(THREAD) In July of 2016, BYP100 released a statement title, "In Defense of Black Rage and Black Resistance." We re-release this statement now, because in 2020, our rage and resistance are STILL justified:

BYP100 is committed to the long-term struggle for Black liberation, human dignity, and transformative justice.

As our people – Black men, women, girls, femmes, and folks of all or no gender alike – are slaughtered in our streets by the hands of police and killed slowly and quietly by other means of state violence, we continue the push to build power within our communities.

We understand non-violence as one tactic in long-term strategy to achieve Black liberation, not as an inherent value. In order to actualize an abolitionist future we will have to come into direct confrontation with the police state.

The Minneapolis community and our broader movement are now dealing with the aftermath of a type of violence well-known in America.

The incidents that are occurring in places across the nation — Minneapolis, Louisville, Columbus, & more — are a direct response to this violence. Only through collective action grounded in strong communities and transformative justice can we realize a safer world for all of us.

Our stance is not one of retreat, but of increased commitment to divestment from policing and investment in the future of Black communities.

We understand that the state and the media will describe our resistance as violent, just like they will describe Black skin as such. These strategies are meant to disband our movement and to tighten the state’s grip on our lives and communities.

We have been told that the duty of the police is to protect and serve our people. Meanwhile, the same officers who swear to uphold justice and dignity have explicitly targeted and unjustly murdered Black folks living unapologetically in their Blackness.

The system in which we live under has waged an attack on Black bodies through social and political genocide. George Floyd was murdered for trying to survive in a world that denied him of dignity. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Tony McDade. The list goes on and on.

We push to dismantle the police state and abolish the prison system.

As the state continues to uphold a status quo of anti-Black racism, we remember the words of James Baldwin: “to be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.”

Black rage is justified rage. Let us stay steadfast in our mission and stand unapologetically with our people.

Here are actions we are taking today, and ask you to take as well:

1. DONATE to the Minneapolis Freedom Fund. https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/donate 

2. Sign THIS petition to tell Minneapolis City Council to defund the police.

https://secure.everyaction.com/eR7GA7oz70GL8doBq19LrA2