To Friends and Colleagues of UnCommon Law:

Just like many of you, our team is experiencing deep pain during these troubled times that shed light on the realities Black people have long faced. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are only a few of the recent victims of police terror. In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the actions of unprovoked violence against our community. Sadly, we have little hope for justice for any of them or their families.

As an organization, our shared values of empathy and self-reflection guide our steps. Underlying these values is our commitment to understanding one another and constantly re-assessing our own thoughts and motivations. These values are central to our work with people serving life sentences for murder and other serious crimes. We make no apologies about what we do. Nor do we apologize for our strong support for protests against the white supremacist systems that have produced the violent reality in which we all currently find ourselves. 

We recognize a serious tension. On the one hand, we believe our current criminal legal system is fundamentally and fatally flawed, trapping thousands of Black and Brown people unnecessarily at great cost to their families, communities and safety. On the other hand, we believe that the police officers responsible for causing death and destruction must be held accountable. We don’t believe accountability looks anything like our current policing and prison system; we need to see thousands come home from that system even as we work to replace it with something that recognizes our capacity to change and heal.

We remain committed to supporting our community through these difficult moments so that we can all emerge in a much better place. Having seen hundreds of the people we serve transform their own lives after experiencing and causing violence and other trauma, we have plenty of reason to believe that, together, we can create a much better future - one that honors and respects the humanity in all of us. We welcome the difficult, uncomfortable conversations that will require an openness and vulnerability most people fear, but which will lead to the only true pathway to transforming unhealthy patterns that ruin lives and communities. We are honored to be on this difficult journey with all of you.

As a Black man leading this team, I have to say that I’m exhausted - physically and mentally. If you had any idea of all the ways throughout my life I have shape-shifted so that I would appear less threatening to white people, you would wonder how I’ve kept any measure of sanity. And this happens daily, moment-by-moment, and both consciously and unconsciously, having been learned and practiced as a protective barrier in all areas of life - work, social, parenting, shopping, running, renting a home, driving, etc. Millions of Black folks have become expert contortionists in the same way. 

Yet, no matter how many times I’ve changed my posture, clothes, speech, music, gaze, and so many other things just so they wouldn’t see me as a threat, what happened to George, Breonna, Ahmaud and too many others are constant and clear reminders that none of it is enough to keep me safe or my family safe. The police continue to snuff out lives like mine with impunity. So the result of this current level of pain and anguish the Black community feels is a collective declaration that we’re done seeking justice from a system not designed for it, and we’re done seeking it from people who have repeatedly refused to act in our interest because it made them uncomfortable or it jeopardized their positions. It’s time to replace (not reform) the systems and those who run them. 

I say we start by defunding the police and refunding the community. For many reasons, we have looked to police for so many functions they are neither qualified nor inclined to perform. We need to redirect resources toward local, non-law enforcement responses to mental health crises, domestic disputes, the needs of young people and those who are unhoused. Even violent incidents can benefit from a more restorative response that focuses on healing of the individuals and communities impacted. Ensure that everyone has access to health care, quality education, a livable wage, and safe housing. This includes people returning to the community after incarceration, who must immediately have their voting rights restored. And let’s vow to support only those leaders who embrace these responses. Let’s all do our part to create the world we want to live in. Nobody else is on the way to save us.

Keith Wattley

Founder and Executive Director, UnCommon Law