Link to sign statement(๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ / ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐, ๐๐/๐๐๐๐) โ We, the undersigned members and leaders of religious, civil rights, interfaith, and social justice organizations condemn the murder of George Floyd who died during an arrest…Onlookers watched horrified as Mr. Floyd laid on the ground handcuffed, pinned down by former police officer Derek Chauvinโs knee on his neck begging for his life. He pleaded, โPlease I canโt breatheโฆmy stomach hurtsโฆmy neck hurtsโฆmy everything hurtsโฆโ
The murder of George Floyd is the latest of many and on-going tragedies that are simply inexcusable in our country. They take the breath out of the whole community. We canโt breathe! The African American community canโt breathe. Therefore, none of us can breathe. We have to allow each other to breathe again by taking the knee off the neck of the communities of people of color.
Mr. Floyd is one of more than 400 people killed by police this year, including harrowing deaths like that of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Sean Reed in recent months.
These barbaric deaths align with broader patterns of state-sanctioned violence in the US that disproportionately impacts African Americans, and serves as a continuation of the systemic racial discrimination within the criminal justice system.
The insidious nature of racism in America seeps into every conceivable facet of society and requires structural, social, and cultural change.
As leaders of religious, civil rights, interfaith, and social justice organizations, we raise our voices, demanding justice and advocating for an end to such oppression whether perpetrated by private citizens or state agencies. And here we invite our communities to join the efforts and bring about the change by calling for:
* ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ก๐๐ข๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐;
* ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข-๐๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐-๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ;
* ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญh ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐;
* ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐-๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก- ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐;
* ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ก๐;
* ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐-๐๐, ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐.
* ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐.
We can start by breathing together in our communities and learning about the integral role of African American communities in shaping our society and culture while intentionally keeping in focus the painful history of slavery, lynching, and mass incarceration.
We start by taking a deep breath and admitting that these basic systems in our society are broken and that we need to work together to end the embedded inequalities that keep us all from breathing easy.
Sign this statement at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfGOb6Wk6QUi4d_eIJzESKf5G092GTw6lpQ1qUfDVjPHHofVQ/viewform
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