This should be obvious, right? And yet our fellow citizens – people of color – continue to be killed by those who are supposed to uphold the law. It has to stop. We have to be better than this, or there is no hope for any of us. Black lives matter.

I’ve marched here in Boston and in Washington, D.C., multiple times over the years, and I wish I could join in the protests now. I can’t – my husband and I are in higher risk groups for COVID-19 – but I want to do what I can to support the protesters out there in the streets in every state of our union and in many other countries as well. Therefore, I’m contributing and urge you all to contribute what you can to programs like:

the NAACP Legal Defense Fund: https://www.naacpldf.org

The Bail Project: https://bailproject.org

Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com

American Civil Liberties Union: https://www.aclu.org

Or any social justice organization working to right these wrongs, pay reparations (yes, we need to), and enact corrective legislation.

In a small way, I’m also trying to use this space for some corrective action, trying to amplify the voice of writers of color, specifically those in my own field of crime fiction, such as Kellye Garrett, John Vercher, and Attica Locke. With that in mind, I’d love to send you over to Crime Writers of Color – https://www.crimewritersofcolor.com – to find your new favorite writer.

As Kellye posted on Facebook: Supporting equality should not be a political issue. It shouldn’t be divisive, and yet…

To which I can only add, we’re all in this life together. Democracy is not a zero-sum game. We all win, or none of us do. Won’t you join us?