We are heartbroken and outraged over the recent brutal murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Steven Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, James Scurlock, and many others before them. Like many in our community and network in the United States and across the world, we are feeling the deep tragedy of this moment. As we grieve the lives lost, we are keeping their families and friends in our minds and hearts, and we are sending our deepest love and support to all of our Black sisters and brothers.
WECAN stands in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) and their demands:
Black Lives Matter. We join the calls for justice. Justice for George Floyd. Justice for Breonna Taylor. Justice for Tony McDade. Justice for Nina Pop. Justice for Steven Taylor. Justice for Ahmaud Arbery. Justice for James Scurlock. Justice for all Black people whose lives have been stolen by police violence and white supremacy. We also join the calls for dismantling the systems of oppression that enact violence and manifests itself through social, economic, and environmental racism.
Angela Davis,
beloved political activist, philosopher, academic, and author said:
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"You have to act as if it were possible to radically
transform the world. And you have to do it all the time."
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What is happening right now is historic, but it is tragically not new. The United States was founded on the genocidal colonization of Indigenous Peoples, global enslavement of African peoples, and white supremacy— and these foundations remain today, informing and providing the basis of the U.S. government and society. It is far past time to not only raise our voices alongside activists who have been calling for Black Liberation, but to take further action to confront and eradicate police v
iolence and deep rooted historical inequality and anti-Blackness in the United States and globally.
In taking action, WECAN has been contributing funds to Black-led organizations and
protesting in solidarity from Oakland
to rural Oregon, calling for justice in the case of George Floyd's murder, and demanding an end to institutional racism that continues to kill and harm Black communities.
The work to dismantle white supremacy is not a single action, it is a lifelong commitment. WECAN takes this work seriously and we will continue to follow Black women and femme’s leadership, challenge ourselves to address any racism internally and in our organization, and work in collective solidarity toward justice and liberation. Below please find resources for donating, learning, and taking ongoing and immediate action until there is true liberation.
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Justice for George Floyd youth-led, non-violent march in Oakland on June 1. Photo: WECAN International
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- List of bail funds and other organizations fighting against police injustice via Rolling Stone: https://bit.ly/3gUVvng
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“We cannot look at this as an isolated incident. The reason buildings are burning are not just for our brother George Floyd. They’re burning down because people here in Minnesota are saying to people in New York, to people in California, to people in Memphis, to people across this nation, enough is enough.”
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“‘It doesn’t end when white people feel better about what they’ve done, it ends when black people are staying alive and they have their liberation.”
writer, and lecturer
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I
f you cannot attain justice by engaging the system, then you must seek other means of changing it. That’s not a wish; it’s a premonition.”
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“So, to white people who care about maintaining a habitable planet, I need you to become actively anti-racist. I need you to understand that our racial inequality crisis is intertwined with our climate crisis. If we don’t work on both, we will succeed at neither. I need you to step up. Please. Because I am exhausted.”
and CEO of Ocean Collectiv
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“We must advance a world that is built on the principles and practices of regeneration, cooperation, interdependence, deep democracy, and by ensuring frontline women lead, we will win.”
Jacqui Patterson
, Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program
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"I do think that the demand of defunding law enforcement becomes a central demand ... And, with that demand, it’s not just about taking away money from the police, it’s about reinvesting those dollars into black communities.
Communities that have been deeply divested from, communities that, some have never felt the impact of having true resources. And so we have to reconsider
what we’re resourcing. I’ve been saying we
have an economy of punishment over
an economy of care.
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With Immense Love and Solidarity,
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network
(WECAN) International Team
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S T A Y C O N N E C T E D
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