September 24, 2020
To our members, allies, friends and community:
It is with great sadness and greater resolve that we share this message with you today.
The announcement of the indictment of the officers responsible for the senseless murder of Breonna Taylor is disheartening and infuriating not only to Black America, but to every law-abiding person that lives in this country. Police officers are shielded from the justice system that they claim to uphold. Once again, individuals not worthy of the uniform are shielded by inept or corrupt city, county, state or federal officers of the court that make a mockery of the United States justice system.
There are two systems of justice in the United States. If you are white, you are treated by one justice system but if you are black or any other person of color you are treated by a harsher, more hostile and less forgiving system.
Police officers are not above the law. Their job is to serve and protect but who were those individuals that murdered Breonna serving when they shot and killed her? Who were they protecting when they burst into her home and shot indiscriminately, not only at her but into adjacent apartments? There is something wrong with a justice system that allows for the murder of people at the hands of those that they are charged to protect. The fact that this occurs once, but to occur again and again in multiple locations for decades proves that this is not a localized issue it is systemic; it is a cancer on our society.
“The system is broken.” “The system isn’t for me.” “So, what do you do now?” The system is broken for a number of reasons, chief among them is that it was designed without Black people or any other minority in mind. The only way to have real reform is to apply pressure from the outside and work to change it from the inside and make it better. In that spirit, we encourage all people, especially Blacks and minorities to participate in the political process and exercise your rights to the fullest extent of the law. Vote, petition, protest, write letters, make phone calls, do whatever is necessary to make your voice heard!
Change is an inevitability. What we cannot afford is waiting on someone else to change things for us, we must change them ourselves.
The first steps towards enacting necessary change and reform is filling out the US census and registering to vote. Do not stop at yourself! Assist others in filling out the necessary documents, returning them and hold those that hold positions of influence and power accountable. Organize your classmates. Organize your co-workers. Organize your neighbors. Participate in the process as if your lives depended on it because, one day, it might.
Criminal Justice reform and broader social reform will take time and hard work but if we participate in it then we can look back and say that we made a difference when it mattered! You matter. Black Lives Matter!