Celebrities including Lizzo, John Legend, and Jane Fonda have signed an open letter pushing for a decrease in police budgets and reallocation of government funding to community programs.
The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of black-rights groups, released the petition as part of their "week of action" from June 1 to 7 to combat racism and police brutality in the US.
The letter points to the deaths of individuals like George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor along with the black communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The letter states that police brutality and the disease are "connected and consequential to each other," nothing that the American government has chosen to invest in police and military rather than healthcare.
"Despite continued profiling, harassment, terror and killing of Black communities, local and federal decision-makers continue to invest in the police, which leaves Black people vulnerable and our communities no safer," the letter reads.
The letter suggests instead of increasing funding for law enforcement, state and local governments should reroute the money "to create a public national healthcare system." The letter also recommends giving a larger portion of budgets to neighborhood infrastructures, childcare, education, and other causes that "support a vibrant Black future."
Here are the celebrities who have signed The Movement for Black Lives' letter.