Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington is helping people organize around the current crisis and around long-standing, existing inequalities and needs for our communities. Our vision is to see the greater Burlington area transformed into a place where all Black people thrive bodily, socially, and economically.  

Please read on to sign up for different topics you care about and different activities you want to engage in.

Don’t forget: Our country and our state have prioritized military and police spending over housing, and continue to do so. In 2019, Burlington spent over 20% of its general fund on Policing. This is over 12 million dollars more than it spent on Housing, Community Development, and Community Justice combined.*

Don’t forget: Black people make up a little more than 1% of Vermont, but make up 8.5% of Vermont’s prison population.

Don’t forget: Black folks are homeless in Vermont 6x more than white folks.

Don’t forget: the purpose of our military and police is not to “liberate” people or make our community “safer.”

Don’t forget: This nation, this state, and their police, do not have some higher moral authority to commit violence -- they are just given power by the government. We, the people, determine what is moral and what is right, and it’s been proven time & time again that we can’t trust state powers to make ethical decisions for us.

Normal has never been acceptable. Normal was built on the backs of slaves and perpetuated by violence on our communities. This pandemic has made these problems more noticeable and further exposed who truly benefits from the current system. With some benefits such as stimulus checks coming from this pandemic, there are thoughts that the world after the pandemic will be more just and equitable. However, a just world after COVID-19 will not be handed to us passively. We must band together as a community to determine our fate in the time being and the aftermath.