Environmental Groups Stand in Solidarity with Movement for Black Lives Demands

June 4, 2020

As organizations striving for climate justice and environmental protection, we cannot be silent in the face of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others. This moment has laid bare the long and shameful history of institutional and systemic racism against Black and Brown people in this country. We demand action.

We stand in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) and endorse the following demands and the M4BL week of action.

We will advocate for these demands, and we will engage our supporters, members, and allies to take action to confront the police violence, inequality, and racism plaguing this country.

Take action: https://m4bl.org/week-of-action/ 

We demand the rights of protesters be protected.
We demand that no harm come to protestors. Violations of property should never be equated with the violation of human life. We demand that local and state officials ensure that there are no abuse of powers and no use of lethal force on protestors.

We demand a divestment from the police and investment in black communities. We demand local schools, colleges, universities and all public institutions cut ties with the police.
We call on localities and elected officials across the country to divest resources away from policing in local budgets and reallocate those resources to the healthcare, housing and education our people deserve. More officers, guns, jails, and prisons are not a solution to longstanding problems of racial disparities, injustice, and police violence. We demand police-free schools across the country and an end to the use of police officers in public universities. All public institutions designed to serve the people must cut ties with the police in the interest of public safety.

We demand immediate relief for our communities.
We demand the federal government provide direct cash payments, rent cancellation, mortgage cancellation, a moratorium on utility and water shutoffs, and a cancellation of student, medical, and other forms of debt. We demand long-term economic solutions like a Universal Basic Income, in order to address the immediate crisis and pave the way for a just recovery that doesn’t prioritize corporations and leave our communities behind. Support the families and the lives of those we have lost and those struggling to survive now.

We demand community control.
The most impacted in our communities need to control the laws, institutions, and policies that are meant to serve us — from our schools to our local budgets, economies, and police department.

We demand an end to the war against black people.
We demand an end to the criminalization, incarceration, and killing of our people. We call for not just individual accountability of officers after a murder, but entire police departments. Make it clear that we are done being killed at the hands of anti Blackness and white supremacy. Target your elected officials and those that lead institutions like schools, hospitals, and universities to cut ties with the police.

Signed,

Featured image from Wikimedia Commons.