This is important, I wanted you to hear directly from me about the fear, and grief, and frustration, and anger people in Ohio and around the country are expressing right now.

This pandemic is laying bare how our government and our economy work in favor of the rich, the powerful, and the privileged. For too many, the system is broken. And for black and brown communities, it never worked to begin with. They did not need this disease to remind them that systemic racism puts their lives in danger -- every day and all of the time.

The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by the people who are supposed to protect all Americans are devastating reminders of that injustice. We know that pain all too well here in Ohio - we remember the grief we felt with the murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice at a park in Cleveland, and Sam DuBose in Cincinnati during a traffic stop, and John Crawford in a Beavercreek Wal-Mart, and Timothy Thomas in Cincinnati, and on and on the list goes.

We must end the systemic racism that robs black and brown Americans of their dignity, and too often their lives.

The phrase we rally behind -- the Dignity of Work -- comes from Dr. King, who taught us that, "One day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker...for the person who picks up our garbage, in the final analysis, is as significant as the physician, for if he doesn't do his job, diseases are rampant. All labor has dignity."

Black and brown workers built this country, but have never been treated with equal dignity. Working to change that isn't just a part of our movement -- it's at the heart of it.

Today, I'm asking you to join me in taking action in this fight.

If you are able, I encourage you to make a contribution to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund -- but don't stop there.

One of the most important parts of my job is listening, and uplifting the work of others who have been waging this battle, day in and day out, for generations now. The solutions we need will come out of the communities who have been excluded and silenced for far too long. There are organizations committed to fighting for racial justice, criminal justice reform, voting rights, and education equality in communities all across Ohio and around the country.

Seek them out. Do your research. Find out how you can best help -- whether it's donating or organizing, mentoring or registering voters.

Finally, if you're reading this e-mail, I know you vote -- but that's not enough. Talk with your friends, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers. Make sure they vote -- not just in November, but in every election, up and down the ballot. We know how critical local elections are to all of the issues we're fighting for -- and we also know the voter suppression we're up against. It's going to take all of us united, taking every action we can, to fight it.

The tragedies of recent weeks, and of the years and decades before this, are a call to action -- we must do better. And we can.

Too many in our government don't seem to understand that marching, donating, organizing, and demanding our country live up to our founding ideals are some of the most patriotic actions you can take. And we will never give up the hallowed ground of patriotism to the extremists.

In solidarity,

Sherrod

[link removed]***Paid for by Friends of Sherrod Brown***

This e-mail was sent to [email protected]
Click here to unsubscribe: [link removed]