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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/248115932/The-Results-Are-in-Open-Letter-11-24-14">http://www.scribd.com/doc/248115932/The-Results-Are-in-Open-Letter-11-24-14</a></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><big><big><big>The Results Are In<o:p></o:p></big></big></big></b></p>
<b><big><big><big>
</big></big></big></b>
<p class="MsoNormal"><big><b><big><big>An Open Letter from
Protestors On The Grand Jury Decision
(11.24.14)</big></big></b><o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><big>In Ferguson, a wound bleeds. For
108 days, we have been in a
state of prolonged and protracted grief. In that time,
we have found community
with one another, bonding together as family around the
simple notion that our
love for our community compels us to fight for our
community. We have had no
choice but to cling together in hope, faith, love, and
indomitable
determination to capture that ever-escaping reality of
justice. After 108 days,
that bleeding wound has been reopened, salt poured in,
insult added to the
deepest of injury. On August 9th, we found ourselves
pushed into unknown
territory, learning day by day, minute by minute, to
lead and support a
movement bigger than ourselves, the most important of
our lifetime. We were
indeed unprepared to begin with, and even in our
maturation through these 108
days, we find ourselves reinjured, continually
heartbroken, and robbed of even
the remote possibility of judicial resolution. A life
has been violently taken
before it could barely begin. In this moment, we know,
beyond any doubt, that
no one will be held accountable within the confines of a
system to which we
were taught to pledge allegiance. The very hands with
which we pledged that allegiance
were not enough to save Mike in surrender. Once again,
in our community, in our
country, that pledge has returned to us void.<o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
</big>
<p class="MsoNormal"><big>For 108 days, we have continuously
been admonished that we
should “let the system work,” and wait to see what the
results are. The results
are in.<o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
</big>
<p class="MsoNormal"><big>And we still don’t have justice.<o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><big>This fight for the dignity of our
people, for the importance
of our lives, for the protection of our children, is one
that did not begin
Michael’s murder and will not end with this
announcement. The ‘system’ you have
told us to rely on has kept us on the margins of
society. This system has
housed us in her worst homes, educated our children in
her worst schools,
locked up our men at disproportionate rates and shamed
our women for receiving
the support they need to be our mothers. This system you
have admonished us to
believe in has consistently, unfailingly, and
unabashedly let us down and
kicked us out, time and time again.<o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
</big>
<p class="MsoNormal"><big>This same system in which you’ve
told us to trust - this
same system meant to serve and protect citizens - has
once again killed two
more of our unarmed brothers: Walking up a staircase and
shot down in cold
blood, we fight for Akai Gurley; Playing with a toy
after police had been
warned that he held a bb gun and not a real gun at only
twelve years old, we
fight for Tamir Rice.<o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
</big>
<p class="MsoNormal"><big><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So
you will likely
ask yourself, now that the announcement has been made,
why we will still take
to the streets? Why we will still raise our voices to
protect our community?
Why will still cry tears of heartbreak and sing songs of
determination? We will
continue to struggle because without struggle, there is
no progress. We will
continue to disrupt life, because without disruption we
fear for our lives.<o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
</big>
<p class="MsoNormal"><big>We will continue because Assata
reminds us daily that “it is
our duty to fight for freedom. It is our duty to win. We
must love and support
one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”<o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
</big>
<p class="MsoNormal"><big>Those chains have bound us-all of
us- up for too long. And
do not be mistaken- if one of us is bound, we all are.
We are, altogether,
bound up in a system that continues to treat some men
better than others. A
system that preserves some and disregards others. A
system that protects the
rights of some and does not guard the rights of all. And
until this system is
dismantled, until the status quo that deems us less
valuable than others is no
longer acceptable or profitable, we will struggle. We
will fight. We will
protest. Grief, even in its most righteous state, cannot
last forever. No
community can sustain itself this way. So we still
continue to stand for
progress, and stand alongside anyone who will make a
personal investment in
ending our grief and will take a personal stake in
achieving justice. We march
on with purpose. The work continues. This is not a
moment but a movement. The
movement lives.<o:p></o:p></big></p>
<big>
</big>
<p class="MsoNormal"><big>This letter was written and signed
by numerous protestors
and supporters, too many to list. Permission is granted
in advance for
reproduction by all outlets.</big><small><small><small><small><small><big><big><big><big></big></big></big></big></small></small></small></small></small></p>
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