As a community, we experienced a rollercoaster of historic emotions and events this past week.

We brought in a New Year that we still hope holds possibilities of new initiatives to mitigate the losses of life, income, and community that we have suffered the past year. We anticipated a different kind of celebration for the wins in Georgia and the swearing in of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris later this month in a historic inauguration event — one that will inevitably be unique as the world continues to battle the pandemic.

While we were celebrating for Georgia, the current president incited an insurrection on our country and our people, refusing to accept that 81 million of us turned out to stand with and for each other to elect Joe Biden by overwhelming margins. We watched as law enforcement stepped aside and took selfies with a vigilante mob in our Capitol.  

We are calling for action now to hold accountable the 45th President of the United States and all Republican officials that have enabled his acts of division, racism, intolerance, and denial. These North Carolina Republican Representatives all enabled the violence this past week by amplifying the president’s lies about the election: Rep. Dan Bishop, Rep. Ted Budd, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Rep. Virginia Foxx, Rep. Richard Hudson, Rep. Greg Murphy, and Rep. David Rouzer, all Republicans who should be removed from office.

We also call for accountability for all who oppose racial justice, including those who remained complicitly silent as Black Lives Matter supporters were met throughout 2020 with state violence, SWAT teams, and National Guard.  

We are living in a country with multiple crises converging all at once. Here in Durham, we remain strong in our conviction to combat COVID-19, prevent evictions, and eliminate poverty through the work of our members and action teams. If you want to be part of this fight with us, in solidarity with movement partners across the state, join us now.

Until we have justice,

People's Alliance Board of Directors