Statement on the Buffalo shooting

As we pass the 2nd anniversary of the death of George Floyd, the race-based murders in Buffalo are an all too chilling, heartbreaking, and enraging reminder that Black lives still don't matter. Of course the violence against Black and Brown Americans goes beyond senseless murders. Mass incarceration, our deepening housing crisis, rising income inequality, the lack of sufficient healthcare and childcare, among other social ills, are all forms of violence against people of color. All destroy lives and communities without a single bullet being fired, and without grabbing the headlines.

It is long past time we squarely face and address all the forms of violence in our country, from senseless slaughter to callous inequity and injustice. Though we get tired of saying it, we must hold our elected officials to account and demand serious reform. How many innocent lives must be taken, how many communities must be destroyed, before we say enough is enough.