Georgia’s Black Women Leaders Refuse to Let the Senseless Killings of Six Women Go Unchecked
Atlanta, GA: In the last seven days, we have now seen seven mass shootings in the US. As the Asian-American community grieves the enduring loss of six irreplaceable women, Black women leaders, including Tamieka Atkins, Executive Director at ProGeorgia, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, PhD, Founder and Director of the Spelman College Women’s Research and Resource Center, Nse Ufot, Executive Director of New Georgia Project, Helen Butler, Executive Director at Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda, Loretta Ross, Co-founder of SisterSong, Andrea Young, Executive Director of ACLU GA, Park Cannon, State Representative Georgia House District 058, and 30 other community leaders signed a statement of solidarity standing with Asian American Women. Malika Redmond, MA from Women Engaged released the following statement:
“While our thoughts and prayers are with the slain’s family and loved ones, so are our voices. Black women leaders from all industries, walks of life and personal experiences joined together and signed on to a solidarity statement demanding that justice is meted swiftly. For far too long, Black women have endured countless acts of racist vitriol and violence. As we mention in our statement of solidarity, ‘Anti-Asian violence, much like anti-Black violence, stems from white supremacy, woven into the fabric of American society and culture.’ We cannot allow the same hate-filled, disgusting, selfish acts to remain unchecked with our fellow sisters of Asian descent. We call on our legislators, political leaders, and members of the press to call this act of violence what it is: a hate crime motivated by white supremacy.
We are a community that is joined together by our different experiences, cultures, and beliefs. Extinguishing the light from any community member is a theft in the worst sense of the word. We can never allow racially-motivated violence to be excused or rationalized.“
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Women Engaged is the inspirational project of feminist researcher and human rights leader Malika Redmond and public relations expert and art activist Margaret Kargbo. WE launched in the fall of 2014 with the highly successful WE Vote. WE Rise! integrated voter engagement program. WE Vote. WE Rise! trains women and young people of color on voter engagement by providing them with opportunities to learn how to run effective 5o1C3 'Get Out to Vote' campaigns and participate in the political process.
