John,
This weekend will mark two weeks since we've sent a letter to president-elect Joe Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris asking for a meeting.
We still haven't got a response.
We've been very patient in this request, as we've seen the Biden/Harris administration urgently tackling the coronavirus pandemic and overall transition team. However, we will not back down on holding the new president-elect and vice president-elect accountable in their campaign commitments of addressing systemic racism.
As we continue to emphasize our willingness to work with them, we refuse to lose sight of the liberation of Black people -- and we refuse for our agenda to be put on the back burner after delivering victory to both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
There are commitments that must be made to Black people -- and the more of us that make that clear, the more inclined both the president-elect and vice-president elect will be to meet us. Join us and add your name to this meeting request.
We've said it once, and we'll say it again: Black people cannot and
will not live through the indifference of a Democrat-controlled government that refuses to wrestle with its most egregious and damnable shame of not delivering for Black people --
especially when Black people are their most consistent and reliable base. According to AP VoteCast, Black voters made up 11% of the national electorate, and 9 in 10 of them supported Biden.
The only reason that Joe Biden flipped Georgia blue for the first time in nearly 30 years was due to Black voter turnout.
We refuse to live in crisis in a nation that was built on our subjugation. And having the utmost power in the latest electoral outcome, our votes delivering victory means we want to be heard.
Up until this point, the United States has refused to directly reckon with the way that it devalues Black people and devastates our lives.
This cannot continue -- and we refuse to accept this from the newly-elected administration.
The best way they remedy their missteps and regretful record is to work toward a more just future for Black people -- and, by extension, all people. We are respectfully asking for a meeting to begin the work of Black liberation.
50,000 of you have already signed our meeting-request petition -- let's double that number. The more people that sign this petition, the bigger our seat at the table.
In love and solidarity,
Black Lives Matter Global Network
P.S. See our full letter to the president-elect and vice president-elect here.
