It has been less than a year since the world witnessed the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands of Derek Chauvin. Despite the guilty verdict, there is no justice for George Floyd, an innocent man who should have never been brutally murdered in broad daylight with nine minutes and twenty nine seconds of suffering shown to the world. To George Floyd’s family and friends, we extend our deepest condolences to you for your grieving and pain.
Since George Floyd was murdered, we have seen heartwarming images of people from all walks of life protesting racial injustice, a massive mobilization of voters fighting for change, the election of diverse political representatives, and a Vice President that is a Black and South Asian woman.
And we have seen terrifying images of white supremacists and insurrectionists storming the Nation’s capitol in an effort to overturn the democratic process, a record number of voter suppression laws being enacted across the country to restrict the participation of Black and Brown voters, increasing violence targeting AAPI communities, and elected representatives openly embracing replacement theory and the preservation of white supremacy.
We know this struggle for liberation is far from over as we continue to witness Black and Brown people unjustly killed or assaulted by police. The number of lives lost continues to grow with the most recent including 13-year old Adam Toledo in Chicago, and 20-year old Daunte Wright, who was murdered just miles from where George Floyd took his last breath. And we still haven’t seen justice for Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, and the many more names of humans whose lives mattered, but were taken by bigotry costumed in law enforcement.
These contradictory events demonstrate how deeply ingrained racism and racial inequality is across all systems in this country, and how far we have to go. The fight to confront the systemic racism embedded in every American institution, from policing to criminal justice, to education, healthcare, and the economy, is far from over. We must continue to mobilize towards one common mission: racial justice.
As we work at the intersection of racial justice and technology, we are acutely aware of the systems of racism and inequality that plague this country. Through our work, we will continue to double-down in the fight for racial justice and ensure technology includes diverse perspectives, is harnessed to address societal challenges, and is used as a tool to collectively transform future opportunities for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other communities of color.
We will continue to use our resources, our programs, our investments, and our voices to fight for change. We recognize and deeply appreciate the work of our community partners and organizers working tirelessly to advocate voting rights, criminal justice reform, climate justice, immigrants rights, and LGBTQIA rights. We must continue to build a movement, show solidarity against racism and police violence, develop multi-racial coalitions, and dismantle the dangerous chokehold white supremacy has on our society. We owe this to our children and our future generations.
Organizations to support in solidarity:
- Black Lives Matter https://blacklivesmatter.com/
- Movement for Black Lives https://m4bl.org/
- NAACP Pushing #Forward to eradicate racism: https://naacp.org
- ACLU https://action.aclu.org/
- Lawyers Committee for Criminal Justice Project: https://www.lawyerscommittee.org
- Color of Change: https://colorofchange.org
With radical optimism + relentless fight,
Kapor Center, SMASH, and Kapor Capital