We believe that healing is possible and justice is necessary.
We are appalled by the recent police killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Sean Reed and Breonna Taylor, and the tragic murder of Ahmaud Arbery by a vigilante and former police officer. And we applaud the innumerable ways that people are coming together to push for systemic change and offer support, protection, and mutual aid with one another in their wake.
We extend deep condolences to the families for their profound irreparable loss; and expand empathy for the outrage of millions who witnessed sacred precious Black life extinguished before our eyes, and the way it rhymes with countless acts of brutal racist violence throughout our nation’s history.
We know that racial terror is seeped into the very fabric and foundation of this country by design. We know that our collective outrage and fatigue is not in response to isolated incidences of police brutality, but rather a system of white supremacy that is evident in our food system, housing system, education system, health care system, criminal justice system and fundamental human right to safety and dignity.
Against the backdrop of COVID 19 in which Black people are dying at nearly three times the rate of white people, in which communities of color are contributing the majority of “essential work” yet experiencing the most acute economic devastation, in which “reopening the economy” is more important than the Black and Brown and poor people whose lives it will cost, is a country that must radically transform – not return to normal.
This is a time that calls all of us to come together to decompose structural racism and white supremacy to fertilize our soils conducive to life, that we may cultivate a world where all of us can breathe. This requires engagement on multiple levels through a myriad of valid and vital avenues for change, including: direct action, direct service, pressure on elected officials for policy change, alternative institution building, creating sovereignty from systems of harm, healing justice, transformative justice, voting and participation in electoral politics (especially on the local level), education, media making, food growing, reparations, and collaborating with the earth towards resilience.
We commit to working alongside you to do everything within our power to dismantle structural anti-Black racism, and are hopeful that WE WILL WIN.
Let us channel our grief, rage, hope and magic into meaningful action! Below is a compilation of resources and opportunities to
GET ENGAGED:
- Movement for Black Lives National Week of Action
- Natl Resource List #GeorgeFloyd+ – includes an extensive list of pro bono legal services, political education resources, tips for people attending protests, alternative actions for people who cannot protest, places to donate, and social media tips
- National Resources List – this compilation of resources, created by Indigo, a non-binary Afro-boricua essayist and abolitionist, includes bail funds by city, mental health resources, trans funds/resources, and George Floyd resource compilation
- Please note, many Black Minneapolis organizers are urging people NOT to come to Minneapolis and rather SUPPORT effective Black-led #DefundThePolice and #Abolition work IN YOUR AREA. And encourage donations to:
- The Official #GeorgeFloyd Memorial Fund (confirmed for the family)
- Black Visions Collective
- Reclaim The Block Minneapolis
- MPD150 – Minnesota Freedom Fund
- Justice for Big Floyd – Grassroots Law Project petition
- Justice for George Floyd – Change.org petition
- Justice For Tony McDade – Change.org petition
- Justice for Breonna Taylor – Change.org petition
- Justice for Ahmaud – Change.org petition
- Legal Defense Fund for Minneapolis Protestors
- Black Birders Week – Black AF in STEM
- New Era of Public Safety report and toolkit developed by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- Sign a petition calling for justice for Breonna Taylor here.
- Follow instructions to contact the Louisville Mayor’s office here.
- Donate to the Louisville Community Bail Fund here.
- Sign the Black Lives Matter petition to #DefundThePolice here.
- Donate to Campaign Zero, which campaigns for the enactment of policy to end police violence, here.
- MORE GROUPS TO SUPPORT:
