Dear UHD Community,
The past three days have witnessed uprisings in cities from Minneapolis to Houston as protestors demand justice in the wake of recent murders of unarmed Black Americans by police officers. George Floyd, a Houston native, was publicly executed by police in Minneapolis earlier this week; Breonna Taylor, an EMT, was shot and killed by police in her home in March; and Ahmaud Arbery was followed and murdered by a former police officer and his son in Georgia. These acts of racist terror are met with threats of further violence from the President to “assume control,” while invoking the words of a known racist who championed police brutality in the 1960s.

Once again, the discrepancy between protestors who are described as “very good people” and those described as “thugs” lays bare the racism and inequality that confront Black Americans and people of color daily. Similarly, the outrage reserved for a damaged Target store, CNN building and other corporate structures rings out louder than the outrage expressed over the loss of Black life.

We are simply devastated.

In moments of great injustice, speaking out is the very least that can be done in a long list of actions that must be taken. Since our inception, the Center for Critical Race Studies at UHD has invited students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders to join us in our mission of producing knowledge, transforming lives, and empowering communities. To dismantle racism and other forms of social inequality and injustice, we need long-term structural and systemic changes. Lasting social transformation begins with individual and collective action.

Although our present circumstances prevent us from physically joining together in solidarity and support at One Main Street, we invite you to join us on our social media platforms, where we are working to curate timely information, resources, and recommendations for actions to take now.

Even with tears streaming and hearts breaking we know that the work we have committed to must go on.

Will you partner with us?

Join us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

In solidarity,
The Fellows of the Center for Critical Race Studies