A message from IS-MPMI President, Mary Beth Mudgett

Dear colleagues and friends—

We are writing to you during a time of extreme anger, pain, and hurt for the Black community. People are horrified by the recent killings of three African Americans: Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd.

We stand at a moment unprecedented in history, both nationally and internationally. It is a time when we face, most sadly, social unrest from the systemic racism that has been plaguing our society for all of the years of its existence. This, compounded with a biological threat and economic crisis that is affecting every one of us, presents a time of profound stress for all—but for our Black community, the burden is unfathomable.

The International Society of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (IS-MPMI) strongly rejects racism and discrimination in any form. We stand with our Black community, as well as those that are experiencing injustice at this time. Our society is an international organization which embodies a diverse and engaged community of scientists and educators to train, create, and share foundational knowledge in plant-microbe interactions towards the greater understanding and sustainable use of plants for all people. IS-MPMI knows that the strength of our society is in the tremendous diversity of our community. Our ability to learn from each other and share our common interests and goals, regardless of race, is what makes our society and its members truly exceptional.

We acknowledge that you may be struggling at this time. We send our utmost support to you.

If you have any thoughts or actions that you believe our society can address, we encourage you to reach out to us or other members of the IS-MPMI Board of Directors. We welcome your input for how we can do better for our community. IS-MPMI Interactions is also a means to share your concerns, calls-to-action, or topics for discussion.

At this moment, we encourage all of our members to pause and reflect on racial injustice. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”—Albert Einstein. As a community, it is important that we talk about race and continually strive to live by the principle of equality and better realize it in our daily exchanges. There is much needed change.

In the days ahead, we hope that you and your communities stay safe, healthy and well. You are in our thoughts.

Regards,

Mary Beth Mudgett, President, IS-MPMI
Jeanne Harris, Editor, MPMI