Movement for Black Lives platform
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Over 2000 people, representing a coali tion of over 50 Black activist organiza tions, met in Cleveland last year to form the Movement for Black Lives.
The coalition recently issued a position platform, together with a number of de mands on the issues of police violence, economic justice, reparations, Black self-determination, and much more.
For more information, see https:// policy.m4bl.org/. The platform follows below: B Black political will and power. De lack humanity and dignity requires spite constant exploitation and per petual oppression, Black people have bravely and brilliantly been the driving force pushing the U.S. towards the ide als it articulates but has never achieved. In recent years we have taken to the streets, launched massive campaigns, and impacted elections, but our elected leaders have failed to address the le gitimate demands of our Movement. We can no longer wait.
In response to the sustained and in creasingly visible violence against Black communities in the U.S. and globally, a collective of more than 50 organizations representing thousands of Black people from across the country have come to gether with renewed energy and pur pose to articulate a common vision and agenda. We are a collective that centers and is rooted in Black communities, but we recognize we have a shared struggle with all oppressed people; collective liberation will be a product of all of our work.
We believe in elevating the experienc es and leadership of the most margin alized Black people, including but not limited to those who are women, queer, trans, femmes, gender nonconforming, Muslim, formerly and currently incar cerated, cash poor and working class, differently-abled, undocumented, and immigrant. We are intentional about amplifying the particular experience of state and gendered violence that Black queer, trans, gender nonconforming, women and intersex people face.
There can be no liberation for all Black people if we do not center and fight for those who have been marginalized. It is our hope that by working together to create and amplify a shared agenda, we can continue to move towards a world in which the full humanity and dignity of all people is recognized.
While this platform is focused on do mestic policies, we know that patriar chy, exploitative capitalism, militarism, and white supremacy know no borders. We stand in solidarity with our inter national family against the ravages of global capitalism and anti-Black racism, human-made climate change, war, and exploitation.
We also stand with descendants of Af rican people all over the world in an on going call and struggle for reparations for the historic and continuing harms of colonialism and slavery. We also recog nize and honor the rights and struggle of our Indigenous family for land and self-determination.
We have created this platform to ar ticulate and support the ambitions and work of Black people. We also seek to intervene in the current political climate and assert a clear vision, particularly for those who claim to be our allies, of the world we want them to help us create. We reject false solutions and believe we can achieve a complete transforma tion of the current systems, which place profit over people and make it impos sible for many of us to breathe.
Together, we demand an end to the wars against Black people. We demand that the government repair the harms that have been done to Black communi ties in the form of reparations and tar geted long-term investments. We also demand a defunding of the systems and institutions that criminalize and cage us. This document articulates our vi sion of a fundamentally different world. However, we recognize the need to in clude policies that address the imme diate suffering of Black people. These policies, while less transformational, are necessary to address the current material conditions of our people and will better equip us to win the world we demand and deserve.
We recognize that not all of our collec tive needs and visions can be translated into policy, but we understand that pol icy change is one of many tactics neces