JRI joins those who are loudly protesting the institutional violence against people of color, seeking systematic change in response to systematic racism. We believe that the justified anger and grief we feel must be coupled with action:

• We should work as hard as we can to elect individuals who share our values, who will support the legal and economic actions needed to confront and stem the tide of race-based violence and discrimination. This next election matters--at all levels--maybe more than ever before.
• We will work for racial justice in our own programs and advocate for it with the systems that we are a part of through our funders, regulators and trade organizations.
• Many of us have joined peaceful protests, and we encourage others to join us if they feel safe enough to do so.
• Despite our anger, we know that the response to this violence cannot be more violence—which is likely to hurt the very communities we are supporting.
• And remember we are all accountable to each other to slow the spread of the virus that is killing people of color at up to three times the number of other groups.
• Be safe—we need you to be here to fight tomorrow