The New Jersey Women Lawyers Association condemns the murder of George Floyd, as well as the injustice surrounding the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the many other senseless killings of Black people without cause or justification. We stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the Black community in condemning these wrongful acts and we demand justice and reform.

The purpose and mission of our organization “includes providing a voice for [our] members concerning issues of importance to women.” Equality, inclusion, justice and safeguarding the rights and protections endowed by our Constitution are issues that are core to all women, and women lawyers in particular. As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so powerfully stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

We are all impacted by a society that devalues people due to the color of their skin. We must do better. We need to listen to each other to learn how we can help each other affect real and lasting change. One of the first steps for change includes an acknowledgement that many of us have been afforded privileges. Many of us will never know what it is like to go about our daily lives, whether in a park, in a coffee shop, on the street, at the gym, or even in the perceived safety of our homes, and be racially targeted – treated as less-than, harassed, assaulted or put in fear for our very lives based on the color of our skin.

As women, as lawyers, we cannot tolerate the continued loss of life that flows from the systemic disenfranchisement of people based on the color of their skin. In the coming days, weeks, and months, NJWLA will continue this conversation, including with publications and programming. We call upon all of us to work together to implement meaningful change.