Black Lives Matter
We Are Living Through Historical Change.
The world is in the midst of historic, unprecedented change. The global community has suffered through a sweeping pandemic, months of a worldwide quarantine, a crippled international economy, massive job losses, and the hunt for vaccines to set us back on the right side of history.
Across the US, school districts have shut down and shifted to impromptu remote learning, unemployment has reached unprecedented levels, and social-distancing has inhibited each of our abilities to garner support from family and friends through a simple hug. Many of us have lost loved ones, without being able to attend their funerals in-person.
Like everyone else on this planet, we Americans have experienced unimaginable suffering since 2020 began. But we have endured — by flattening the curve in our respective cities and honoring the medical workers that kept the virus at bay in our hospitals. Through solidarity in our collective endurance, we Americans came together and worked together, as one nation. And as a result, we grew stronger.
As the rate of Covid-19 cases began to recede across the country, we all experienced a renewed sense of hope that our worlds would eventually return to normal. Somehow. Every citizen looked forward to the warmth of summer months and enjoying life outside — mask or no mask. We looked forward to a reprieve from all that we had endured, and for the beginning of positive change.
And then, every person “under lockdown” across the world witnessed the looping video footage of George Floyd’s public murder. With our festive Memorial Day weekends ended, Americans had to brace ourselves for what seems to be a long, hot summer of protest. Social unrest is teaching all of us an invaluable lesson.
Black Lives Matter.
We mourn for yet another Black Male life cut short. The murders of George Floyd, David McAtee Breonna Taylor, Botham Jean, and Tony McDade by the police and the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery are only the most recent losses of Black lives in the legacy of anti-Blackness in America. The recent national trauma dates back to the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin and to the hundreds of years of institutional racism in America before that. Code Nation joins with the collective focus on these murders and anger for the injustices disproportionately faced daily by the Black community, and Black males specifically — whether or not these situations are captured by a good samaritan’s cell phone camera.
We support the calls for justice across the country and in our home cities of NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Oakland. We believe in the power of protest and stand with those who are demanding an end to racism, White supremacy, and police violence.
At Code Nation, we fight for economic opportunity. This work, preparing students for careers in the tech sector, depends on the fight against racism and discrimination. If we are to support students of color on paths to careers in technology, we must first ensure that our Black students can survive.
We commit to the fight for racial justice everywhere. We commit to using our platform to advocate for anti-racist practices in our spaces and in society at large. We implore our White and non-Black POC community members to take action against racial injustice every day for our students, families, and communities.
Thank you for joining us in this fight. We have a lot of work to do. We have included a few resources and opportunities to support below.
