As we grieve the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others by the police, the English Department at Queens College condemns all forms of violence, including state-sponsored violence, that target the lives of Black Americans and other people of color.

As academics who study the literature, rhetoric, and writing of different periods and peoples, we recall the words of James Baldwin, who wrote “History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history. If we pretend otherwise, we are literally criminals.”

We therefore hold ourselves accountable for remembering the history of Black oppression in this country, and naming its connection to police brutality that targets Black people.

We also see a direct link between the devaluing and defunding of public urban institutions of higher education, like CUNY, and state racism. As a department, we affirm our commitment to the work of anti-racism, through our teaching, service, and research. Black lives matter.