Deadline: End of Day Wed, August 5th

Dear Members of the Maryland Congressional Delegation:

We, the undersigned Maryland interfaith leaders, firmly oppose racism and oppression in the United States. As faith leaders, we condemn these evils because justice is a shared foundation of our religions. We are called to love each other and actively pursue justice for those who experience oppression. Therefore, committing to uphold justice is the embodiment of our faith and our love for our neighbors.

We acknowledge that the current state of systemic oppression stems from the historic, brutal implementation of white supremacy that marked this country’s founding, particularly Indigenous genocide through colonization and anti-Blackness through enslavement. Systemic racism creates disparities in every aspect of lived experiences for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), as demonstrated through the wealth gap, food insecurity, inadequate education funding, and barriers to proper health and wellness care, and affordable housing. White supremacy never ended, it merely evolved from slavery, to Jim Crow, to institutions such as the current criminal-legal system. While we have achieved some change due to the tireless pursuit of justice, systemic racism and economic oppression continues to harm and kill our community members.

It is a critical time in history during which Black people are facing not one but multiple pandemics, including COVID-19 and police violence. At the root of these issues are systemic oppression, systemic racism, and inequity.

In March, our nation declared COVID-19 a national pandemic. Quickly, we found that Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people were disproportionately contracting and dying from COVID-19. Years of systemic oppression have contributed to racial disparities in health and wellness care, and access to critical services. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating economic disparities and shedding light on the holes in our nation’s social safety net.

While in the midst of the pandemic, our nation saw the brutal and senseless murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Elijah McClain, and many others at the hands of police. For far too long, organizers and activists across our nation have called for the dismantling of the criminal-legal system as we know it, but are met with incremental and ineffective reforms. Likewise, the response to health care, affordable housing, and secure employment has been piecemeal and slow, leaving millions to struggle and suffer at the hands of state violence.

It is clear that incremental change has not been and will not be sufficient. We can only create communities where people have a bountiful quality of life through sweeping policy change that prioritizes the most oppressed, marginalized groups in this country.

We affirm the Poor People’s Campaign moral budget and Jubilee Justice policy platform and call on Congress to enact systemic changes to ensure that all American residents can thrive. To create a just society for all people and heal from years of systemic oppression, systemic poverty, divestments in communities of color, and ecological devastation, we demand the following:

- Fair Voting: Voting reform that provides clear access to the ballot box including automatic voter registration, mail-in voting, same-day voter registration, full voting rights to incarcerated people, and early voting for 17 year-olds.

- Just Immigration: Clear and just immigration policies that include timely citizenship and a transparent process.

- Labor: A livable wage that keeps pace with the cost of basic necessities including housing, food, health and wellness care, education, and the abolishment of anti-union policies.

- Robust Social Safety Net: Full funding of critical social welfare programs such as TANF, SNAP, CHIP, and housing assistance, and the removal of racist and ableist work requirements.

- Education Equity: Education equity at all levels with an emphasis on equitable funding.

- Fair Housing: Access to fair and affordable housing for all American residents despite immigration status or criminal record.

- Mass Incarceration: An end to mass incarceration by reducing the prison and jail population, strengthening resources for public defenders and rehabilitation programs, holding prosecutors accountable, the abolition of for-profit prisons, and investing in critical supports for formerly incarcerated people including eliminating bans to licensure and social welfare programs.

- Protection for Critical Communities: Equity and safety regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Climate Justice: A ban on fracking and other harmful environmental practices.

- Divestment from War: Reducing spending on war and militarization, and instead investing in peace and diplomacy strategies both in the U.S. and internationally.

- Racial Healing: Support the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Commission as outlined in Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s H.Con.Res 100, which acknowledges America is breaking its social construct with communities of color and establishes a commission to recommend and enact solutions to restore harm.

As faith leaders, we urge you to fight for the aforementioned demands without delay. The well-being of Black, Brown and Indengous people - your constituents - is dependent on your commitment to ending systemic racism, systemic oppression, policy violence and the devastation and preventable deaths it causes.

In Faith,