June 3, 2020

Dear MCSers,

Your safety, health, and well-being have been much on the minds of the MCS faculty, especially in recent days, when the challenges posed by the pandemic and economic crisis have been exacerbated and at times eclipsed by the horrific killings of Black men and women by police officers across the country. The protests that followed, the policing of those protests, and their representation across various media platforms have brought out the very best and the very worst in our society.

We’d like to take this difficult moment to share our support for the USM Statement on Injustice. It is a statement of what brings us together as a community that we can all be proud of.

We’d also like to remind you of the importance of your training in critical media literacy, history, and theory. You are sophisticated and thoughtful consumers and producers of media. You have learned to be wary of dubious sources, to reflect on the broader media narratives being spun by different producers. And you have been trained to think about the various ways sophisticated media messages are encoded and decoded by audiences in different social contexts.

For those of you who are overwhelmed by the pain and violence and seeming hopelessness of the present situation, we remind you of the necessity of self-care (which can be a radical act in and of itself).  This might take the form of more engagement with media and other networks of information-sharing, or less.  For those of you who come to this crisis from a place of relative privilege, we believe that often, the most powerful communication tool of all is listening. 

We’re listening. And we want to hear from you. Finally, we want to remind you of the resources that UMBC provides for students in various kinds of need, which can be found here and here and here.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Adelman

Kristen Anchor

Jason Loviglio

Liz Patton

Kathalene Razzano

Bill Shewbridge

Donald Snyder

Tracy Tinga

Fan Yang

Dear Africana Studies Community,

It is with immense sorrow, outrage and frustration that we write to you to condemn the senseless murder of George Floyd while he was in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. We mourn the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sean Reed, and many others, who were victims of lethal racial brutality perpetrated by police officers and white supremacists. We strongly condemn the injustice such unprovoked killings represent. We join you and millions across the country in demanding for justice to be imposed on those responsible for these tragic deaths; and for a renewed focus on more effective police and community interactions across the nation. As Africana Studies (AFST) faculty, we unequivocally, condemn all acts of violence against peaceful protesters and journalists by the police in cities across the country since the murder of Mr. Floyd.

 As we witness protests in cities across the country and in our own community following the tragic murder of George Floyd, we write to express our support of your concerns and efforts. Africana Studies came into existence out of moments like this and therefore has been in the forefront interrogating systems and institutions that produce such moments while advocating ways to mitigate the debilitating effects of systemic racism and racial disparities and injustices on our community and the society at large. We endorse the statements of support by the University of Maryland System, and by UMBC, which you have seen.

We are witnesses to the latest waves of violence against Black men and women amidst a historic struggle with the coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately devastated Black communities across the country. These unprecedented circumstances have called us to engage with one another and assist our community and its members. As we meaningfully reflect together on these and so many other events, AFST faculty will continue to use our collective resources to expose, challenge, and address all forms of racial disparities, discrimination and injustices against Black people. We are available to listen to you. Feel free to consult with us on any issues that would help you deal with these challenging and difficult times. Stay safe.

Sincerely,

Maleda Belilgne, mbelilgn@umbc.edu

Gloria Chuku, chuku@umbc.edu

Tammy Henderson, xu61256@umbc.edu

Thomas Robinson, trobinso@umbc.edu