We come to you as the leadership of Div. 35 to firmly and unequivocally denounce the violence that snuffed out the lives of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery.
This is an official statement of Div. 35 of the American Psychological Association, and does not represent the position of the American Psychological Association or any of its other divisions or subunits.
The Div. 35 presidential trio came together to offer a video statement, in respect and solidarity, responding to the racism and violence in the U.S. The text of the video is available below and on the Div. 35 blog.
Statement from Div. 35 presidential trio
Monique Clinton-Sherrod, PhD, 2020 president of the Society for the Psychology of Women; Yuying Tsong, PhD, past president of the Society for the Psychology of Women; and Wendi Williams, president-elect of the Society for the Psychology of Women, speak out against racism.
Dear friends, community, and colleagues:
We come to you as the leadership of Div. 35 (the Society for the Psychology of Women) in the form of its presidential trio, to firmly and unequivocally denounce the violence that snuffed out the lives of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery--their lives the most recent example of imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy in action. This comprehensive form of violence and erasure threatens Black and Indigenous lives as fundamental to the existence of this country. It scapegoats the lives of Latinx/Chicanx and Asian descendant folx bringing to bear the contradictions inherent to its lie of being superior. We do not believe in this lie.
As three women, whose communities are directly impacted by the pain of this targeted violence, historically and contemporarily, we denounce the characterization of the uprisings across this nation and the globe, as anything less than the prayer of our ancestors, that we fight back and make ourselves heard, being answered. We underscore the importance of distinguishing peaceful righteous protests from those that would travel to disrupt, distract, and tear down communities they do not live in or care about.
We commit to utilizing our role and leadership platform to provide the continuity in conversation that intersectional feminists psychologists have begun and have grappled with among ourselves and within the discourse. We pledge to move beyond talking to disruptive action with the potential to make a tangible difference in the lives, mental health and well-being, of Black people, Indigenous folx, Asian descendant family, Latinx/Chicanx siblings, across all domains of diversity and similarity, with a deep recognition that though our struggles are naturally incommensurable, they are unified by our desire that we all win. And for this, it is a struggle for one another that we commit to lean into and engage so that all of us can be heard.
Respectfully and in solidarity,
Monique Clinton-Sherrod, PhD, president, Society for the Psychology of Women
Yuying Tsong, PhD, past president, Society for the Psychology of Women
Wendi Williams, PhD, president-elect, Society for the Psychology of Women