Friend,

I want to share something that's been on my mind, and I'm sure it’s been on your mind too.

Four days ago, a white police officer put his knee on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man. That police officer pressed the life out of George Floyd for nine minutes as three other officers watched while George Floyd gasped, “I can't breathe, I can't breathe."

George Floyd is dead. Murdered, an extrajudicial execution. But it’s not just George Floyd. It’s also Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. And countless others.

WE have to be real about what this means for Black people across the country. Betrayal upon betrayal, killing upon killing. White Supremacy unleashed not only in these moments but in systems that disrespect Black lives and don't just allow for but even condone the murders of Black people with impunity. This is our past, this is our present, but it cannot be our future. It isn't enough to just say Black lives matter. We have to fight for those lives, for justice.

We have to reject that white men can freely carry lethal weapons of war to protest lifesaving COVID-19 policies but Black people carrying posters in protest get tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets and arrested. We have to reject the deep economic injustices that occur when Black people’s bodies and work and futures are devalued.

Supremacies last because they are given the power to do so. And so I want to ask you to join me in pledging that we will fight white supremacy, anti-Blackness and racism, and we will hold accountable those who perpetrate the violence, the murders — no matter what badge they wear or how high an office they hold.

What that means is we must build our movements on the inside and outside to dismantle white supremacy. What that means is — for those of us who aren’t Black — being better allies in addressing anti-Blackness in our own communities. What that means is standing in solidarity to confront power with protest and action.

And we will do that because Black Lives Matter.

In solidarity,

Pramila