Black Lives Matter DC is a member-based abolitionist organization centering Black people most at risk for state violence in DC, creating the conditions for Black Liberation through the abolition of systems and institutions of white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism.

We are dedicated to promoting strategies that:

• empower the most oppressed Black people;

• do not reinforce or legitimize systems and institutions that harm Black people including police, prisons, mass incarceration, and modern slavery.

• divest from people, institutions and systems that harm us and invest in the people, institutions, systems and other models that support our liberation and empowerment.

• use a diversity of tactics to promote harm reduction, political education, and non-cooperation as strategic visions.

We are committed to the kind of work with our community that builds power by making sure it has everything it needs to thrive. We seek to deepen already established community relationships and form new connections to support our neighbors' name and develop the tools to demand investments (DC budget) in humanity, safety beyond policing, real community control, community defense, and divestment from militarization and other programs that oppress Black people.

We hold Cop Watch Trainings and have our own Cop Watch Squad. This work centers community strength and support. We are continuously helping to connect community members and their families to legal support and representation through our partnerships with Law 4 Black Lives DC and private attorneys.

As the homicide rate in DC has unfortunately been steadily rising, our response to community violence has nearly tripled. We now have 32 families we support, communicate with regularly and connect to resources. We have supported, helped plan, pay for, and/or put on more than 20 vigils and funerals since June of 2019.

Building alternatives to the carceral state and working collectively to get the needs of our community met are fundamental principles in all of the work we do. We have continued leading coalition work around community education about encounters with police including continuing to provide ongoing Street Law 101 (Know Your Rights) trainings. We also were part of the effort that launched the DC Mutual Aid Network, and East of the River Mutual Aid (EORMA).

A tremendous strength of our work is that it is not rooted in charity, but in solidarity. It is a political statement and way of life. We take real, bold and unapologetic action to secure opportunities to actually change the material conditions of Black and Brown people and our communities