We at the Center for Understanding in Conflict (CUC) soberly acknowledge that the guilty verdict cannot heal or restore the harm that generations of white supremacy, held up by our law and legal system, have inflicted on Black people and all people of color, as well as folks with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and marginalized people everywhere.
On the very day the trial began, a Chicago police officer killed a 13-year old child, Adam Toledo. While prosecutors argued for accountability in the murder of George Floyd, 10 miles away Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer. And just as court staff and media were gathering the public to witness the verdict, 15-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was shot and killed by police in Columbus.
CUC is committed to continue our work as an organization that supports transforming the world by helping people build skills for a different way of conflict.
We must practice sustained commitment to different ways of working with conflict. We also need to continue building an entirely different relationship with the concepts of justice—to one that is rooted in honoring relationships and building trust in lieu of policing, criminalization, and prosecution.
Dismantling white supremacy does not happen overnight. The CUC supports accountability, justice, and healing. We call for everyone to develop a deeper understanding of white supremacy and its permeating impact in our lives, communities, and societies. Lives depend on it.
For our Black, Brown, bi-racial and multi-racial family, friends, and colleagues, you are in our hearts. We hear you, we see you, and we appreciate you for all that you are.
Interested in learning more? Here are a few of our favorite resources.
- Our Real Talk team’s List of Resources for Additional Learning: Download the document
- Talking About Race (National Museum of African American History & Culture – Smithsonian): https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race
- Antiracist Resources and Reads: Lists for All Ages (Evanston Public Library): https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race
- My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem, a self-discovery book examining white body supremacy in America from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology
- We Do This ‘Til We Free Us, Mariame Kaba, an accessible introduction to the movements for prison abolition and transformative justice through the self-curated arc of work of one abolitionist, in community
Have some you’d like to share? Send them to [email protected].