There is still much work to be done to defund the police, invest in Black communities, and reimagine a world where safety and justice is determined by and for everyone — here and abroad. And that kind of bold and uncompromising vision will take all of us getting behind it, and making space to imagine beyond the limitations of our current systems and infrastructure. 

That’s why, today, I’m asking you to join me in getting behind demands from Black-led national and local organizations and to help tell stories in your city, your state that will change the hearts and minds of our neighbors.

We’ve pulled together a draft letter that you can send to the editor of your local paper to support the critical momentum building for defunding violence-first institutions and instead investing in Black communities. 

Writing a letter to the editor is one of the quickest, most effective ways to tell a story of peace and justice. It allows all of us to comment on media narratives and to influence reporting. Policymakers at every level — from the Mayor’s office to the U.S. Congress and the White House — closely track newspapers to see what their constituents are saying. So let’s make sure that they hear our call for support for defunding the police and investing in Black communities across the country when they read the paper this month!

After you submit your name and address (required by editors), simply choose which newspaper where you'd like to submit your letter. Then, use the talking points and sample letter to write your own letter to the editor. Don't forget, you can come back here and submit as many letters to as many different papers as you want!