*The national leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement said this week that their mission remains unchanged in the wake of “the election of a white supremacist to the highest office in American government.”
In a statement released exclusively to Mic, BLM said that Trump’s vision of AmeriKKKa will make their mission harder, but they will continue to organize and work to end all state-sanctioned violence until all black lives matter.
Below is the statement in its entirety:
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Our mandate has not changed: organize and end all state-sanctioned violence until all Black Lives Matter.
What is true today — and has been true since the seizure of this land — is that when black people and women build power, white people become resentful. Last week, that resentment manifested itself in the election of a white supremacist to the highest office in American government.
In the three years since Black Lives Matter organized, we’ve called for more safety. Not less. We’ve demanded an end to anti-black state violence. We’ve asked white people to organize their communities, to courageously help their loved ones understand the importance of solidarity and to show up for us, for themselves and democracy.
In the months leading up to this election, we have demanded support from white people in dismantling white supremacy — a farce that persuaded some to believe we were living in a post-racial America while simultaneously rolling back the rights of black people and other people of color. White supremacy fortified the decision to disregard racism and sexism as serious variables in the outcome of this election.
Even if everyone didn’t agree politically, at the very least, we deserved to have our collective humanity affirmed. We feel more than disappointed or angry — we feel betrayed.
Donald Trump has promised more death, disenfranchisement and deportations. We believe him. The violence he will inflict in office, and the permission he gives for others to commit violence, is just beginning to emerge.
In the face of this, our commitment remains the same: protect ourselves and our communities.
But we ask ourselves — how do we reconcile our vision for future generations’ prosperity with the knowledge that more than half of white voting Americans believe a white supremacist can and should decide what’s best for this country?
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