Over the past several weeks, a lot of folks have observed how the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on our broken systems – our treatment of low wage workers, the dehumanization of incarcerated people, and the constant physical and economic vulnerability of

Black and Brown communities.

Our unemployment system is paralyzed because of bad policy decisions designed to neglect the poor; leaving millions of workers with no lifeline right now. George Floyd was one of those workers.

COVID-19 outbreaks have consumed jails and prisons because they are full and because we treat incarcerated people, the majority of whom are Black, like cattle. For those who are released, criminal records are impossible barriers to work, housing, or a new life.

Every Black household in this country has some connection to that experience. A network of despair created over generations of abuse and disenfranchisement. George Floyd had returned home for a new life that we were never going to let him have.

Very smart people have written articles and collected data about the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities. Announcing to the world yet another thing to Black people about Black people.

Like when you used your data to tell us not to breastfeed our children, or that we did not qualify for a loan, or that you would keep our application on file, or that we couldn’t live here because of a criminal record, or we instigated, or that we’re on the waiting list,

or that our son has behavioral issues, or that a grocery store would come soon, or that you did everything you could and this is the best plea you could get, or that things are a lot better than they used to be. We did not believe you.

You are telling us our lives mean less. We still do not believe you.

On Monday, racism and the broken systems that racism infects intersected in a visceral, violent, and devastating murder. If the pandemic has shocked us enough to try to fix our safety net, decarcerate people in our prisons for the sake of public health,

I hope our collective shock will lead us toward justice for Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and George Floyd.

Be vigilant about justice and your safety. Let’s fix what is broken.