The Water Foundation issued the following statement today:
“Yesterday showed the forces at play in our country: the power of a Black-led, multiracial movement of people advancing the right to vote and winning new seats juxtaposed with the devastation that comes from white supremacy. Just as organizers and communities seized hard-won victories in Georgia, a violent mob attacked our democratic institutions and the peaceful transfer of federal power, incited and aided by the president and some members of Congress.
“The colliding crises of systemic racism, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change are ever present and urgent. Yet some elected officials have chosen to neglect their public responsibilities and instead attempted to undermine the votes of millions of people. This attack is a result of hundreds of years of white supremacy that created and undergird the United States. In sharp contrast with the harm and arrests endured by thousands of peaceful protesters standing together for Black lives this summer, yesterday mostly white militants were readily able to break into the Capitol, threaten people, and disrupt certification of the 2020 election results.
“Early this morning, Congress confirmed those results, and on January 20, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will be sworn in. Voting is important, without a doubt, and it is also not enough. To create a democracy of and for all people, we also have a duty to support community power and organizing, and to follow the expertise and leadership of Black, Indigenous, and people of color on the frontlines of fights for climate action, clean water, public health, racial justice, and much more. Every day, we must hold ourselves, our families, our communities, and our institutions accountable to making a country where everyone can thrive, in safety and dignity.”