On Friday, Trayford Pellerin was killed by the Louisiana State Police and Sunday, the Kenosha police in Wisconsin shot Jacob Blake 7 times. In light of these events, Hannah Laurison, our executive director, issued the following statement on behalf of PA Stands Up.
“We were heartbroken to witness Jacob Blake being brutally shot by the police in front of his three young sons on Sunday and at news of the killing of Trayford Pellerin in Lafayette. From Minneapolis and Allentown to Kenosha and Lafayette, we see time after time that police officers inflict violence on Black fathers and sons, mothers and daughters — and it has to stop. We stand with Jacob Blake as he fights to recover from this brutal police shooting, with the families of Blake and Pellerin, and with the Kenosha and Lafayette communities, which have risen up to demand accountability and justice. We join with the millions of Americans of all races who have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest police violence and stand up for Black lives, so that all Black people are free to live and thrive. We recommit ourselves to working for racial justice and Black liberation across Pennsylvania in every aspect of our shared life, from policing to healthcare, housing to jobs and education. In the words of Fannie Lou Hammer: Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
To learn more about the organizing Pennsylvania Stand Up is doing with our chapters across the state to advance Black liberation, please contact Jacob Swenson-Lengyel.
(Cover Photo: A picture of Jacob Blake with his three young children.)