(Washington, D.C., Thursday, June 11, 2020) – George Floyd should be alive today. As should Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, and the hundreds of other black men and women who have recently died due to police brutality and racism.

José Santos Woss is FCNL’s Legislative Manager for Criminal Justice and Election Integrity and is a Black Latino Quaker. He lives at the intersection of many identities.

After attending a protest in D.C., he can share his experience and discuss how racism has shapeshifted. It’s not just the overt slaughtering of Black people like we have seen with Ahmaud. It’s also microaggressions, like comments about natural hair and the suggesting that when a black woman emotes, she must be angry.

Black people alone cannot dismantle systems that they did not create. Black people need allies and welcome allies.

Racism feeds systems that keep black and brown people oppressed. It’s easy to become apathetic to a statement like that. It’s easy to say, “well I’m not racist, I have a black partner, friend, colleague.”

Allyship is a continuous process of learning the experiences of marginalized peoples, and then ultimately emphasizes them and build a relationship with them.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) lobbies Congress and the administration to advance peace, justice, opportunity and environmental stewardship. Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL fields an expert team of lobbyists on Capitol Hill and works with a grassroots network of tens of thousands of people across the country to advance policies and priorities established by our governing General Committee.