Thread by @emilyslist

We cannot be silent. We cannot say we support Black women while remaining silent about the threat of death and violence that Black women, men, and children carry with them daily. /THREAD

We cannot support Black women at the ballot box and ignore the lived experiences that Black people face.

We cannot support Black women at the ballot box and remain silent when they are protesting in the streets. We are committed to creating a world where Black people can go for a run, drive a car, and raise their children in peace — without fear of violence or discrimination.

We stand with Black women like @JoyceBeatty, @KamalaHarris, @IlhanOmar, @Val_Demings, and @AyannaPressley who are on the front lines fighting for their communities and speaking truth to power.

We as an organization are committed to supporting Black women when they run for office.

But we cannot support Black women during an election cycle and remain silent when their sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters are being murdered by police.

We cannot support Black women’s right to make choices about their reproductive health while not supporting their right to live peacefully without the threat of violence.

Police brutality is a women’s issue.

Breonna Taylor.
Sandra Bland.
Atatiana Jefferson.
Mya Hall.
Meagan Hockaday.
Kayla Moore.

& so many more.

If you think police brutality isn’t a women’s issue, you haven’t been paying attention.

We understand that nothing we could possibly say will ever feel like enough.

Nothing we could say will bring back George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, or the thousands of Black lives taken too soon at the hands of police.

But we also understand that as an organization of over 5 MILLION members from all backgrounds and walks of life, we have a responsibility to use our platform to amplify the voices of Black people crying out for justice.

We have a responsibility to the Black women, mothers, sisters, and daughters that we help elect to speak out when their lives are being undervalued and threatened by those who have vowed to protect and serve.

We have a responsibility to call out feminism when it is not intersectional and does not center the lived experiences of Black women and women of color.

We as a nation are experiencing a collective loss that Black mothers, sisters, and daughters feel every single day. And it’s up to us to make sure that collective action follows. #BlackLivesMatter /END