It’s been a hard year. It’s been almost impossible to watch or read the news over the past four months and not see Black suffering and trauma. From the disproportionate infection and death rates from COVID-19 to Black essential workers fighting for a fair wage and protections all the way to Black people murdered by the police and vigilantes.
It can be very easy to fall into despair. But today we are asking you to not lose hope. Hundreds of thousands of people, from small towns to big cities, are taking to the streets and loudly proclaiming that #BlackLivesMatter and continuing the momentum for change.
Juneteenth is a day that honors Black freedom and Black resistance, and centers Black people’s unique contribution to the struggle for justice in the U.S. That struggle cannot end until all Black lives matter, and these mass mobilizations on this sacred weekend will act as an homage to Black ancestors who have done so much work already, as well as lay a path to freedom for future generations.
Now more than ever, it’s critical that we honor and celebrate Black resistance and Black freedom. It’s up to us to carry on in the traditions of Harriet Tubman, Anna Julia Cooper, Frederick Douglass, and the many other Black freedom fighters whose names have been lost to history. That’s why we’re joining with the Movement for Black Lives in their SIX NINETEEN mobilization this weekend, to celebrate Juneteenth. We’re expecting to see millions of people in the streets and at home joining in the call to #DefendBlackLives and call for an end to the systems that seek to penalize and brutalize Black people.
Every day new names are added to the list of those brutalized and murdered by vigilantes and police. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery—the list goes on.
We always talk about our vision for a just future—stopping the growth of that list needs to be part of that vision, too.
Uprisings have swept the nation to honor those names. Black communities and allies have marched on the streets of all 50 states. The call for justice has never been louder than it is right now, and we are done waiting for change.
Will you join us this weekend to #DefendBlackLives?
Americans are rising up in a way without parallel in the last half-century.
- We are rising up to lament the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many more of our fellow citizens.
- We are rising up to demand an end to bias and brutality by law enforcement.
- We are rising up to call out the ongoing injustices of systemic racism.
In just a few weeks, massive mobilizations have won unprecedented change. Minneapolis has committed to disbanding its police department. Los Angeles is cutting police funding by hundreds of millions of dollars. America is finally allowing itself to envision a nation held together by community care, one where all of us have what we need to survive and thrive. That’s the kind of economy and society the Green New Deal is all about.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay active.
The DemCast Team
Nick, Lori, and Jamie