True Colors United is deeply disturbed and outraged by the murder of Jordan Neely on Monday, May 1, 2023 on the F train in Manhattan.
Neely was crying out, “I don’t have food, I don’t have a drink, I’m fed up” moments before a white vigilante, Daniel Penny, held him in a chokehold for 15 minutes. Neely needed food and water, yet instead was brutally murdered in broad daylight. The refusal to indict Neely’s murderer illuminates a racialized and bigoted system that continues to emphasize the lives of people on the margins do not matter, particularly for folks who are Black, vulnerable, struggling with a disability, and unhoused. The staff at True Colors United condemns this outrageous act of injustice, violence, dehumanization, and anti-Blackness, and calls out inadequate policies and systems that continue to fail people who are unhoused and in mental health crises.
Jordan Neely experienced housing insecurity, poverty, and mental health struggles for 7+ years. He was described by his friends and family as a “sweet loving and talented Michael Jackson impersonator who dealt with mental health challenges following his mother’s murder when he was a teenager.” Neely was a regular victim of a failed system that ultimately facilitated his murder when he had nowhere else to turn.
In a city where there has been a full assault on homeless communities and rents are higher than ever; positioned in a country with no regard for Black and brown bodies, this tragedy is the latest in a long history of violence against Black folks. True Colors United knows that criminalizing homelessness is ineffective and immoral and believes everyone has the right to housing and to the resources and support they need to thrive.
We stand with protestors in NYC and demand justice for Jordan Neely. True Colors United condemns state-sanctioned violence, and the systems that continue to ignore and create a sense of irreverence for the lives of Black people experiencing homelessness. We call on elected officials, state and federally, to stand against and reject legislative actions that criminalize people who are unhoused and instead adequately fund solutions that prioritize affordable housing, mental health resources, and end white supremacist terror and violence towards Black people.
In Solidarity and Accountability,
Signed:
True Colors United Staff
- Aleya Jones
- Whitney Bunts
- Christa Price
- Eziah Blake
- Shahera Hyatt
- Morgan Jenkins, Ed.D
- Jeff Katz
- Angel Brown
- Tiffany Hart
- Cai Carranza
- Dana White
- Twiggy Pucci Garçon
- Coco Wheeler
- Kahlib Barton
- Dylan Waguespack
National Forum on Youth Homelessness
- Taisacan Hall
- Jennifer Myers
- Kiana Johnson
- Sakichi Hayashi
- Prince Hayward
- Jozie Caudillo
- Damien Brinson
- Serena Chapa
- Kai Reynolds
- Saleen Lewis
- Jai Wells
- Osimiri Sprowal