National Lawyers Guild, Massachusetts Chapter Inc.

Dear Harvard Philosophy Department members, Minorities and Philosophy  Members, and friends, 


In the wake of the senseless killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, and countless other Black people, the Harvard Minorities and Philosophy Chapter issued this statement . In this document, we condemned both policy brutality and the endemic, institutionalized racism that sustains and produces it as well as countless other harms and injustices. Like many  others who issued similar statements, we committed to direct and sustained anti-racism action and organizing. Our MAP membership came together and discussed what shape this action should best take. In particular, we discussed the need to turn our attention outward: while issues facing minorities in the academic field of philosophy are real, harmful, and persistent, our academic institution affords us large amounts of social and economic privilege that we must wield responsibly. 

With this responsibility in mind, our MAP membership voted to facilitate a collective donation to the National Lawyers Guild--Massachusetts Chapter . The NLG-Mass Chapter is an organization devoted to leveraging the law to change political and economic systems to more effectively value and protect human rights. This year the NLG-Mass Chapter is tackling issues in policing in Massachusetts. In particular, they are advocating for restrictions on the use of chemical and other less-lethal weapons, exposing and curtailing the surveillance of local activists, and limiting qualified immunity policies for police officers. As recent events have highlighted, these projects are anti-racism work in action.  

We hope that you will join us in supporting the work of the NLG-Mass Chapter. Our department sits within a long tradition of philosophers who carefully examine our moral and political lives with a view to understanding what we owe each other, improving upon the beliefs and practices that shape and sustain injustice and wrongdoing. In keeping with this ethos and our stated commitment to sustained anti-racism action, we hope you will consider supporting the NLG-Mass Chapter with us. 

We will cumulate our donation at the Harvard MAP colloquium talk on November 6th. At this talk, Vanessa Wills will speak to us about her work concerning how contemporary economic and social arrangements inhibit values like equality and freedom. We cannot pretend to take her arguments seriously without also treating them as an injunction to act. We hope that you will consider joining us in one small instance of such action.