We demand justice for:
George Floyd
Breonna Taylor
Ahmaud Arbery
Sean Reed
Tony McDade
Michael Brown
Freddie Gray
Sandra Bland
Eric Garner
Trayvon Martin
Tamir Rice
So Many More
Too Many More
Black Lives Matter
This week, Neighbors Together mourns the horrific loss of George Floyd’s one precious life, his breath stripped away from him by remorseless and excessive force under the knee of Derek Chauvin, a white racist Minneapolis-based police officer, as well as 3 other police officers who directly aided in his murder and have not yet been charged – Thomas Lane, J.A. Kueng and Tou Thoa.
The racist killing and systematic oppression of black people in our country must end.
Neighbors Together stands in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and all people and social justice organizations across New York City, our nation and world who condemn the brutal murders of black people at the hands of the police and white supremacists and the slaps on the wrist their murderers receive.
The video footage of George Floyd’s murder and many other black murders over the past decade lays bare what has always been true: the institutions of our nation are built on deep seated white supremacy and racism, serving to uplift and protect white lives and property while devaluing the humanity of black people and people of color.
Neighbors Together’s mission is to end hunger and poverty in central Brooklyn – we do this through providing meals and social services to meet immediate needs while taking political action, led by our members, to dismantle public policies that systemically create or perpetuate deep racial disparities in health, housing access, food security, education, and employment.
More than half of Neighbors Together’s staff members are people of color. The vast majority of the 10,000 men, women and children who turn to Neighbors Together for support each year are black. Our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors. The children who were born to lead our future. Adults and senior citizens whose lived experiences offer vital truth about our country’s racist history and present, truths we must hear and see and do the work to reconcile.
Their lives matter so much.
Please join Neighbors Together and our ally organizations in taking immediate action to condemn police brutality and institutionalized racism in NYC:
- Support the #NYCBudgetJustice / #Defund Police Campaign, led by Communities United for Police Reform, urging NYC Council to defund the NYPD’s FY21 inflated budget allocation and re-invest critically needed funds in social service organizations that are working to provide meals, housing, jobs, health care, and education – real measures of public safety that honor the dignity and humanity of black people and communities of color, especially amid the COVID-19 crisis. Read the #NYCBudgetJustice letter, share on social media, and call your City Council member and demand they support the campaign.
- Help Pass the #SaferNYAct, including repealing 50-A, a state-level bill package which would help to increase police accountability and transparency, reduce low-level arrests, and repeal the secrecy law (50-A) which serves to intentionally withhold incidents of police misconduct from public knowledge. Call your NY State Assembly members and NY State Senators and demand they support the #SaferNYAct by cosponsoring the bills.
Racism is the disease of our country’s founding. Coupled with today’s pandemic of COVID-19, which is disproportionately impacting black and brown communities, we must take personal and collective action for change.
Neighbors Together is committed to fighting white supremacy by:
- Examining our organizational practices with an anti-racist and racial equity lens.
- Continuing to build the power of our members by supporting and deepening their leadership skills and opportunities.
- Fighting to end homelessness and the criminalization of poor people and people of color, and to create equity in housing, food access, healthcare, education and workforce opportunity. Neighbors Together is committed to challenging and changing oppressive systems that profit off the backs of poor people and people of color.
- Ensuring that our members have ongoing access to nutritious meals and quality social services, to help meet immediate needs so that our members have a basic foundation from which to build their personal and collective power and self-actualization.
- Diversifying the composition of our Board of Directors to increase both racial diversity and community representation in organizational governance and decision making.
- Treating every person who walks through our doors with dignity, respect and humanity.
We know that our work as a nation and our work at Neighbors Together is not perfect nor close to being done, but we are determined to do what we can to create a more just, safe, and equitable city and world.
Thank you for standing with Neighbors Together, our ally organizations and our members in condemning police brutality, calling out systemic racism, and taking action for change.
In solidarity and hope,
The Neighbors Together Team
