We will observe a moment of silence in class on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 11 am. Below is the message I received from the CUNY faculty and staff union about the meaning and intent behind this gesture.
The PSC (Professional Staff Congress) Executive Council voted unanimously to call on all CUNY faculty and professional staff to observe a moment of silence at 11:00 AM this Thursday, December 11, in memory of Eric Garner. We have asked for an extraordinary gesture because this is an extraordinary moment. The failure to issue indictments in Ferguson and Staten Island—the decision not even to take the cases to trial—suggests that black and brown lives in the United States continue to be devalued. As educators at a university founded on the premise that “the children of the whole people” are entitled to equal education, CUNY faculty and staff have a special responsibility to challenge the devaluing of any lives in the diverse communities that make up our student body. By observing a collective moment of silence, we will send a counter-message of respect; we will silently make the public assertion that black lives matter.
Please incorporate the moment of silence into your normal work and fulfill your professional responsibilities as usual. The union leadership is not calling for a withholding of labor; we are asking you to observe a moment of silence as you would in other instances, invoking the traditional gesture of respect. By asking all CUNY faculty and staff to observe the moment together, we hope to magnify its impact and open a space for private reflection and public discussion of questions of history, race and justice. Nowhere are such discussions more appropriate or urgent than at CUNY. We also hope to express a connection to our students, many of whom live in communities where people of color are aggressively policed.
The moment of silence is called for 11:00 AM on Thursday, December 11 to recall that the video depicting Eric Garner’s death at the hands of the police showed him saying eleven times “I can’t breathe.” We could echo Martin Luther King’s statement on an injustice anywhere by saying that no one can breathe if anyone can’t breathe.
The PSC has a strong tradition of opposing institutional racism and calling for an end to the overuse of police force. We stand with our students. Many of us have already participated and will continue to participate in public protests demanding justice. Observing a moment of silence together is a way we can share our sorrow and anger about another needless death.
Be part of sending a message that will resonate across CUNY and New York City: observe a moment of silence at 11:00 on Thursday the 11th. Silence, as Audre Lorde said, must be transformed into language and action; collective silence can be a language of its own.