Friend —

Today, I'm thinking of George Floyd's family, the community, and the movement for racial justice. While the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George is a moment of accountability, the fight for justice continues.

George Floyd should be alive today. His family should have their father, son, and brother living and breathing right now. Darnella Frazier, who was just 17 years old at the time, should not have to carry the trauma of having to film George’s murder for the rest of her life.

What happened yesterday was accountability. But we must keep working for justice. We must continue to work to address systemic racism and dismantle white supremacy in all aspects of American life. Only then will we be taking the first steps toward a just system.

This verdict will not end the pain, grief, anger, and exhaustion of people in our community who have cried out in response to this devastating loss of life by the police who took an oath to protect and defend.

It is devastating and deeply saddening what has happened and continues to happen in the city, communities, and state that I love. But it’s because we — white people — haven’t done the work to acknowledge and root out the systemic racism deep in our history. It is long overdue that we muster the will to take action and break through that. Yet I am also so grateful for the Black and Brown organizers on the ground who have been doing this work, especially over the last year.

There is a systemic problem in policing that must be resolved — and we can’t make this right only through “better training” or “improved policies and procedures.”

Our work is to end the culture of racism and abuse of power at the heart of a system that has created an epidemic of Black people dying at the hands of law enforcement.

I wish George’s family as much peace as they can find right now. We must continue our fight for justice, but it will require action to stop this from happening over and over again. There is no other option.

I’ve said this before and it remains true: This seat in the U.S. Senate belongs to all Minnesotans, and especially the unheard who wait for the justice they deserve, and I will use it to lift up their voices, and their families, and their experiences.

There is so much work to be done.

— Tina