​Poligon Demands Systemic Change and Transformative Justice After Chauvin Guilty Verdict

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2021
Contact: media@poligonnational.org

​Poligon Demands Systemic Change and Transformative Justice After Chauvin Guilty Verdict

Washington, D.C. - Poligon Education Fund released the following statement in response to the April 20th conviction, charging former Officer Derek Chauvin with murder: 
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Nine minutes, one year, and a few more minutes. This is what the cycle of police violence and lack of accountability looks like in the United States. Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes before he took Floyd’s life. The system took 330 days to convict Chauvin of a murder the whole world watched, and only a few minutes after the reading of Chauvin’s guilty verdict we learned of another state sanctioned police killing that took the life of 15 year old Ma’Khia Bryant. 

We cannot call the April 20th conviction of Derek Chauvin justice; we call it accountability. Chauvin is only one officer. He is where we start. The whole system must follow for true transformative justice, where George Floyd and Daunte Wright can embrace their daughters and granddaughters. A world where Ma’Khia Bryant and Adam Toledo are not robbed of their childhood. While the jury’s verdict was a historical, surreal moment for many of us, presenting a moment of relief and proof that accountability is possible, it is not lost on us that Chauvin’s conviction does not absolve policing as a whole. It demonstrates that the system, when in danger, will sacrifice one of its own to avoid true accountability and transformation.

We continue to demand justice for Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo, and the many more young black and brown people who should have been with us today. As allies to the Black-led liberation movement, we reaffirm our unwavering solidarity and fight for racial justice. It is time to protect, center, and listen to our Black siblings as they continue to lead us in the fight for transformative justice. In doing so, we stand firm in holding elected officials to the promises made in 2020 and demanding meaningful policies that divest from violence and invest in our communities. We uplift the Movement for Black Lives’ BREATHE Act, a bold piece of legislation recognizing community power and shifting how we envision community-care and safety. 

Our hearts go out to the family of George Floyd and the people who continue to fight in defense of Black and Brown lives. To our Black and Brown siblings who have endured generational and collective trauma, anger, exhaustion and pain as a result of violent policing, we stand by you. We recognize, honor, and hold space for your fight towards collective liberation.

### Poligon Education Fund is a national non profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to strengthening Muslim American engagement with Congress through training, education, and advocacy. Learn more at www.poligonnational.org.