The US Embassy raises the Black Lives Matter flag in Port of Spain

3 hours ago

The United States Embassy in Port of Spain raised the Black Lives Matter (BLM) flag at its Queens Park West campus throughout Wednesday to celebrate its “commitment to promoting diversity, equality and inclusion” for employees, as well as in their programs and activities. The statement said.

On Saturday, the embassy raised a rainbow pride flag to mark the start of TT Pride month. The statement said the June 30 selection coincided with an internal event at the embassy in which its staff discussed the 2020 assassination of George Floyd and “race, racial, police and minority relations.”

She said Floyd’s killing on May 25 last year was a flashpoint in a long-running national conference on police brutality against blacks and black Americans and sparked “a global call to end systemic racism in the United States and around the world”. The Staff Forum grew out of the Biden Harris administration that prioritized diversity, equality, and inclusion at all levels of the United States government.”

The statement cited US President Joe Biden’s January 26 statement that he had signed an executive order on racial equality. Then Biden said, “We need to open America’s promise to all Americans.” This means that we must make the issue of racial equality not merely an issue of any government department; It should be the prerogative of the entire government.”

Chargé d’Affairs Shanti Moore said in the statement that the embassy takes Biden’s tenure and Vice President Kamala Harris very seriously. He added that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had created the position of Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the first time in the department’s history. This officer reports directly to the secretary.

“We have a long way to go to correct racism and historical, systemic, and institutional injustice. We have created a forum within the embassy to discuss these issues. We have an unwavering commitment from senior leaders of the Biden-Harris administration that prioritizing diversity, equality, inclusion, and access are essential to national security,” Moore said.

Biden signed on June 17, the 10th National Independence Day, according to the statement. He explained that “June 19, or June 19, is an annual holiday that commemorates the contributions that black Americans have made to the United States, their resilience and perseverance despite their history of slavery and the ongoing struggle against systemic racism.”