The public execution of George Floyd by the police, along with the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade is but the latest in the unending litany of acts of state-sanctioned violence against our people. Long before COVID-19, Black people have had to resist the racial pandemic of white supremacy that has underwritten ongoing acts of terror and the blatant refusal of the state to hold the perpetrators accountable.

 

We have seen this pattern before. Yet, this is a historical moment, not because these tragic acts are exceptional, but because of the people's righteous refusal to accept them as normal and to resist, even in the context of a major pandemic that has fallen so heavily on Black communities. As lawyers, community organizers, and activists committed to Black liberation, we must recognize the current imperative to align ourselves with those giving voice to the critique and the vision that we need to protect Black life.

 

This is a time to deepen our understanding of the historical and contemporary role of the police as guardians of racial capitalism. And it's a time to reflect on what's different about this moment of revolt. It is a time to reflect on what's different about this moment of revolt. It's a time to consider how recent legal developments have entrenched rather than constrained racist policing practices and to protect against federal and state suppression of the constitutional right to protest. And it's a time to explore community initiatives to control the police and to consider how they can be adapted elsewhere.