June 10, 2020

Dear Friends of Samhati:

We hope that, even in the midst of this pandemic, you are feeling energized by the wave of protests and gatherings around the world in response to the horrific murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police.  Samhati, a social justice organization devoted to empowering low-income women and families in Bangladesh, condemns anti-Black racism and police brutality and expresses solidarity with the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd and the countless others who have lost their lives due to anti-Black racism. We hesitated to write this letter because we do not have staff or programs in the US, but in the end we decided that we should share our thoughts.

Racial injustice is not new in America. Hundreds of years of slavery, subjugation, inequalities, brutalities, systemic racism, and explicit biases have brought us to where we are. All of us who are not Black need to do more to recognize our implicit biases and bring about change.  

To help build a bridge of understanding, we need to educate ourselves about social injustice, dehumanization, false accusations, disproportionate imprisonment, institutional racism, and the Black experience. While Samhati’s work is in Bangladesh, we would like to share some resources with our community here in the US:

–As a starting point for learning how systemic racism operates in the US, here is a suggested reading list.  

— This article is a resource on how South Asians can work toward anti-racism.

— This article discusses alternatives to calling the police.

— We encourage you to sign the Color of Change petition and to give input to your local government on reducing the police budget, increasing community services, reforming police practices, and protecting protestors and their First Amendment rights. Here is a Washington Post article that explains the need to reduce our reliance on police.

Samhati means “solidarity.” We stand in solidarity with the Black community. We believe that #BlackLivesMatter.

Thank you for your continued support of Samhati and our programs. Let’s all get to work to end racism and build a more just world for everyone.

In solidarity,
The Samhati Directors and Advisors

Image credit: Amy Morse.