The Women’s Law Coalition (WLC) and the Women of Color Collective (WOCC) stand in solidarity with the Black community. We offer our condolences while mourning with the families victim to senseless murders by police brutality and systemic racism.

Lives lost include George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, Tony McDade, Atatiana Jefferson, Sandra Bland, Natasha McKenna, and countless others whose names do not make it to the nation’s attention.

We also want to specifically honor the memories of Black women and Black Trans Women, such as Breonna Taylor and Nina Pop, who have lost their lives to police murder and state-sanctioned violence. These women, and many others, are often left out of the current discourse, protest chants, and calls for justice. We refuse to forget or ignore them. As a community, we encourage you to demand justice for Breonna Taylor by taking action here and justice for Nina Pop here.

In these unprecedented times, Black and Brown lives have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the midst of it all, the Black community continues to experience the traumatizing reality of being Black in America as murder after murder has swept the headlines. These senseless takings of Black lives are perpetuated by white supremacy and the biased judicial system that is deeply ingrained in the history and formation of the United States.

WLC and WOCC seek to confront injustice and promote antiracist, pro-Black cultures within the Cornell Law community. Our organizations are committed to using our resources and knowledge to ensure that our Black peers are supported, protected, and heard.

To the Black members of our community: We love you, we support you, and we will fight this fight with you and your families.

For the rest of us as allies: As law students, summer associates, interns, and professionals in legal academia,we exist in an environment that gives us all immense privilege. We urge you to use this power to dismantle systems of oppression and racist microaggressions that continue to exist and promote white supremacy. Confronting racism requires more than performative activism, a one-time donation, or a social media post — it is an ongoing fight that must continue even when these conversations fade from the public agenda.

To assist you in this fight, we’d like to offer WLC’s Diversity Officers as resources to become better informed on allyship — please feel free to contact Lanay Mitchell (lm799@cornell.edu), Camilah Hamideh (ch939@cornell.edu), and Dianne Ryoo (dr549@cornell.edu).

Additionally, please explore this list of resources compiled by members of WLC for all those looking to get more involved and educate themselves.

Lastly, we would like to share the twitter handles of a few Black Women Activists that we recommend as great resources to stay up-to-date on the movement:

With much love and solidarity,

The Women’s Law Coalition and Women of Color Collective at Cornell Law School