Showing Up for Racial Justice Santa Barbara Stands in Solidarity with Protestors in Louisville

Showing Up for Racial Justice Santa Barbara stands in solidarity with organizers and protestors in Louisville and across the country in their expressed outrage and actions in response to the verdict resulting in no charges against the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor in her own home on March 13, 2020. We echo the chants of our brothers and sisters in this movement who have been explaining for decades, “No justice, no peace.” This refrain means that until there is acknowledgement of the white supremacy ideology that poisons our criminal, legal, and justice systems, until there is accountability for chronic abuse of power by police officers, and until there is reform and defunding that addresses the devaluation and dehumanization of black lives at the hands of the police, there will be no peace in our country. 

Peace is not a reasonable expectation when racism continues to be a public health threat to our black and brown community members and nothing is done about it. Peace is not a reasonable expectation when the very people paid to protect and serve instead abuse their power, recklessly endanger others, and commit murder with impunity. Peace is not a reasonable expectation when America continues to fund a system of terror strategically directed at communities of color: a system that originated for the sole purpose of terrorizing enslaved black people. 

As always, we unquestioningly support and echo the wishes, demands, and voices of our black community members and organizers, particularly Healing Justice Santa Barbara.