*** Content warnings: anti-Black racism, violence, pain, killing of Black people by the police, lack of accountability by the State, KKK *** 

June 2, 2020

PWN family,

We love you.

We have been rocked and our hearts are broken by the footage of George Floyd, murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who held Floyd under his knee for a full 8 minutes and 46 seconds. George Floyd cried out for his mama as he was dying.

Eight. Minutes. And. Forty. Six. Seconds.

We are breathless with grief, rage, pain, and despair.

But Derek Chauvin did not act alone. Officer Thomas Lane pulled a gun on George Floyd and held down his knees. Officer Alexander Kueng helped pin Floyd down. Officer Tao Thou watched. All of them are guilty. Only one has been charged so far.

As we grieved the death of George Floyd, and even as people mobilized in the streets demanding justice, Tony McDade was murdered by the Tallahassee police on the morning of Wednesday, May 27. Tony was a Black trans man. Since March, Tallahassee police have fatally shot three people. All of them were Black.

George and Tony’s murders came on the heels of the murder of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman and EMT shot at least 8 times by Louisville police March 13 in her own bed, and Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was murdered by father-son white vigilantes – one an ex-police officer – while out for a jog in his South Georgia neighborhood in March. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery was covered up for months before it became public.

George Floyd. Tony McDade. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. #SayTheirNames

Each of these executions of Black people at the hands of the State was documented on video. But there are thousands if not millions more instances of anti-Black violence in this country, some of which lead to death, every single day. This epidemic of brutality against Black bodies is a continuation of a centuries-old legacy that was enshrined and codified in law, has been enforced by the federal and state governments and their agencies, and has been echoed and upheld throughout the institutions and systems that allegedly protect us. But we are clear that these institutions protect white supremacy and capital, not our people. We are equally clear that this country was founded on violence and the labor, exploitation, suffering, control, and murder of Black and Indigenous/First Nations people. This is Amerikkka. But we can change it.

The whole damn system is guilty. 

The problem is not in Minneapolis, or Louisville, or Tallahassee. It’s not in Ferguson (#MichaelBrown) or Oakland (#OscarGrant) or Texas (#SandraBland). #SayTheirNames. 

The disease of white supremacy and violence against Black people is literally everywhere. It is built into the very fabric of our institutions. And it’s up to us to destroy, dismantle, and divest from those institutions.

Black lives are sacred. And Black power matters.

In solidarity with Black organizers in Minneapolis and around the country, we call for our community to join the Movement for Black Lives week of action: In Defense of Black Life. Together we will fight to: 


      We must invest in Black-led institutions and organizations fighting to abolish the racist prison industrial complex that profits from slave labor, those that center Black healing, and those building long term power for Black people.
      Here are just a few places to lend your support:

      “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” – Assata Shakur

      We will see you in the streets. 

      In sisterhood and solidarity,

      Positive Women’s Network-USA