Community-led Development requires restructuring society so that all people can be restored to control over their own lives and destinies. Today, courageous individuals in the US demand fundamental restructuring of the police and justice systems, as centuries of systemic racism – emboldened by hate-filled individuals who frankly don’t believe in human rights or even respect human life – result in the murders of innocent African-Americans and other people of color and deny human dignity to millions.
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery.
The struggle for justice in their deaths is our struggle. Whether it is racial justice, environmental justice, gender justice – the root injustice is the same. We must all work together – creatively, strategically and relentlessly — to transform systems of oppression into institutions solidly based in the human rights of all.
As Dr. Martin Luther King preached, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”