from Underblong: a statement of support for Black Lives Matter

[from Underblong’s Twitter page]

To our blong community & the larger literary world,

We are devastated by the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless other Black people killed by the white supremacist state. We are committed, as individual editors and as a journal, to active antiracist practices. We want to reaffirm our mission to amplify the work of Black writers, queer and trans Black writers, and QTPOC writers.

We are disappointed in large institutions like the Poetry Foundation who, with great influence and material resources, refuse to support and donate to bail funds, mutual aid funds, Black Lives Matter organizations, and other Black-led fundraisers, particularly in Chicago. We at Underblong are committed to listening to Black leaders at the forefront of this movement. We are committed to a politics of abolishing the police and prison system. We fight for a world without white supremacy.

In addition to our ongoing individual efforts, we as the Underblong co-founders will each donate $200 to an organization in our cities committed to this work. We challenge literary institutions large and small to match our donations: either to our choices or to your local organizations. Chen is donating $200 to BLM Boston and Sam is donating $200 to the Chicago Freedom School. We will continue to share antiracist resources, frameworks, and calls to action on our Twitter page.

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Join Sam in donating to the Chicago Freedom School.

Join Chen in donating to BLM Boston.