The Formerly Incarcerated Law Student Advocacy Association of the CUNY School of Law (FILSAA) stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and everyone who seeks to end racism. We condemn racialized violence of any kind, from its louder forms in police stops, jails, and prisons, to its quieter forms in our schools, our offices, and our statehouses. We offer our attached statement of support as well as resources to find ways to help.
“We see the possibility for communities strengthened by moving from a model of punishment to one of accountability and transformative justice—by shifting not just how we respond collectively to harm, but also to how we relate to one another and take collective care of each other.” – ABOLITIONIST LAW CENTER, WE ARE ABOLITIONISTS: SOLIDARITY IN THE STRUGGLE TO END POLICE TERROR AND STATE VIOLENCE
We mourn the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Jamel Floyd, and every victim of police and carceral violence throughout America’s history. We stand with BLSA, with protestors, with Black Lives Matter and with the Black community within CUNY whom we call friends and family.
While we grieve over the loss of these individual lives, this reminds us that police killings are only a fraction of the state-supported violence and neglect that Black and Brown people face on a daily basis. We condemn police departments nationwide for their violent responses to legitimate protests, as well as those who focus on property damage over the loss of Black lives. Police violence during protests is barbaric, but we also reject the insidious forms of racism embedded in education, housing, healthcare, employment, and the criminal legal system.
It is our stance that the only solutions are radical. We cannot return to a normal where Black and Brown lives are chronically seen as less than. We join the Abolitionist Law Center in calling for immediate steps to be taken, among them:
- Provide amnesty, debt forgiveness, and expungement to all protestors;
- Reduce police power by mass de-criminalization; and
- Divert police funding to those in chronic poverty.
Additionally, we ask that you get involved in your local communities by donating to bail relief efforts or by volunteering your time providing jail support for those who are needlessly locked up for using their voice. We are aware that some people are unable to attend protests yet want to do more than just “stand in solidarity”. FILSAA has been lending support through many different avenues, and we want you to fight this fight with us against racist police brutality. Here are some ways that you can help to further the goals of the Black community in this fight against police terror:
- National Resource List Compilation (courtesy Indigo Owens ’22)
- Black Lives Matter Resource List
- Protest Support Resource List (Paper Mag)
In solidarity,
FILSAA