It is our duty to say clearly and loudly that Black Lives Matter.

George Floyd

Ahmaud Arbery

Breonna Taylor

We must say their names. We must dismantle the structures of systemic racism and racial oppression that exist at the foundation of our country.

There must be accountability.

It took four days for George Floyd’s killer to be arrested. That is a travesty but unfortunately is not a surprise. Ahmaud Arbery's killers were not prosecuted for months — only after the video evidence went viral.

True justice and accountability cannot exist in a system where it takes viral videos or massive public demonstrations for murderers to be brought to justice.

It is my duty as an elected official to dismantle the same systems of racial injustice and profiling that are a death sentence for Black Americans. The same systems that have allowed white Americans to get off scot-free for generations.

We need urgent change. We need vast criminal justice reform, and it cannot wait.

We cannot just vote. We need to be on the frontlines in demanding change. This is especially true for those of us in positions of power.

We must support the Black-led groups and Black people who are already leading this effort. So I’m asking you to do two things right now:

First, please take time today to watch our conversation with four of Massachusetts’s Black leaders. Listen and learn from them. As Ricky Grant says, we need white Americans’ hearts to break, like Black Americans’ hearts have been broken for so long, if there is any hope for change.

Second, support those who are leading the fight for racial justice in the Commonwealth. You can do that right now by making a donation to the NAACP Boston Branch, Boston chapter of Black Lives Matter, Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, Urban League of Springfield, and Center for Teen Empowerment.

We will not have justice until we root out the insidious, systemic racism that pervades our society.

- Ed Markey

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