MomsRising stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and today's statewide general strike and day of action for Black lives.[1] We are calling on you, our members, to join in solidarity as well by:

• Joining a local march or demonstration. We encourage you to seek out and support Black-led demonstrations and marches in your community. Please also review Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County's protester safety guide.[2]
   
• Calling on your elected lawmakers to divest resources away from policing in local budgets and reallocate resources to the Black community for community-directed investments in healthcare, housing, education, and other community-identified needs. (See below for a suggested script)
   

• Donating to Black-led organizing in your local community. We are asking you, our members, to consider donating to the following if you have the resources to do so:
  • Justice for Manuel Ellis: Support the family of Manuel Ellis, who was killed by Tacoma police in March. Donations will go to his family to help cover legal and funeral costs as well as their efforts to establish a foundation in his memory. 
  • King County Equity Now: King County Equity Now is an 18-year campaign to bring members of the African Diaspora in King County to equity across key metrics (e.g., homeownership, wealth, birth rates, mortality rates, college admissions, organizational control, etc.) by 2038 
    *Note: Black Lives Matter Seattle King County has asked community members to direct donations to King County Equity Now and the WA Black Trans Task Force. 
  • The WA Black Trans Task Force at the Lavender Rights Project: The Lavender Rights Project is a legal services organization for the queer and trans community. The WA Black Trans Task Force provides direct services and support to Black Trans folks in Washington’s Seattle-Tacoma area based on community-identified needs. Donate by going here and selecting "WA Black Trans Task Force" for your donation allocation
    *Note: Black Lives Matter Seattle King County has asked community members to direct donations to King County Equity Now and the WA Black Trans Task Force.
  • Black Lives Matter Tri-Cities: Accountability, Restorative Justice & Liberation: Support Tri-Cities Black Lives Matter to support local community-led organizing. Funds would cover supplies, organizing projects, taking direct actions, educating the community, paying legal fees, training their demonstrators, and paying local creators of color. 

Systemic anti-Black racism and police brutality have caused deep and lasting harm to the Black community. We call on local, state, and federal leaders to meet the demands of Black community leaders and organizers who have long been fighting for justice and calling on lawmakers to act on defunding the police, ending youth detention, dismantling the prison industrial complex, and investing in health, housing, and other resources for Black families and communities who have been most harmed by systemic racism and our racist justice system.  

Join us in supporting Black-led organizing happening across the state of Washington. We are encouraging MomsRising Washington members to donate to this critically important work:  

• Justice for Manuel Ellis
• King County Equity Now
• The WA Black Trans Task Force at the Lavender Rights Project
• Accountability, Restorative Justice & Liberation Tri-Cities BLM 

It is past time for justice for the brutal, horrific murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade as well as Charleena Lyles, Manuel Ellis, Shaun Fuhr, and so many others. The police officers who took these lives had sworn to protect and serve; both they and the larger system they are a part of must be held accountable. 

We demand that local, state, and federal lawmakers enact structural change being demanded by Black leaders and communities including defunding and demilitarizing the police, overhauling our racist justice system, making Black community-directed investments in the Black community, and other essential changes. 

Take action today by looking up and calling your City, County, and state elected leaders and sharing these demands. See a suggested script below. 

MomsRising stands in solidarity with Black families and communities today and every day. We will keep fighting to end police violence, mass incarceration, and all forms of anti-Black racism and white supremacy in our cities, state, and country. 

Elected leaders to call and/or write: 

• City Council members and Mayor 
• County Council members and County Executive 
• State Representatives and Senator (Find them here)  

Sample Script: 

Hello. My name is [  ] and I am your constituent. I am calling on you, as an elected leader, to use the power of your office and your voice to take action to address the epidemic of police violence and systemic, anti-Black racism in our country, state, and our own community. I urge you to support the Movement for Black Lives priority of divesting resources away from policing and making new community-led investments in the Black community in areas like healthcare, housing, and education. More officers, guns, jails and prisons are not a solution to longstanding problems of police violence and racial injustice. It’s time to defund and demilitarize the police, overhaul our racist justice system, and invest directly in Black communities. 

[1] Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County: Silent March & General Strike on June 12

[2] Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County: Protester Safety Guide