Black Lives Matter

Black lives matter. Defend Our Health stands with Black communities in this time of grief and mourning. We are horrified by the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others. We demand accountability and justice be served.

Systemic racism in the United States creates a public health crisis that has needlessly cost so many people of color their lives and devastated families and communities across the nation. In our work, we know that too many Black, Brown, and Indigenous people suffer ill health and die younger from the combined effect of environmental pollution, lack of access to healthy food and quality health care, and the toxic stress of racism, poverty and violence.

Environmental justice is at the heart of what we do, and as we continue to center the fight for environmental justice in our work, we stand in solidarity with the communities of color who are leading this fight here in Maine and across the country.

We also joined partners in the environmental movement to condemn these recent murders and call for accountability and reform. Read our joint statement here.

Photo credit: Daniel Arauz/Flickr.