This article was published more than 4 years ago.
The Fund for Global Human Rights is saddened and outraged by the persistent violence and human rights violations perpetuated against Black people in the United States. We grieve for the countless victims of state, police, and white supremacist violence, and we stand firmly in solidarity with activists demanding accountability, reform, and transformational justice.
To Black people reeling from trauma and violence, we say this: we see you, we see your pain, and we see and respect your fundamental humanity as human beings. Your life matters. Black Lives Matter.
The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others are the direct result of systems that value White comfort over Black and Brown lives. White supremacy and anti-Black racism have been enshrined in U.S. policy, preserved by its institutions, and ingrained in its culture since the country’s founding.
We must also acknowledge that White supremacy and anti-Black racism are not unique to the United States. Global systems have oppressed, denigrated, and dismissed the lives of Black and Brown people around the world for centuries. The same insidious forces that claimed George Floyd’s life also claimed the lives of Sarah Reed in the UK, Marielle Franco in Brazil, and Abdirahman Abdi in Canada.
The time for change is now!
We must come together as a society to address the anti-Black inequalities, inequities, and injustices that have permeated the United States and the world for far too long. We must resist, challenge, and dismantle White supremacist systems in any context they occur. And we must shoulder our own individual and collective responsibilities.
To White allies, we say this: silence is complicity. If you have ever wondered what you would have done during the civil rights movement, now is your chance to find out.
The work begins with reflecting on your own biases and recognizing your own privileges. White people, and those who benefit from White privilege, must listen to, center, and amplify the voices of those most impacted by White supremacy. They must leverage their White privilege to shift power, facilitate Black voices inside institutions, and ensure resources are afforded to achieve the solutions prescribed by those who are oppressed within our global society.
Across the United States and around the world, local leaders and community activists are taking to the streets to demand safety, dignity, and justice in their communities. We strongly condemn the use of state force and violence by White supremacist terrorist groups to stifle their voices. At the Fund, we have borne witness to the immense impact of civic activism and protest. This week, we are seeing it again—people coming together to speak truth to power. As Franz Fanon once said: “We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.”
The human rights of Black people in the United States and around the world are being violated, and their humanity erased, by the forces of White supremacy. Black Liberation activists and allies are risking their lives to be treated equally. They are demanding that their humanity is acknowledged and respected, and that systems of discrimination, oppression, and inequality are fundamentally changed. We call on our allies and partners, our friends and families, and our global community to stand with them in solidarity.
#BlackLivesMatter #SayHerName #SayHisName #SayTheirName
