There comes a time when silence is betrayal

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of mid-Michigan joins our voice with the crescendo of voices in this nation decrying the senseless and depraved murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and too many others. We call upon everyone to begin today to not just speak mere words but to act, so that we can once and for all, stamp out racism, injustice and discrimination. Only then can America be One Nation and be the Beloved Community we know she can be.

For too many years we’ve heard the deafening silence of many and wondered if that silence meant ignorance or engrained complacency with how America viewed and treated its black and brown citizens. For far too long that silence has emboldened, encouraged, empowered and fueled the undergirding racism, discrimination, injustice, and inequality in our country. But now we hear you speaking, now we hear symphonies and a chorus of words. You are no longer silent, but we must ask that you act; the significance of the moment we are in as a country demands your action. We must request that the words you speak, not be performative, but they have meaning to those who are listening, be authentic, hold you accountable and that you are putting yourselves and the tangible weight of your actions behind those words. Otherwise they are mere words.

We call on everyone to:

·      Denounce racism, discrimination and injustice in all forms

·      Denounce any police brutality and excessive use of force

·      Divest from businesses and organizations that silence, marginalize and harm black and brown people

·      Show up in your communities

·      Speak out immediately when you see injustice

·      Commit resources to strengthen communities of color

·      Declare your organization to be anti-racist

·      Pledge to root out racism and  bigotry