Over the weekend I was proud to join the peaceful marches throughout our county to unequivocally say Black Lives Matter and call for change. The tragic murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many others, have exposed some of America’s biggest challenges - injustice in policing, systemic racism and a need for cultural change, to name a few. 

I joined the protests in FishHawk and along Bayshore Blvd to add my voice, to listen, to support, and to better understand. The scars of hatred and oppression are deep and generations long. We can, and must, do better.

As President Obama said in his thoughtful Medium post “the elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels.” So, if we want change we need to start with changing Tallahassee.  

Along with my support of the progress made by these protests, I will fight to eliminate overzealous policing, for-profit prisons, and stand-your-ground laws. Let’s start breaking the ‘school to prison’ pipeline by investing in education, demanding criminal justice reform, and mentoring Black talent. At a time when Black Americans are three times more likely to die of COVID-19, let's finally pass Florida’s Medicare expansion which we already pay for with our federal taxes and which would help reduce inequality in healthcare.

We have much to do; we have a lot to fight for. But together our voices will be heard.   

For today, I hope you will join me in donating to one of the following organizations fighting for racial justice in America:

Florida NAACP

Color of Change

The Advancement Project

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund