Friend,

I’m frustrated and angry.

George Floyd called out for his mother as a cop squeezed away his life and a group of police stood watch. Nina, Breonna, Tony, Eric, Ahmaud, and Dreasjon have been killed too and millions are locked up in prisons and detention camps right now.

This is why United We Dream will #DefendBlackLife and work to #DefundPolice.

These killings of Black people must stop! Each of us has to do something to make that happen and politicians have got to invest in our PEOPLE and not the police!

Our friends in the Movement for Black Lives have called for a week of action and I wanted to share some calls to action that you can take to show support:

Declare that you will #DefendBlackLife and take action to #DefundPolice by changing your profile picture on social media - use this graphic:

Every contribution you can make - whether that is marching, declaring that you will #DefendBlackLife on social media, talking to your parents, donating - all of it will get us closer to liberation.

I want to be real - when Black people are killed, it’s not unusual to hear people on TV or even in our own communities assuming that the Black person did something wrong. We have to confront this anti-Blackness. It is the root of what keeps our communities divided and it is the root of the systems which oppress us all.

The COVID-19 pandemic is showing us the deep inequities forced upon communities of color and immigrants. Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people are dying and being forced to go back to work in unsafe conditions for the conveniences of others.

United, we can create a new future where Black people not only live but THRIVE! When this is true ALL people can live free and thrive.

With love,

Greisa and the rest of the UWD team