George Floyd should be alive.
We remember George Floyd and how his life mattered. The conviction of Derek Chauvin, made possible because of the recording of a bystander, is a small step towards accountability. But it is not justice.
The structures of oppression and white supremacy are set up to exhaust, divide, and frighten us. During the verdict announcement, 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was brutally murdered by police in Columbus, Ohio. As our nation mourns another Black life taken by police, it's clear that our fight for justice is far from over.
Justice requires long-term structural change to extract the racism embedded into every aspect of this country and truly upend these systems of hate. Justice requires reimagining community safety, safety for all of us, and demanding a massive shift in the design and objectives of our criminal justice system. Justice requires stopping racist, state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown individuals and communities so we can create sustainable and resilient communities where we can all live and breathe safely.
But we will not be stopped. We will continue to work together with our partners to create communities where everyone can thrive, with clean air, water, and energy, and a stable and safe climate for all.
Environmental destruction requires us to believe that some people and communities are disposable, which leads to catastrophes like climate change and polluted air and water. These burdens are most heavily placed on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian communities, as well as other communities of color. White supremacy is a necessary precondition for big polluters' agenda. To protect the planet, we must dismantle systemic racism wherever it exists. We must dismantle harmful police systems and replace them with real investments in people and communities.
Community activists from coast to coast, from Minneapolis to George Floyd's birthplace of Houston, are leading this work. We invite you to seek out the ones in your community, listen to them, and become co-conspirators in their work. Since George Floyd’s murder, they have been leading in promoting community care and healing, even under threat of increasing police militarization and violence. They are demanding investments in people, not police; in sustainability, not fossil fuels and pollution. Because we will never achieve a planet where we all can thrive together without ending the threat of police violence.
Listen to and support these organizations doing this work in your community, as well as in Minneapolis. Here is a list to get you started:
Documenting MN
Atlas of Blackness
Brooklyn Center Mutual Aid
Holistic Heaux
38th and Chicago Ave
Rochester Community Initiative
Rochester for Justice
CAIR-MN
Unicorn Riot
MN Teen Activists
Together we can make a just, livable planet for everyone, but that starts with protecting Black people's lives from militarized police.