Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors requested a meeting with President-elect Joe Biden to discuss the movement’s agenda and lay out expectations for the incoming administration.
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“Without the resounding support of Black people, we would be saddled with a very different electoral outcome,” Cullors wrote in a letter to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Saturday. “In short, Black people won this election.”
Cullors plans to hold Biden’s feet to the fire, saying that Black people “want to be heard and our agenda to be prioritized.”
Despite making history by choosing the first female and Black vice president to be elected to office, it is yet to be seen if Biden can make good on campaign promises to create a police oversight board to combat police brutality, particularly against Black and minority people, within his first 100 days in the White House.
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Police reform has been at the forefront of American politics this election season, especially after the death of George Floyd in May. Floyd died in police custody after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for over eight minutes.
His death caused a national reckoning, with some activists calling to “defund the police,” a notion that Biden has not thrown his weight behind completely, to the dismay of his more progressive supporters.
Biden also promised to create an economic plan that provides housing, education, and financial support to Black and Latino communities who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
During his victory speech last week, Biden shouted out his Black supporters and thanked them for their vote.
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“The African American community stood up again for me. They always have my back, and I’ll have yours,” Biden said at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. “I said from the outset I wanted a campaign that represented America, and I think we did that. Now that’s what I want the administration to look like.”
Cullors reminded Biden and Harris that they both “expressed regrets regarding your record on issues impacting Black people,” and advised them to “take your direction from Black grassroots organizers that have been engaged in this work for decades, with a legacy that spans back to the first arrival of enslaved Africans.”
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“We would like to be actively engaged in your Transition Team’s planning and policy work,” Cullors said. “Let’s get to work!”