Dear CUNY Law Community,
The CUNY Black Law Student Association (BLSA) is in firm solidarity with our families, friends and communities, demanding justice for the racist killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and every victim of anti-Black violence.
We echo the demands of our communities for swift repudiation of police killings, fair and independent investigations, and the prosecution of all those involved. We also express our condemnation of the conduct of Amy Cooper, who weaponized her white womanhood and white privilege to orchestrate state-sanctioned police violence against a Black man in Central Park named Christian Cooper on May 27, 2020. Too often, white women are not held accountable for their participation in white supremacy and Black oppression.
We condemn all members of law enforcement and all levels of government who actively and passively perpetuate anti-Black racism – who sanction these extrajudicial killings by police and deprive us of equal protection under the law.
We condemn every individual who believes that their silence is apolitical and who chooses comfort and complicity over justice.
The recent killings of Black people that have inspired protests across the United States, as well as some parts of Canada and the UK, are not isolated events. Every killing by a member of law enforcement must be contextualized in the systemic oppression of Black people in the United States and abroad.
Black people are not nor have we ever been responsible for our killings at the hands of the State.
Over 200 years ago, when the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments were enacted, the United States promised to retire all forms of chattel slavery and to guarantee Black people equal protection of the laws. That promise has remained unfulfilled. We are five times more likely than whites to be incarcerated and account for more than a quarter of police shooting victims.
Black children continue to come of age in a world where the killings of Black people can be watched on loop on Facebook and Twitter — if these Black children come of age at all.
Every incident motivated by anti-Blackness is embroidered into the fabric of this country. Whether these incidents make the news or not, they are a reminder that our lives are not valued, and we do not matter.
For all of these reasons, we are emotionally, spiritually, and physically tired. We are tired of having to say “please don’t shoot”. We are tired of having to say “we can’t breathe”. And we are tired of having to say “Black lives matter”!
As future public interest lawyers, this is the time to roll up our sleeves and recommit ourselves to social and racial justice. Let’s not sit comfortably on the sidelines because these issues do not directly affect your communities and families.
We are reminded by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”.
Together, we have the power to demand the protection and safety of Black people in America.
We invite you to join BLSA in our commitment to social and racial justice by supporting the grassroots organizing in our backyard and donating to the Black Visions Collective, George Floyd Memorial Fund (GoFundMe) or Reclaim the Block.
In solidarity,
BLSA E-Board
Danielle McCoy, President
Barbara Vega, Vice-President
Bobbie A. Brown, Academic Chair
Ja Loni Owens, Social Action Chair
Kieshorne Dennie, Secretary
Kenya M. Lee, Fundraising Chair
Joshua Davis, Outreach Coordinator
Dan-Obed Henry, Treasurer