See the message below directly from Love ❤️ Not Blood 🩸 Campaign/ Families United For Justice Co-Founder Cephus X Johnson (Uncle Bobby) and Beatrice X (Aunt Bea) X Johnson
Hi Andrew! We're reaching out to you as fellow activists and changemakers.
We founded the Love Not Blood Campaign in 2014, but we started a lot of our work in 2009. We are Cephus "Uncle Bobby" X Johnson and Beatrice "Auntie Bee" X Johnson, and we are honored to be a multi-year grantee and partner of BLM GNF.
We are the Aunt and Uncle to Oscar Grant, who was killed in Oakland in 2009. We are also family members of Gail Keaton-Smiley, who was killed by Detroit police in 1971. We work with hundreds of impacted families who've lost loved ones due to systemic violence.
As Black people, we are 3 times impacted by a system we must continue to fight. Unfortunately, for the last roughly 15 years, there have been many, many families who have joined us in the club no family member wants to be a part of. To date, we have a database of nearly 1,000 impacted family members who have lost a loved one to police killings.
Our partnership with Black Lives Matter has ensured that we are able to support more impacted families and continue
healing through resistance. That's why we're emailing you today – to talk a little bit about our partnership with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (Black Lives Matter). You see, we founded the Love Not Blood Campaign – one of the campaigns being the Families United 4 Justice Network.
We have spent nearly the last 15 years organizing and empowering over 800+ impacted families globally that have been impacted by the loss of a loved one due to state-sanctioned and vigilante violence. And since Love Not Blood is a partner and grantee of Black Lives Matter, we're able to see the work through for years to come. Your contribution to Black Lives Matter helps to fuel on-the-ground organizations like ours. Will you chip in $5 so more work like this can be done? If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
Just recently, Black Lives Matter hosted a welcome dinner for our annual Families United 4 Justice Network Conference. Families impacted by police violence were able to experience healing through resistance as well as joy through this dinner. Take a look:
This wasn't our first time being alongside Black Lives Matter, though. Love Not Blood Campaign has a LONG history with Black Lives Matter. Over the years, we collaborated on countless projects together, but it was in 2021 that Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation initiated its five-year, multi-million dollar grant and partnership with us.
Because of the efforts by Black Lives Matter to fuel grassroots work for frontline organizations, we are able to advance such groundbreaking work. Whether it's hosting a town hall for youth to get involved in their community, organizing a protest in response to state-sanctioned and vigilante violence, or campaigning for legislation to address police accountability, we can see the tangible change we are making thanks to efforts fueled by Black Lives Matter. Consider chipping in so that they can continue to fuel the work of organizations that need it. Thank you in advance for your time and contributions!
Cephus (Uncle Bobby) X Johnson, and Beatrice (Aunt Bea) X Johnson Love Not Blood Campaign
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