January 8, 2021: Wednesday’s white supremacist failed coup in the U.S. Capitol was horrifying, scary, unprecedented – yet not unpredictable.
The attack was not on a building. This was an attack on our people.
The message of these insurrectionists, including those sitting in government, is loud and clear: They are afraid of what happens when Black and brown voters choose our leaders. They fear the world we envision: a racially just world. An equitable world. A world where queer liberation is possible and where trans people are safe and free. They understand it will cost them power.
Wednesday’s failed coup was just the latest and most visible expression of a legacy of white supremacy as old as this country. While appalled and horrified, as we all should be, we were surprised neither by what they did nor by how easy it was for them to do it. We have long anticipated this as the logical conclusion of years of radicalization and manipulation of energized and emboldened white supremacists, suddenly confronted with losing power to highly organized, motivated, and unified Black and brown people.
The same white supremacy that drove this attack on our people manifests every day as anti-Black violence that permeates our society. From unprosecuted lynchings to police brutality to mass incarceration to voter suppression to employment and housing discrimination, our systems and institutions tell the 74 million Americans who voted for President Trump that Black lives are worth less than theirs, and that equal rights are oppression.
We must hold to account those responsible at every level. The police charged with protecting the Capitol and the lawmakers inside must be held accountable for their complicity in Wednesday’s failed coup. President Trump must be removed from office through the 25th amendment or through impeachment and held accountable for his actions. PWN also supports Rep. Cori Bush’s resolution to sanction and remove all House members who supported contesting battleground states’ election results.
Yet we know that removing figureheads will not solve the problem. Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN) demands cultural and systemic change, both of which are necessary to address the root causes and impact of white supremacy. The 74 million voters who gave a stamp of approval to naked bigotry and xenophobia are not going away, and they are only becoming bolder and more organized. They live, work, and play amongst us. Some of us report to them at work.
We must fight the racism that every one of our institutions is steeped in until we can all walk, talk, and live freely, without facing aggression, hostility, or violence because of who we are. It’s not enough to be “Facebook-mad” about the most blatant demonstrations of white supremacist violence. White people who say they are not racist must take action to keep what we saw this week from happening again.
We call on HIV organizations—especially white-led HIV organizations–to loudly condemn the politics of white grievance that have brought us here and to commit to serious introspection about how white supremacy shows up in their own organization—and to change as a result. We call on them to use all the connections and political leverage they have to advocate for serious systemic and structural changes that will move us closer to equity and liberation. White silence is violence.
To our members and trusted allies: PWN is here with you and for you, as we have been since our inception over 12 years ago. Our commitment to celebrate and honor Black women in the HIV movement has only been reinforced by Wednesday’s attack. We invite HIV organizations, including and especially those led by white people, to pledge to do the same, and to actually do it in meaningful ways. We know the anxiety and fear our community lives with daily, and we invite you to join one of our regional support pods if you have not already. We will keep taking care of each other as we always have.
We will not be distracted from our goals of advancing equity and building power for our communities. We will honor and celebrate our victories as we continue to organize and care for our people. They will not silence us, and their hate will not steal our hard-won and much deserved joy.
We are stronger than we have ever been, and they know it. Our eyes are clear and our resolve is strong. We will win—because we are on the side of justice.
