We at Green Worker Cooperatives stand in solidarity with all those that are protesting the deaths of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and all of the Black women, men, and trans folks assaulted and killed by police. We feel this moment deeply because they are all us. We are a Black-led organization and mostly Black women at that. And our cooperatives are for the most part all Black & Indigenous People of Color. We feel the same rage that is burning in the streets. We also feel fear as we watch the neo-fascism of the White House infect NYC and other cities nationwide that have responded to protests with curfews and militarized police and National Guard troops while protestors are gassed, beaten, run over, and even killed.
We call on the entire NYC Council and Mayor Bill DeBlasio to drop Trump’s playbook and meet the needs of the moment. It is past time to Defund the Police and reallocate their hyper inflated budget to meet the multiple economic, health, environmental, and educational crises we face as a city. It is just one way, but a critical one, to build accountability where there is none and move this city towards an economy that sustains life instead of taking it away.
