Photo via 350 Massachusetts, taken by Pia Ward
Dear friends,
As many of you know, a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri decided this week that police officer Darren Wilson will not be tried for shooting and the killing Michael Brown. People have taken to the streets in over 170 cities in the past few days to protest this decision and the judicial system that produces decisions like this one all too often.
The Coordinating Committee of the DSN condemns this decision. We do not believe that justice has been served in this case. Recent events highlight the broader failure of the judicial system to protect and serve black and brown communities in this country. We are saddened, we are angry and we are committed to working for racial justice now and for the rest of our lives.
Deirdre Smith, from 350.org, wrote an article called “Why the Climate Movement Must Stand with Ferguson” this summer. In case you didn’t read it, it’s more relevant than ever. And if you did, read it again. From Deirdre’s piece:
As James Baldwin expressed, “if they come for you in the morning, they will come for us at night.” But solidarity and allyship is important in and of itself. The fossil fuel industry would love to see us siloed into believing that we can each win by ourselves on “single issues.” Now it’s time for the climate movement to show up– to show that we will not stand for the “otherizing” of the black community here in America, or anyone else.
We fight climate change because we understand this work to be critical, but fighting the many other manifestations of injustice in our society is equally critical. We understand that there are issues affecting communities like Michael Brown’s that cannot wait. Stopping climate change means addressing the root causes of the crisis, which are the same systems and industries that exploit black communities. Fighting for a viable future means also fighting for a just society. To create the world we envision, we need not only an end to fossil fuel extraction and climate change, but also an end to racism and violence against communities. We hope to find ways to shift our movement’s often passive racial justice politic into active engagement in racial justice work. If we do nothing about the systemic racism that allows Darren Wilson to avoid a trial altogether, our nation’s history of past and present injustice becomes our legacy.
It’s inspiring to see leaders from our movement taking action. Salish from Reed College attended protests this week, saying, “In Portland I stood in solidarity with Ferguson because systemic racism and police brutality protect a corporate state that should be protecting the people. As a white divestment organizer I realize that racial justice and climate organizing are often at odds. I want to work towards a world where the divestment movement practices real solidarity in dismantling white supremacy.” We have not yet figured out how to do this work, but we are going to try.
Organizers in Ferguson are calling for continued actions. On Monday, students will be staging walkouts on campus at 12:01pm CDT (1:01pm EDT, 10:01am PDT), the time that Michael Brown was murdered. See if students on your campus will be staging a walkout, and join in. And please share widely on social media using #HandsUpWalkOut. Click here for an image to share.
We will be sending out materials for hosting conversations about Ferguson, white supremacy, and our movement, so keep checking your email. We think having these conversations in our movement is critical to being in solidarity with the fight in Ferguson; so we are happy to support campuses in making these conversations happen.
We’d like to close with this quote from bell hooks: “The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. That action is the testimony of love as the practice of freedom.” We choose to love because these issues are heavy, scary, and real, and we have to support each other throughout all of it to make transformative organizing happen. We believe that collective liberation is possible.
In love and solidarity,
The Coordinating Committee of the DSN
Greta, Jess, Lex, Kate, Varshini, Marli, Will, and Dylan
