The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other Black people by police officers and racist vigilantes attest the need for systemic change and solidarity in the fight for justice and equity for Black communities. The Quixote Center stands in solidarity and friendship with Black communities and the Black Lives Matter movement.
As a multi-issue social justice organization, the Quixote Center aims to bring about lasting systemic change. Confronting racial injustice in the United States and elsewhere requires action that undercuts the material bases of oppression. We call for and support campaigns that seek to defund police departments, eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement, end the detention of migrants and seek the abolition of prisons. Funds used to police and incarcerate should instead be directed toward building sustainable communities.
We support in an unqualified way the right of those who are engaged in protest actions in response to injustice, particularly racism, at this time. The harm to human life, disproportionately to the Black community, brought about by state violence and persistent institutional racism, must end.
For those who are unable or do not feel it would be prudent to participate in mass mobilizations at this time for health reasons - particularly in light of the global pandemic - there are other ways to support the cause of racial justice.
-
- For those who would like to learn more about anti-racism work, you can start here.
- For those who want to get engaged in movement activities, the Movement for Black Lives has a list of ideas for actions, coded for degrees of risk, connected to themes that have animated the ongoing week of action.
- For those who want to support protesters in the streets from their homes, here are some ideas.
- For those who want to donate to black-led organizations working directly on questions of racial justice, here are just a few to get started:
- Black Lives Matter- Founded in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, BLM is an international organization whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities.
- Minnesota Freedom Fund- Community-based nonprofit that pays criminal bail & immigration bonds for individuals who have been arrested while protesting police brutality.
- Movement for Black Lives - created as a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions, develop shared assessments of what political interventions were necessary in order to achieve key policy, cultural and political wins, convene organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared movement wide strategy.
- Black Visions Collective- A black, trans & queer-led organization that is committed to dismantling systems of oppression & violence, & shifting the public narrative to create transformative long-term change.
- Campaign Zero- online platform & organization that utilizes research-based policy solutions to end police brutality in America.