06/05/2020
Black lives matter.
We are outraged, heartbroken, and grieving the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and all other lives stolen by racism and police brutality. Racism and racist violence are not new; we exist within a national and global legacy of racist and white supremacist structures. We reiterate that the imperative of tikkun olam, repairing the world, demands that we dismantle the racist structures that surround us. We recognize that all of this remains in the midst of a global pandemic that is disproportionately affecting Black people. We assert that Black Jews are ever an essential part of our Jewish Community. We implore that we cannot celebrate this Pride Month without acknowledging and uplifting the Black leaders that demanded our rights as q***r people through protest and riots, especially Black trans woman, Marsha P. Johnson. We pledge to embrace anti-racism as a verb, a continuum of actions we must undertake. We openly admit that we have fallen short in the past and we will continue to make mistakes. And, we recognize that these words are not enough.
We pledge to challenge ourselves and our affiliates to become anti-racist in thought and in action.
We pledge to continue to do the work and uphold this current momentum of action, as this work will never satisfy to completion, but demands an everlasting process.
We pledge to participate in the struggle and we implore you to do the same, collectively through every possible avenue, and individually through every avenue that we are able, recognizing that we also must consider health and safety: protesting in-person and digitally; financially supporting organizations and individuals that attack discrimination and violence through law, advocacy, medicine, media, art, and community; uplifting Black, Jewish, and q***r voices; sharing resources; continuously educating ourselves (because this work is never done); practicing deep listening; remaining open to new information and admitting when we have done wrong; challenging our inner rhetoric; engaging in conversation with and challenging others.
With love and power,
Shira Weiss
JQNU
