The Leaders of the Urban League Movement, including National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial, Urban League of Greater Atlanta President/CEO Nancy A. Flake Johnson, and all affiliate presidents, hereby issue the following statement in response to the civil unrest sweeping the nation:

Our communities are overwhelmed with grief and people are angry.

When George Floyd begged for his life as Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin cavalierly pressed his knee into a handcuffed and subdued Floyd’s throat for almost 9 minutes, the handcuffed man cried out but his voice was ignored and unheard by law enforcement, who had been sworn to “protect and serve” all citizens.

These include: • Advocating for a new system of accountability and unified voices that make clear that law enforcement departments and their officers will be held accountable for their actions that will include dismissals and swift justice in the form of criminal charges when laws and department protocols are broken.

Along with our focus on law enforcement policies and practices, we also are developing ways to reenergize our efforts to tear down the systems of institutional racism that are deeply rooted across all sectors of American life (housing, workplace, health, criminal justice, small business development and civic engagement).

Research the candidates for President, District Attorney, Judges, council members, commissioners, representatives, senators, school board members and more;3) And last but not least, we must UNITE and hold our elected leaders and law enforcement officials accountable and work TOGETHER to undertake sustainable change to ensure civil and economic justice for all.