One year ago, Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville police. If you believe every person deserves to live a long, self-determined life free of fear and state violence, will you pledge to protect Black women and girls today?

We need to protect Black women and girls because when Black women and girls are free, it becomes possible for everyone to be free. Shortly after midnight on March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black medical worker, asleep at home with her boyfriend, was shot and killed by police executing a “no knock” warrant of the wrong home

On the year anniversary of her daughter’s death, her mother Tamika Palmer reflected: "There's been no justice...I still don't have any comfort. And it's definitely not easier. It's a year for everybody else, but every day is still March the 13th to me."

And that pain is echoed by millions.

Black women have historically and continue to experience some of the highest rates of violence, including lethal, physical, and sexual violence; highest rates of maternal mortality and stress-related medical conditions; and some of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment, of any group in the United States.

Black women also have the highest rates of stops, police violence, arrests, incarceration, and carceral control among women, and represent the fastest growing prison and jail populations in the country.

Black women and girls have made tremendous and foundational contributions to society, and Breonna was no exception. As her mom recalls:

“She had a whole plan on becoming a nurse and buying a house and then starting a family. Breonna had her head on straight, and she was a very decent person.”

Breonna’s murder and the subsequent failure of the courts to hold her killers accountable illustrates a major threat to Black women’s lives and the communities that rely on us. Everyone from philanthropists to corporate leaders are murmuring about intersectionality, yet Black women are no more safe, supported, or protected.

Today, we make a pledge: we will unite to center and protect Black women. Will you sign your name to these demands to help end the war on Black women and girls?

• Stop the criminalization and deportation of Black women and girls.

• Invest in innovative interventions and solutions to address community and interpersonal violence, without involving the carceral system or state.
  

• Ensure that Black women have access to resources to thrive — including living wage employment; quality, accessible, and affordable housing; immigration status; universal, quality, and accessible health care; comprehensive, culturally appropriate community-based mental health care; universal, quality, and accessible childcare; and healthy environments.
  

• Demand all Black women and girls have comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care.

• Eliminate the foster system’s power to permanently and irreversibly destroy Black families through termination of parental rights.

In order to fully achieve the Vision for Black Lives, it is essential to center the experiences of Black women, girls, trans, intersex, and gender nonconforming people, and to understand the ways in which imposition and internalization of cisheteropatriarchy has fueled multiple forms of racialized gender-based violence against and within Black communities.

One day, will we be smart and brave enough to appreciate that the power imbalances that compound to hurt Black women and girls ultimately hurt all of us?

By protecting Black women and girls, we preserve self-determination and dignity for all people.