Last night, President Obama delivered his sixth State of the Union address. President Obama unveiled his plans to address a litany of social and economic concerns facing the country, however, he only grazed over the topic of racial justice and police violence. In order address these critical issues and uplift the voices Black people, over a dozen organizations have come together to release the State of the Black Union Address today at 3:00pm E.S.T. on BlackLivesMatter.com.
In his speech, President Obama provided facts and detailed bullet points on issues such as paid sick leave, childcare, cyber security and Cuba. However, on the topic of Mike Brown and flurry of police murders that have taken place over the past six months, he simply said, “We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson.” Obama spoke about visiting the grieving families in New Town and Boston but yet failed to mention the grieving families who have lost their loved ones to police violence. President Obama claimed the US government advocates for political prisoners yet made no mention of US held political prisoners. He talked about the importance of shutting down the Guantanamo Bay but remained silent on US Prison Industrial Complex and its disproportionate impact on Black people.
The President praised the 50th anniversary of the Selma march but failed to acknowledge the current national movement that has been ignited and sustained for over 160 days. The State of the Union address made no mention of the need to affirm and declare Black Lives Matter.
