Black woman at a protest in a facemask holding a sign Get Your Knee Off Our Necks

Justice Requires Black Liberation: Responding to Convictions in Murder of George Floyd

The Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network recognizes that the guilty verdicts in the case of Derek Chauvin’s murder of George Floyd are only the smallest of recognitions of Black people’s lives as having value – and are still not justice.

These verdicts will not bring George Floyd back, nor do they end the systemic state violence against Black people in the U.S. in the form of policing and prisons. During this trial alone, police have killed 64 people, including a disabled Black child.

We continue to be in solidarity with protestors who continue to call for an end to systemic state violence in the form of policing and prisons. Policing and prisons in the United States is built on the legacy of slavery and controlling Black bodyminds, including disabled Black bodyminds. It is not possible for us to do disability advocacy work that does not address the horrific violence of racism in creating disability, exacerbating disability, and targeting disabled and negatively racialized people.

For our Black community members, we offer our love, our rage, and our solidarity. None of us are free until all of us are free. You are loved. You are valuable. You are needed. You are worth fighting for. Your lives matter.

We encourage everyone in our communities to continue to show solidarity for George Floyd and the fight for Black Lives and Black Liberation in whatever way you are able. 

Here are guides to protesting while disabled and during COVID, including alternatives to in-person events:

Healthline.com: Disabled and Ready to Protest? Here Are Some Resources You’ll Need.

Teen Vogue: How to Be an Activist When You’re Unable to Attend Protests.

Here is our June 2020 statement regarding George Floyd: Disability Justice Solidarity in Fighting White Supremacy and State Violence

{Image Description: black-and-white photo of Black woman at protest wearing a facemask and sunglasses above her forehead holding a sign reading “Get Your Knee off Our Necks” image credit Bluescruiser1949 CC BY-NC 2.0.}