In response to the protests in Baltimore following the killing of Freddie Gray, Marisa Franco of #Not1more, issued the following:

[En español aquí] Despite the clear crisis exposed by Ferguson and Staten Island, Cleveland and Columbus, the list of those who have lost their lives at the hands of police grows in number almost every day. We will not forget their names.

That is the violence we deplore.

History, current and past, shows that it is only when people step out of the pre-drawn lines of acceptable existence and resistance as Black people, poor people, or those who are forgotten and deemed as disposable that the cameras come and pundits preach.

That is the disregard and hypocrisy we deplore.

People do what we need to do to survive. We cross borders and police lines.

The second guessing of tactics combined with the silence coming from the immigrant rights community and Latino community is noted and must change.

To confront and actually change such sustained and repeated violence and poverty, the reaction and resistance will not come in tactics, protagonists or messaging that we perhaps are accustomed to but are called to stand in solidarity with nonetheless.

On the streets of Baltimore, just minutes away from the halls of Washington DC, youth continue to sound the alarm on problems that require immediate and radical change.

We cannot and should not look away. Rather than questioning the way the community expresses its legitimate anger and pain, the only question worth asking right now is what will it take for this situation to change and for the violence to stop.

We stand in solidarity with the Black community resisting state violence in Baltimore and everywhere.

#blacklivesmatter #not1more

Related Post:

IMMIGRANT ORGANIZERS AND THE BALTIMORE PROTESTS:
A CALL FOR SOLIDARITY AND CRITICAL THOUGHT

We as undocumented people should be able to understand how extreme hardships and systemic failures lead to desperate action.