At a demonstration Friday night in front of the Boston Police Headquarters, I saw a young woman with a mask on which she’d written the words, “I Can’t Breathe.” Around the country, signs and T-shirts are saying, “Silence is Violence,” “White People: Do Something,” and “Stop Killing Us.”
It was time to stop killing our Black and Brown sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, husbands, wives and lovers, grandparents, aunts and uncles 400 years ago. No one in the United States of America should have to fear for their lives—everyday—because of the color of their skin. No parent should have to give “the talk” to their children that every Black and Brown parent knows they must just to try to keep them alive. No virus should have a disproportionate chokehold on Black and Brown people because they have most of the highest-risk jobs, and the least access to health care.
Around the country, we’re saying we’re done with this. We were done with this a long, long time ago. And we’re saying we’re done talking about this. It’s time for action.
Breathe. Speak up. You decide what you’re going to stand up for—and how.
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Joshua Sparrow, MD
Here are some resources to help you stand up and take action:
The recommended reforms in this report are intended to create accountability and build better relationships between law enforcement and communities of color.
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
This detailed report delves into police administrative data to show disparities in the use of force.
Sign this petition calling for the end of police violence against Black people.
The Black Futures Lab transforms Black communities into active, interdependent, responsive public partners that change the way power operates—at the local, state, and national level.
The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) is a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions; develop shared assessments of what political interventions were necessary in order to achieve key policy, cultural, and political wins; and convene organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared movement-wide strategy.
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and same gender loving (LGBTQ/SGL) people, including people living with HIV/AIDS. NBJC’s mission is to end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ/SGL bias and stigma.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.
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BTC works to ensure all children grow up to be adults who can strengthen their communities, constructively participate in civic life, steward our planet’s resources,
cope with adversity,
and experience the joy of nurturing the next generation to be prepared to do the same. We partner with families of young children and the communities and systems of care that surround them so that all children – whatever their life circumstances, challenges, and resources may be – will be healthy, succeed as early learners, and have the opportunity to thrive.
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