by Malkia Cyril. Like many thousands of black activists, I waded through the multicultural waters of the last 20 years. Even as black organisers and activists actively built a solidarity movement with other communities of colour, anti-blackness prevailed without an organised counter. Until now.
Dante Barry, Million Hoodies Movement. The response to this growing movement has been anemic. Task forces were formed and body cameras funded, but conversations in the halls of power have focused exclusively on tweaking, not truly reforming policing practices. New York has a lot of work to do to bring real systemic change to the NYPD.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed an executive order Wednesday appointing a special prosecutor to handle cases involving civilians who die at the hands of police.
Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (MN NOC) June 5, 2015 [...]
by Dante Barry, Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, in The Nation, May 6, 2015: Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake has lifted the citywide curfew, and the National Guard plans to implement a drawdown. Now is the time for Mayor Rawlings Blake to put an end to Baltimore police militarization.
On the evening of April 25 at the corner of Pratt and Light Streets, in Baltimore’s revitalized downtown district, more than 100 police officers in riot gear stood shoulder to shoulder, shields up. Six officers on horseback fidgeted behind them, staring down at a crowd of about 40, an odd mixture of protesters, journalists and protester-journalists.
The Criminal Justice Initiative (CJI) is a cross-class funding circle made up of community organizers and activist donors. Together we identify, fund, and nurture grassroots activism led by formerly incarcerated people working to transform the criminal justice system in the United States.
Arizona is a testing ground for conservative legislation that targets and harms communities of color and sets precedent for other states to follow suit, as seen with SB1070.
Community leaders and members of the ACLU gathered on the capital lawn this morning to speak out against SB 1445, a controversial bill that "limits the release of the name of a peace officer who is involved in a use of deadly physical force incident for 60 days."
Members of the University of Chicago Police Department carry guns, make arrests, and patrol tens of thousands of residents unaffiliated with the university—but they don’t have to disclose any information about stops, arrests, and policies. Two Illinois Representatives are finally trying to change that.
