a legal perspective. 

Because of these somewhat complicated circumstances, and because of the sudden and unexpected nature of Lace’s passing, planning for Lace’s final arrangements is currently on hold. We find this frustrating and painful as Lace’s friends and colleagues and community. Our heart goes out to her family, who more directly impacted by having to wade through this bureaucracy in the midst of their grief, without the comfort of being able to decide and plan for the needed next steps yet.

We stand immediately ready to assist and support Lace’s family with whatever help we can give, and with whatever plans are made to bring our dear Lace home, finally, in an earthly sense. The Lace Watkins memorial fund is currently up to $1,800, and our immediate plan for that fund is to assist the family with Lace’s funeral arrangements. In the longer term, whatever funding is not needed for that will go toward endowing a scholarship in Lace’s name.

That’s our intention, though we still have more work to do to solidify every detail. We will let you know more when we know more. One of our lessons from Lace is that as white women, our reaching for the perfect, completely envisioned plan, before we act, is often the reason we never act. As a board, we do not want to let such perfectionism hold us back at this time when so much is needed. Again, our immediate priority is to support Lace’s family during this difficult time. If this is also your priority, you can contribute at paypal.me/LaceonRace, and you can earmark your contribution for the Memorial Fund in the transaction comments if you wish.

The work Lace set for herself, and called us to, is never-ending. One thing we as a board are absolutely sure of, because Lace expressed it to us time and time again, is that she did not want this community, her organization, and our work together to end with her. She was overt and intentional in building a legacy that would outlive her. We are a part of that, and we are committed to honoring and fulfilling her hope for Lace on Race to the utmost of our abilities. We plan to begin re-running her essays soon, and we look forward to confronting those lessons together with you and engaging with everyone.