Civil Rights

An Open Letter to America from the Black Leadership Initiative

“We have witnessed our brothers and sisters slayed on the streets. We are exhausted. Disgusted. Livid. Open your eyes and your hearts to see the pain and suffering of our people…” This summer, 28 Black students from Blackstone Academy Charter School came together as part of the Black Leadership Initiative to share their Black experiences, learn about Black history, and

Rhode Island News: An Open Letter to America from the Black Leadership Initiative

August 6, 2020, 2:52 pm

By Steve Ahlquist

We have witnessed our brothers and sisters slayed on the streets. We are exhausted. Disgusted. Livid. Open your eyes and your hearts to see the pain and suffering of our people…”


This summer, 28 Black students from Blackstone Academy Charter School came together as part of the Black Leadership Initiative to share their Black experiences, learn about Black history, and advocate for change.

Together they wrote an open letter to America about Black Lives Matter, racial injustice, and defunding the police. You can watch the video here:


Dear America,

We are BLI, the Black Leadership Initiative. We are Black youth in Rhode Island
advocating for racial justice.

We are: innovators, motivators, visionaries, writers, artists, athletes, leaders, dancers, learners, friends, sons, and daughters. We are the change. We are the future. We are powerful.

We have witnessed our brothers and sisters slayed on the streets. We are exhausted. Disgusted. Livid. Open your eyes and your hearts to see the pain and suffering of our people.

For too long, white supremacy has oppressed Black people. The first police in our
country stem from slave patrols that suppressed Black people from their natural human rights. Today, we see the original slave patrols fulfilling their initial purpose as police.

In order to make change, we need to defund the police. By defunding the police, we can provide better funding for education, housing, and rehabilitation centers.

Black lives have always been overlooked. We want justice. We deserve justice.

Eric Garner
John Crawford III
Dante Parker
Laquan McDonald
George Mann
Tanisha Anderson
Tamir Rice
Natasha McKenna
Mya Hall
Eric Harris
Freddie Gray
Breonna Taylor
George Floyd

There are too many more. That is the reign of the police. Their reign ends now.

Defund the police.

From:

Bienfait, Chunn, Colins, David, Dianelys, Dijanira, Ida, Jae, Jahnae, Janiah, Jayla,
Jayshon, Jinnette, Promise, Anthony, Avah, Dahaba, Fatoumata, John, Justice, Lani,
Natalina, Niecy, Quincy, Larenz, Shilala, Vernon, and Yennifer