Statement from Brenda Solórzano, President and CEO, The California Endowment

My heart has been broken watching what has been happening in Minneapolis and across our country. ICE raids, murder of peaceful protestors, using children as bait, tearing families apart, warrantless home invasions by armed, and violent masked federal agents. This is wrong and immoral. Human dignity requires more of us as a society. 

As an immigrant, mother, daughter, and wife, I cannot stand by and watch the horror unfolding in our country and California. 3,800 children and babies have been separated from their parents and placed into “tender age” prisons throughout the country. In the last year, 32 individuals have died in ICE custody, including the horrendous murder of two American citizens captured on video for our own eyes to see. These murders have intensified fear, sorrow, and righteous concern across the nation as communities grapple with the abuse of power by agents entrusted with public safety. For organizations rooted in community care and justice, this is not abstract policy debate. It is a lived reality for immigrant families, Black, Brown and Indigenous communities, and for the networks of support and advocacy that mobilize daily to protect human dignity. 

What we are witnessing is outrageous, but this violence did not emerge from nowhere. Black, Brown, and Native communities have long known the terror of state force wielded without accountability or humanity. The patterns we see today were forged over generations. If this moment has finally captured our attention, then let it widen our vision, not narrow it. Our solidarity must extend to challenge and dismantle the very systems that perpetuate violence. Anything less is incomplete. 

The California Endowment stands in unwavering solidarity with grassroots partners, health and legal service providers, faith leaders, and community advocates offering direct support. From trauma care and legal assistance to safe spaces for collective grieving and organizing, your solidarity and care are essential lifelines in this moment of pain. 

I know many of us feel alone right now. Powerless. Unsure of what we can possibly do in the face of such cruelty. But look to Minnesota. Look to the organizers, faith leaders, and everyday people who have taken to the streets in peaceful protest and to protect one another. They have opened their homes, their churches, and their hearts in the face of state violence. They are showing us what it looks like when community shows up for community. Their courage inspires us and strengthens our resolve. What happens in Minnesota reverberates through immigrant communities and communities of color in California and across the nation. Your grief is our grief. Your fight is our fight. 

We are many. In every rapid response network. In every church offering sanctuary. In every lawyer answering a hotline at midnight. In every neighbor who refuses to look away. From the Twin Cities to the Central Valley, we are showing up for each other. 

I stand with the millions of Americans participating in peaceful, nonviolent protest as a powerful and moral expression of community grief and demand for justice. When we the people stand united, we continue the march toward justice and the multiracial democracy we all yearn for. 

And in this darkness, I hold onto hope because I have seen what we are capable of when we move together. The California Endowment will continue to stand beside communities doing this sacred work. We will not look away. We will not be silent. 

We are many. And together, we will persist.