“I can’t breathe.”
These, the last words to echo from the mouths of Eric Garner, Adama Traoré, Freddie Gray and George Floyd, provide a window into our pain.
Make no mistake: we are being suffocated by a system built on colorism and supremacy. We are being bled dry by those who consider us property, not people.
Law enforcement officers across the globe are fighting this war for our oppressors, but our battle is not against them — they are merely tools. If they would put their badges down and join us, we would welcome them with open arms. But, as it is — while they brutalize, murder and maim us — we will be clear about this fact: police are not our friends.
However, police are not the oppressor’s only tool. We must tear down every single last institution — the prisons, the courts, housing, business and more — that thrives on dividing and exploiting our people.
We declare the absolute right of every person to water, food, care and shelter. We affirm our absolute right to peace of body, mind and spirit and condemn those who would inflict harm, whether physical, psychological, emotional or environmental.
As stolen people living on stolen land, we denounce theft and possession, for we will only be free when we let go the chains that bind us. We are one people, stronger together, powerful in love and dignity.
Let us heed the words of those we have lost, so their sacrifice is not in vain.
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