We at Amazon Watch condemn police brutality and express our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States and around the world. We share the collective grief and are incensed by the recent police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Steven Taylor, and too many more. We will not be silent and complicit with the systematic racism and oppression terrorizing the Black community by the police or the president.
The United States of America was built on slavery, colonization, and genocide. It is not an accident that Black and Brown people are killed on the streets at the hands of the police and are dying at higher rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is systemic racism.
Even in the midst of a global pandemic, our government prioritizes funding and bailing out corporations – like agribusiness and fossil fuels – instead of investing in workers and communities. Interests that continue to place profit over people harm Black communities in the United States and Indigenous peoples across the Amazon.
We commit to stand in solidarity and take action with the Black community as they rightfully demand justice for centuries of violent oppression.
It will take all of us to build a new system that is not rooted in white supremacy. We must unite in this work. We share these resources with you to guide your solidarity and allyship:
The Movement for Black Lives: We encourage you to join the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) for a week of action until June 7th in defense of Black lives. This is an opportunity to uplift and fight alongside those turning up in the streets and online. Today’s call is to work to defund the police. For more information visit: https://m4bl.org/week-of-action/
Black Lives Matter: Black Lives Matter demands acknowledgment and accountability for the devaluation and dehumanization of Black life at the hands of the police. Add your name to the petition to nationally defund the police and to shift investments to sustainable and life-affirming resources for Black lives: https://blacklivesmatter.com/defundthepolice/
Black Visions Collective: Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the collective is working to defund the local police department and remove police officers, known as School Resource Officers, from schools across the city. To learn more: https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/
The Anti-Police Terror Project: In light of the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has had on Black communities in California and across the United States, The Anti-Police Terror Project and Community Ready Corps has issued a set of demands to the Californian cities of Sacramento and Oakland called The Black New Deal, amplify and share their message: http://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/black-new-deal
Anti-Racism Resources for White People: This document is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work. If you haven’t engaged in anti-racism work in the past, start now. Feel free to circulate this document on social media and with your friends, family, and colleagues. http://bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES
Black Lives Matter Leaders on social media:
Patrisse Cullors: @osopepatrisse
Opal Tometi: @opalayo
Alicia Garza: @aliciagarza
