The murder a week  and a half  ago of George Floyd ,  and uprising nationwide,  has ignited a heightened awareness for many  of us of  conditions that are not new.  Our Black neighbors are living in an epidemic of violence,  an epidemic of economic injustice,  an epidemic of health disparities  that make  the current pandemic exponentially  more deadly.  The root of  these  are   the public health cris e s of racism and white supremacy. Racism is a public health emergency.

The amazing writer and educator,  Layla Saad,  writes that the core ingredients needed for anti-racism work are truth, love, and commitment.  So  w hen I say that the Amherst Survival Center joins in solidarity with all who seek justice, I  am saying  that as an organization :  

We believe in truth.  We believe in truth, including when it is uncomfortable. We seek truth when making decisions -- Who does this help? Who does this hurt?  We  understand  that our struggle for food justice is inextricably tied to  the  larger struggle for justice and anti-racism work. We know that Black Lives Matter.   

We join in love.  We come to this moment with love for our Black neighbors, colleagues, friends, and loved ones  who are hurting so deeply . We come to this with love for all Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in our community.  We come with love for every Black  parent  scared for  their  children , and every Black  person   who  fears   they  will be next.  We believe the way we  collectively  show our love to the families of George Floyd,  Ahmaud   Arbery , Brianna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, the list goes on...the way we show our love to these families is to do  so much better .   

We come to this work with a deep and longing love for the humanity that racism  strips  from us all.  

We are committed.   In our commitment to fairness and equity, we are committed to justice. We are committed to listening  to voices who have been silenced .  We are committed to learning.  We are committed to accepting accountability when we cause harm. We are committed to  taking action .  We are committed to doing better.   

A few  of the amazing local leaders and organizations we are learning from  and inspired by  are Arise for Social Justice ,  Gardening the Community,  and the Undoing Racism Organizing Collective .  Please, learn about them, learn from them, support them.  There are many excellent book lists, such as here, here, and here . And many lists of actions white folks can take, such as this one, this one, or this one.   Activist, author, and philosopher,  Angela Davis  warn s,  "In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be antiracist."   We join in solidarity with all who seek justice.   We need all of us, who believe in the mission of the Amherst Survival Center, to join in this work as well.

With truth, love, and commitment,  

Lev Ben-Ezra, Executive Director