Hi Friends –
We wanted to shoot over a quick thank you to our doers, fighters, leaders and champions of peace who joined our line today. In light of the senseless, tragic murder of Ahmaud Aubery (#JusticeForAhmaud), our Peace is Essential digital rally with March for our Lives yesterday stood as a beacon of discord, electrifying us in solidarity to make genuine change happen for communities of color.
25-year-old, Ahmaud Arbery, was hunted, shot and killed WHILE JOGGING by two white supremacists in a neighborhood outside of Brunswick, Georgia. It makes us sick and tired to constantly see sons and daughters of communities of color being gunned down and mentioned as hashtags. We are tired of white supremacists not being able to police their imaginations and Black and Brown people dying as a result. This is not right. We will always work to combat the antagonist known as gun violence, putting peace on our armour to empower our communities to #BreakTheCycle. We are working with dedicated local advocates in Georgia to continue to demand justice for Ahmaud.
A quick action step you can take is to follow the lead of the Georgia NAACP and contact the Liberty County District Attorney to demand that Gregory and Travis McMichael be charged for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. (912) 876-4151
Also, in case you missed it, here are a few moments from the digital rally that we love:
Champion for gun violence prevention, Rep. Robin Kelly, discussed her sponsored Urban Progress Act, also known as the Up Act, and boiled it down to a simple but powerful statement: "nothing stops a bullet like an opportunity."
Brother Lyle, community activist fighting to #BreakTheCycle, came through with a word: “Not only is peace essential, but it's also contagious.”
Phony Ppl, the band that stands on their bones as equally as their liberation, opened the rally and set a vivacious tone with their unique spin on how they show peace with their music.
The moment that we found out our phone bank was a success. Over 200 calls were made resulting in 51 commitments to demand that Gov. Larry Hogan keeps funding for Maryland gun violence prevention groups. Unfortunately, we just got word that the Governor has veto’ed the bill. We will continue to demand the legislature to override his actions.
This digital rally is only the beginning of our #PeaceIsEssential campaign. Stay tuned for how we plan to apply more pressure to our policymakers and demand the peaceful tomorrows that our communities deserve, including seeking justice for our brother Ahmaud. We will continue to send around information on how you can take action on the ground in communities and states across the country. Stay engaged with CJAF by signing up to attend our upcoming community engagement calls:
TEXT COMMUNITY TO 79606 to stay informed on actions to take in your local community.
Thursday, May 14 at 4pm EST: Gun Violence and Domestic Violence in Communities of Color Webinar - Register here to attend
Tuesday, May 19 at 4pm EST: Monthly Policy Organizing Call - Register here to attend
In solidarity,
-CJAF Team
Community Justice Action Fund
1875 K St NW
Washington, DC 20006
United States
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