The list goes on and on and on. And as much as we should — and want to— honor each of their lives by remembering the abuse they endured, their stories and the details blur. Because there are so many. Because the brutality continues year after year. Because the racism behind it never goes away. Enough.

 

The raw anger in streets all across America isn’t hard to understand. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said so many years ago, "a riot is the language of the unheard." What America had failed to hear? Dr. King said: "It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity."

 

So many things that America failed to hear when Dr. King gave that speech in 1967, it fails to hear today. The desperate poverty is still here. The promises of freedom and justice have still not been met. And that has got to change.

 

As an Afro-Latino man who grew up poor in public housing, with half-brothers who’ve spent half their lives in prison, I’ve been engaged in the fight for criminal justice reform since my first days on the City Council. And I’ll continue that fight in Congress and be a voice for the unheard who are still waiting for the promises of freedom and justice to be met.

 

And I will continue to protest. What’s happening in America was set off by the murder — not death, murder — of George Floyd by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. But the protests are fueled by much more. By the 100,000 plus Americans killed by the coronavirus, most of them black and brown. By the 40 million who have lost their jobs, with no health care and no money in the bank to buy food or pay the rent. And they’re fueled by the racist in the White House who calls us "THUGS" when we non-violently express our rage.

 

But let’s not just express our anger in the streets, let’s do it at the voting booth. As Atlanta’s mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, said while trying to calm her city, "If you want change in America, go and register and vote...show up at the polls [in June]...do it in November. That is the change we need in this country."

 

Amen.

 

In solidarity,

 

Ritchie Torres

 

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Ritchie Torres is a born and bred fighter from the Bronx, NY. He's running to give Bronx families a seat at the table -- and to secure a better future for our country. 

Ritchie Torres for Congress
77-02 19th Rd
East Elmhurst NY 11370 United States

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