Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in collaboration with Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) and so many partnering organizations celebrated September 29, 2020 as BREATHE Day. BREATHE Day is a time and place for discussing Black issues and how the BREATHE Act will #DefundthePolice and create a future for all of us to thrive. For too long, Black people have been forced to hold our breath. The wait is over.
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is a Black-led organization that supports Black led movements across the globe. In building such a movement, we have encountered over the last 7 years individuals who have continually misrepresented our organization and solicited donations all in the name of Black Lives Matter.
It was just over a week ago that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away after a lifetime of serving her country, advocating for equal justice under law. Earlier today, Donald Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee — a nominee that has no interest in equal justice under law. The right to our bodies. The right to choose. LGBTQ rights. Access to affordable health care. Civil rights and equality — it’s all at stake.
We are completely disgusted and outraged by the indescribable decision that has been rendered in the murder of our beloved, Breonna Taylor. Here we are, yet again, a Black life that has been dehumanized at the hands of the police in cold-blooded murder; has no value in a criminal legal system that is supposed to protect it.
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLM Global Network Foundation) is elated to announce that TIME has named our co-founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi to the 2020 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. This esteemed accomplishment amplifies and celebrates the hard work, commitment, and dedication of our trailblazing leaders in the everyday fight against inequalities and injustices throughout the world.
Today, we honor a trailblazing icon in the fight for gender equality and justice. Our hearts mourn the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a catalyst for change in the fight for voting rights and equal protections under the law for so many often neglected in today’s society. We stand on the accomplishments of her life’s work that have continued to amplify the need to protect and expand equal rights for women and underserved communities.
In response to the outlandish comments made by televangelist Pat Robertson, we are here yet again being attacked for standing up against white supremacy. To insinuate that our movement is trying to destroy Christianity is disgraceful and outright offends our Christian siblings who are a part of our movement against racial injustice. The statements made by Pat Robertson are completely inflammatory and dangerous.
The number seven holds power. Many of us have heard the adage that the cells of our body are renewed and replaced every seven years. The reality is a little more complex. Some of our cells are replaced rapidly, others emerge in a crisis only to disappear, while others, like those that form our DNA, endure for our lifetime. But the average age of our cells is seven. As Black Lives Matter celebrates its seventh anniversary, I’m energized by the significance the natural world has vested in the number seven.
We have experienced historic solidarity of the Black Lives Matter Movement from national sports teams and players, from the Milwaukee Bucks — the first NBA team to strike during Game 5 to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake in the Buck’s home state of Wisconsin — to Members of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers, and tennis star Naomi Osaka.
We are grieved by Jacob’s attempted murder and outraged that even after the global watershed of protest following the death of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Jayne Thompson in close succession, we have found ourselves here, again, demanding justice for the excessive use of force by law enforcement against a Black life.