Dear NYC Representatives and Leaders,

Through the outbreak of the COVID-19, this pandemic precisely shone a light on the ills that already predominately existed in many communities- but this time- it is being televised more than ever before.

With low income communities in NYC such as Queens, the Bronx, areas in Brooklyn, Manhattan, all the boroughs that make up our diverse cities, I know that many black and brown communities have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic. Specifically, I live in one of those communities where I witness the everyday interactions of these folks, that strive by living working under the books or minimum wage, having to still risk going outside and contracting illnesses because there aren’t any medical resources and financial relief available for our communities.

This pandemic has exposed the fissures in our society, in addition to how the government neglected the lives that are most vulnerable. Black people being murdered at the hands of cops whereas cops haven’t received any punishments and are not justly being tried/ prosecuted for their actions.

However, we will not back down from fighting. Seeing the youth and millennials engaged in many of these protests and many folks working collectively towards mutual funds raise to support this movement, signing petitions, raising their voices to people in power (elected officials and policy members) gives me hope that we can fight a long lasting movement to battle against modern day genocide, institutional racism, modern day slavery, modern day Jim-Crow and mass incarceration- that is still upheld from the predecessors/ our colonizers at the hands of people of power.

It is YOUR job being the leaders and representatives of NYC to strengthen and illuminate our voices that aren’t being heard to our current commander in chief, whom actually stated, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” It is YOUR job to protect ALL communities in America, which is mentioned in our constitutional amendments. It is your job to hear the concerns of our communities, to speak out after witnessing these harsh atrocities that are happening nearly everyday. BLACK PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE KILLED BY A SYSTEM THAT WAS CREATED TO “PROTECT” people. And since the police force does so, we must abolish the system and invest in resources that are DESIGNED TO HELP BLACK COMMUNITIES. Resources such as investing in more social workers, more governmental relief programs that help support these communities that are financially vulnerable to the damaging effects of our capitalist society and the glass ceiling intended for white Americans.

I imagine that in light of COVID-19, I hope that people around the nation would fight for a collective, nationwide movement for black folks facing police brutality. I hope that, there is action taken from YOU- local, statewide and national levels to reform the police and abolish these systems, actions taken to arrest cops with violations in their records, actions taken to cut (drastically) the budget towards the police departments and redistributed to government relief/ aid programs, education, and healthcare. However, I wish to envision a bigger solution to hold the criminal justice system accountable towards murdering and criminalizing black folks. I want to envision a Constitutional Amendment being set in place, making it a federal crime to unlawfully criminalize and shoot folks because of the color of their skin, their sexuality, their gender, religion, race- for their intersectional identities.

I do hope that the nation does move towards de-funding the police, and allocating all those funds towards community resources that can help everyone- instead of having police handle “issues” that they are ill-equipped to solve, while also instilling fear and harm towards communities of color.