Statement from Carter G. Woodson Institute faculty
Last week, we, the faculty, affiliates and fellows of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at University of Virginia stood in shock and solidarity with those throughout the world who were deeply aggrieved and outraged by the decision of the grand jury in the case of Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson. That Wilson could repeatedly shoot and ultimately kill Michael Brown, an 18-year-old, unarmed African American youth in the open light of day and not be required by law to account for his actions, remains patently incomprehensible and unjust. Still reeling from that news, which underscored how little black lives matter, we learned yesterday — less than a week later — that a New York grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the murder of unarmed Eric Garner, choked to death last August in Staten Island. It is impossible here to speak the names of the many thousands gone who constitute this ever lengthening chain of corpses — Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Shantel Davis, Tarika Wilson, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Rekia Boyd, John Crawford — some left to draw their last breaths on the cold concrete slabs of city streets.