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Harvard Center for African Studies joins other Harvard University Centers and Institutes Condemning Police Violence in the United States

June 3, 2020

black lives matter 2

This page was last updated on June 18, 2020.
 

Joint Statement:

Responses from the Harvard Community: 
 

  • Review the Harvard Gazette Coverage and Resources on The Quest for Racial Justice.
     
  • Read letters and review resources from the Harvard Business School.
     
  • Watch and Listen to the June 1, 2020, Harvard Black Students Association's Black Lives Matter Town Hall.
    "The BSA hosted a productive conversation about solidarity, allyship, and activism in response to the tragic death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others at the hands of police. We gave students the platform to speak on their experiences and shared a number of resources that students can use to show solidarity but also take care of themselves during this difficult time. Thank you to our co-sponsors: Fuerza Latina, the Undergraduate Council Black Caucus, the South Asian Association, Asian Americans for Political Justice, and the Asian American Association. We are amazed at your eagerness to support this event and the efforts in our community. Also, thank you to Ashley Copper for telling us more about Indigo Peer Counseling; it is imperative that we take care of our bodies and our minds with everything going on right now. We hope you enjoyed this event and you have been inspired to take action in the face of injustice. If you want access to our materials, please email us at executiveboard@theharvardbsa.com."
     
  • Read the full statement 'What I Believe,' by Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow.
    "In the midst of this incomprehensible loss, our nation has once again been shocked by the senseless killing of yet another black person—George Floyd—at the hands of those charged with protecting us. Cities are erupting. Our nation is deeply divided. Leaders who should be bringing us together seem incapable of doing so..."
     
  • Read the full statement 'The death of George Floyd,' by Claudine Gay, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.
    "Like many of you, I have watched in pain and horror the events unfolding across the nation this week, triggered by the callous and depraved actions of a white police officer in Minneapolis. We have been here before, too many times, and that familiarity is part of the heartbreak and outrage of this moment. Even as the global fight against the pandemic has forged new bonds and inspired acts of profound generosity, we are confronted again by old hatreds and the enduring legacies of anti-black racism and inequality..." 
     
  • Read the full text of 'George Floyd and Our Times,' by Lawrence D. Bobo, Dean of Social Science, Harvard University.
    "We have voices, let’s raise them.  We are sources of knowledge and perspective, let’s share them with the world.  We are stewards of future generations of citizen-leaders and scholars, let’s re-dedicate ourselves to preparing them well.  We ourselves are citizens and leaders in a trouble time, let’s each of us find ways—individual and local, practical and as well as communal--to move our own lives and this world toward fuller realization of Dr. King’s Dream..."
     
  • Read the full Harvard Gazette Q&A with Lawrence D. Bobo, Dean of Social Science, Harvard University.
    “It’s really important to recall that what slavery did, in many respects, was to forge a tight link between our social class structure and a kind of racial hierarchy...”
     
  • Read the article by the Harvard Crimson, 'University President Bacow, Other Harvard Administrators Respond to George Floyd’s Murder and Growing Protests'.
     

Resources: