South Asians for Black Lives - Black Lives Matter
We are heartbroken and horrified by the systemic injustices brought so starkly to light with the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, and the shockingly entitled behavior of Amy Cooper in New York’s Central Park. It is tempting to look away and say this is too big a problem for any of us to address, but we must not, because, as Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
?Indians for Collective Action stands for empowering a secure and healthy life for ALL in a sustainable environment and a just society through collective action. We support people fighting the injustice of poverty, lack of education, livelihood and environmental disasters.
We now take this opportunity to show solidarity and support to the African-American community in our country. We, as Indian Americans, a minority though an affluent one, kneel with them to fight racial discrimination, violence, and other forms of injustices in the country.
The ICA community came out strongly to support our efforts to fight the Covid-19 crisis right here in our community as well as in India. But we cannot just throw money at the problem of racial discrimination and hope it goes away. This requires each one of us to commit to taking some action.
We Indian Americans could help in several ways:
- Face our own biases and start discussing racism in America in our homes, with our children, with our friends and our communities, make people uncomfortable, make them face their own fears, and talk about what they can do to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
- Influence elected officials in our cities and counties, starting with mayors, city and county offices, district attorneys, judges, and others to commit to reform, to review the use of force, to hold the police accountable for their actions, to make changes. Don’t vote them in without understanding them and their agendas.
- Support local organizations that help underprivileged communities and fight for justice and equality, that provide education and training to police officers and weed out racism in law enforcement.
- Seek ways to support African-American youth who are struggling because of decades of systemic racism, mistreatment and criminalization by society and those in positions of authority.
We owe this to the country that we love and have adopted as our own. ICA has vetted several organizations that help African-American communities in our country. We count on your support, please commit to helping this effort. This battle against racial bias demands that each one of us commit to taking some action.
Reach out to us with your ideas on how ICA can do more to further the cause of justice and equality.
https://icaonline.org/how-can-you-help/
Reshma Nigam
President
Indians for Collective Action