We join much of the world in our outrage as we grieve over the lives senselessly cut short by racial violence and will say their names out loud and in our hearts: David McAtee, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Philando Castile, and so, so many others. WhyHunger stands with our allies across the nation and the globe in demanding justice for all Black, Brown, Latinx, and Indigenous communities who have been brutalized by the police and devastated by the policies and practices that hurt, silence, and oppress them. Enough is enough!
WhyHunger is a social justice organization building a movement to end hunger and ensure that nutritious food is a fundamental human right. There will not be food justice without racial justice. We recognize that white supremacy and slavery are the roots of American agriculture and food production, and that our current food system profits from the exploitation of Black and Brown workers. We cannot heal any broken system without focusing first and foremost on the people and families who are most affected by its brokenness. To that end, WhyHunger has learned that the truest answers to the problems that plague our society come from listening to communities of color. We are committed to hearing their analysis, amplifying their voices, and supporting their solutions. WhyHunger has prioritized investing in grassroots organizations and solutions to hunger that are led by Black, Brown, Latinx, Indigenous, women and LGBTQ+ communities, and will actively seek out new ways to do so.
We also understand that, as a member of the non-profit sector, our work to address systemic racism begins with examining our own organizational practices, policies, and culture and confronting the ways in which they are shaped by institutional racism.
As a white-led organization with a racially diverse staff, WhyHunger invites our non-Black and especially our white supporters to join us in recognizing our position of privilege and endeavoring to use it to propel the movement for justice forward. We call on all musicians and artists to use their voices and influence to ask their fans to stand on the right side of history. Injustice suffered by any one community signals that our collective struggle to root out injustice is not yet over. We must stand up and stand together, as only through solidarity can we create meaningful and lasting change.