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Black Lives Matter...Still

A Community Call to Black Beauty, Remembrance and Action

Community Call to Black Beauty
You so Black! 
You so Black!
When you smile, the stars come out
You so Black when you born, the God come out...

Black as you need
Black as you breathe
Black as you believe
Black as you love
Black has always been enough
Black is all of the above
Black is Lift E'vry Voice and Sing
Black is letting our freedom ring and resound
Black is adjective, color, adverb and noun
Black is crown
Black is clean

So to the Black is all everlasting to the Black is passing
and every shade of Black in between, matter of fact,
anywhere you believe your Black to be at all applicable
Baby, you so Black you transcend the physical
Black is original

You so Black, Ooo!
You so Black!
When you smile, the stars come out
You so Black when you born, the God come out.



We, the staff of Campus Life's Mosaic, Interfaith and Pride Centers send thoughts of peace, love, and care to the members of the Black African American, Black African, and Black Caribbean community as they collectively grieve the recent beautiful Black lives lost due to white supremacist and state sanctioned violence.  We acknowledge the difficult challenges of hate-based crimes against the Black community. 

We see you.
We hold space for you.
Your life matters.

If you find yourself overwhelmed, or stressed, you are not alone.  Please reach out to our staff or the UMBC Counseling Center for support.  

Community Call to Remembrance: Say Their Names
Ahmaud Arbery (25). Breonna Taylor (26). George Floyd (46). Sean Reed (21).
Tony McDade (38). 

Here are five names. Five victims of systemic, state sanctioned killings in 2020 alone.  Five names whose stories we have come to know through hashtags, but whose names represent and create space for additional names we may never know.  We stand in solidarity with the Black Africana community in the United States of America as they navigate the terrors of living in a structurally racist, sexist, patriarchal and militarist country even while being affected disproportionately by an indiscriminate virus.

COVID-19 has laid bare the inequity that is at the heart of this American project, but it has not deterred agents of white supremacy from upholding the power structures that continue to erase, silence and bury Black, Indigenous and Brown people.  This machine moves forward, fueled by hatred and stoked by the multitude of interpersonal actions (or inactions) coupled with institutional policies that create, maintain, and grow its power and influence.


Community Call to Action: 
At UMBC, we believe deeply in our values and the power of our community.  We call Retrievers of all ethnicities, national origins, races, genders, belief systems and class backgrounds to join in allyship and advocacy toward the dismantling of anti-blackness in all forms now and in the future.  Let's educate and re-educate ourselves so we can shift our words and actions. 

We have work to do.

Here are just a few ways to engage and co-create positive social change in solidarity with Black Africana people:  

Selected Upcoming Events
At UMBC 
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Posted: June 2, 2020, 10:34 PM

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