We must combat anti-Blackness at its root

The Movement for Black Lives recognizes February as Black History and Black Futures Month — to both celebrate Black history and imagine a world in which we are free and have self-determination.

What I am feeling deeply today is the present state of Black people in Minnesota as we witness tragedies that continue to unfold in our community. Today, I honor the life of 15-year-old Jahmari Rice, fatally shot outside of South Education Center in Richfield last week. And I honor the life of 22-year-old Amir Locke, killed the next morning, seconds after being awoken by Minneapolis police officers serving a search warrant of which Locke was not part.

What got us here won't get us free. What led to the murder of George Perry Floyd Jr. on May 25, 2020, may he rest in peace, was structural and intersected anti-Black violence. The video we all watched and mourned was not a singular incident; anti-Black violence begins from before the time a Black child is in their mother's womb with distinct systematic oppression, discrimination and marginalization throughout a life span, and intergenerationally.

This is why, in the 21 months since May 2020, we've lost numerous Black men, women, gender expansive people and children to police violence and gun violence and even more to larger economic, health and social conditions. Rice and Locke, while beloved, are the most recent accounted manifestation of this reality.

In our efforts to prevent such inhumane acts from continuing — and to get free — it is not optional, but imperative, to address the root cause of anti-Black structural racism. We must not approach solutions from a single-issue, single-policy, single-incident lens with commitments to moments and not movements, and with expectations of overnight solutions.

We must fully commit to truth-telling, transformation and structural change that reflect the nuanced needs and vision of Black people to realize racial justice. We cannot have selective empathy in denouncing and moving into action in response to witnessing a 9-minute video of Floyd pleading for his life, but ignore the killing of Locke who had 9 seconds between police breaking into where he was sleeping, and killing him.

While I stand in solidarity with the impacted families and seek justice, I offer the following in how to be present in this moment and every day after:

1. Critical analysis is key: In our efforts to understand and connect to incidents that have taken the lives of two Black youths, we must zoom out and consider the context, environment and structures that led to their deaths. For example, the policy and practice of no-knock search warrants being executed is being centered in the mainstream discussion of the killing of Locke. Instead, what needs to be centered is Locke's life and the structural pattern of how Black youths and people are policed.

This reframing shows us what killed Locke was not the lack of an adequate no-knock warrant alone. What killed Locke is the U.S. system of policing that blatantly, aggressively and violently targets Black people. From there we can have a deeper analysis and move forward multiple solutions that take into account full intersecting and layered issues.

2. Recommit to doing your work to address anti-Blackness, white supremacy and the intersections of structural racism: This is not the time to jump to a new program or project without deep consciousness and authenticity. Take time to critically review your actions, and barriers to acting, since May 2020. Are you leading at your most courageous? Is your work led by people proximate to the issues you're solving? Can you be bolder? What have you put on the line? How can each of us work in a transformative manner? Where are we choosing comfort and familiarity over the lives of our neighbors?

3. Use, share and transfer power: The struggle for racial justice is the struggle for dignity and power for oppressed people. It is no longer acceptable to have power to enact change but move as if we do not. It is time to disrupt patterns of violent power, harness our individual and collective power for good and share and transfer that power with communities most impacted.

These offerings are also actions I practice daily. For example, in May 2020, we formed the Minnesota Philanthropic Collective to Combat Anti-Blackness and Realize Racial Justice in response to the tragic murder of Floyd. Originally, the initiative called on the philanthropic field to denounce anti-Blackness and racism in Minnesota, invest in a fund that resources Black-led social change, and engage in continuous learning as a means for systems change. Since forming, deep listening, practice and collective visioning led us to strategically evolve to build the first self-determined, Black community-led foundation in Minnesota.

This evolution happened in real time to reflect the dedication, time and resources the issues at hand will take to solve. Because combating anti-Blackness requires structural change within systems and the larger culture, we're committed to centering the dignity, freedom, well-being and genius of all Black people in Minnesota for generations to come. Our North Star is realizing the promise of racial justice, a promise so great, honest and divine, that it frees us all.

Lulete Mola is president and co-founder, Minnesota Philanthropic Collective to Combat Anti-Blackness and Realize Racial Justice.