Bike Durham has been considering how to respond to both the unjust murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the many others before them as well as to the violent use of force from police departments across the nation to silence the protesters. We support the protests calling for justice. We are fortunate in Durham to have peaceful protests, and acknowledge it took years of work from the Black community to reform our departments and elect Black leaders into positions of power to enable that peace. But the work is not over, and all of us need to participate.

As a transportation advocacy organization, we are answering the call by looking within ourselves and our own organization, as well as the transportation system and decision-making processes within Durham—not just to undo the harms caused by historical racist decisions, but also to actively acknowledge the ways in which our current system upholds these racist outcomes. We also know that we need to go beyond words, and take actions to support leaders of color working for justice and to develop and strengthen our own relationships with communities of color.

We are using this time to recommit ourselves to our mission statement: We believe everyone should have access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transportation regardless of race, wealth, gender identity, ability, or where they live. Bike Durham empowers people of all ages to walk, bike, and ride transit more often by promoting policy, infrastructure, education, and community events.

We encourage you to also engage in the work of dismantling racism. If you are looking for resources, there are many available online. You may find this one helpful. To deepen your understanding of the concepts of mobility justice, we urge you to read the work of the Untokening collective. We invite you to share resources that you have found informative and helpful via social media or email to director@bikedurham.org.

We have a lot of work to do. Bike Durham is committed to doing the work to dismantle white supremacy culture in local transportation processes and within our own organization.

Sincerely,
John Tallmadge, Executive Director
Allison Shauger, Board Chair