Empower Lab Black Lives Matter Statement

As a public health research and advocacy lab focused on gender- and sexual-based violence, our work aims to empower women and minority groups who are often overlooked in academic research. We have a responsibility to amplify the voices of marginalized individuals and use our platform to achieve social equity. Being active advocates fighting to establish and preserve justice and equality for underserved communities has always been a role we have been proud to take on, and that is especially true right now. 

The Empower Lab stands with the Black community. We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement and all the changes they seek to make in this world riddled with frivolous, hateful ideas that uphold the systematic oppression of black lives. We stand with them against racism, hate, and bigotry. We stand against police brutality, against white supremacy, against xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, heterosexism, and degradation. We stand against the high rates of black maternal mortality, against racialized crime, against the unequal education system that fails low income communities. We stand against the normalized global and systemic racism the Black community faces on a daily basis.

We remember all the Black lives targeted for their race. We remember those taken too young. We remember those whose names we never learned.

But our words alone are not enough to bring about effective change. The Black Lives Matter movement has been vocal in demanding equity for the Black community for years. Now more than ever, global communities are coming together to support and fight for the mission of the Black Lives Matter movement. It is our responsibility to add to this momentum through organized action as friends, neighbors, colleagues, allies, and fellow human beings. 

Looking for ways to get involved, support the movement, or educate yourself? Click on this resource guide with organizations, petitions, and educational tools.