Dear Community,
The Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies condemns the violence against members of the Black community and stands in solidarity with protests to stop the murder of Black people in the United States, to demand justice from institutions of law and, altogether, to end racism. Racism targets Black, Brown and Indigenous bodies and as the current events are so clearly showing us, racism poisons everyone and everything.
At CLACLS we are also witnessing in the time of the Pandemic, escalating violence in the Americas targeting Afro Latin American youth and Black and Indigenous women. We have witnessed for too long how those who dedicate their lives to demand a just and better life for their communities in profoundly unequal societies are criminalized and murdered; and how even the aftermath of natural disasters, and now COVID-19, serve to further push the knee on the neck of Black, Brown and Indigenous bodies, our brothers and sisters.
It is time to listen, to represent, to stand in solidarity, to voice injustice, to organize and strategize; and to reimagine a new future. I state this in recognition of the communities we serve through our UMass CLACLS faculty, staff, and students, and whom we have the privilege to partner with and to learn from, in Holyoke, in Springfield, in San Juan, in Lima, in Caracas, in Havana, in Buenos Aires, in Rio, in Cali, in Santiago, in Quito and many other places where our hearts are beating as one.
Solidaridad, Solidaridad, Solidaridad.
Laura Valdiviezo,
CLACLS Director
June 3rd, 2020