webinar recap: police accountability and racial justice: sustaining a movement
TRANSCRIPT
POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND
RACIAL JUSTICE: SUSTAINING A
MOVEMENT
EPIP Webinar
February 18th, 2015
EPIP Host: Michael Barham
Panelists: Joo-Hyun Kang, Jose Lopez, Monifa Bandele
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Agenda & Housekeeping
• Historical context, current context and their work
• Moderated Q & A followed by questions from the
audience
• Use the question box for technical difficulties and content
questions
• We’ll be recording this webinar, visit our website to view
• Complete the post-webinar survey!
Panelists
• Monifa Bandele, leadership team, Malcolm X Grassroots
Movement
• Jose Lopez, Lead Organizer, Make the Road New York
• Joo-Hyun Kang, Director, Communities United for Police
Reform
Police Accountability & Racial Justice:
Sustaining A Movement
Reflections from NYCfor Feb 18, 2015 EPIP Webinar
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR)
▪ Context: Local NYC Historical Background
▪ About CPR: Goals, Strategies, Accomplishments
▪ Floyd federal stop-and-frisk
▪ Other litigation
▪ Priorities, Next Phase
Historical Context for NYC
▪ Mid 1990s Giuliani era and rise of discriminatory “broken-windows” “zero-tolerance” “quality of life” policing + no accountability for killings of young men of color
▪ NYC police accountability history rooted in police brutality - Grassroots leadership, mobilization & families of those killed and brutalized by NYPD
▪ NYPD killings = “tip of iceberg”
“Stop-and-frisk” & discriminatory policing =
Civil & Human Rights Crisis
In 2011:• 87% Black or Latina/o• 88% no arrests or summons• Weapons found in <2% of stops• More stops of young Black men than young
Black men residing in NYC• 685,724 stops
Need for coordination
▪ Coordination of strategies and action
▪ Coordination across sectors
▪ With leadership from directly affected communities
▪ Leveraging political context & opportunities (e.g. 2013 citywide elections)
CPR Campaign Purpose
Overall purpose▪ End discriminatory and abusive policing
in NYC (incl stop-and-frisk abuses and broken-windows style policing)
▪ Promote community safety in dignified manner that upholds human & constitutional rights
CPR Campaign Goals
By 2018:▪ Decrease discriminatory & abusive
encounters by NYPD
▪ Build capacity of affected communities
▪ Build public & political will to enact & sustain change
CPR Accomplishments since 2012 incl
▪ Changed public discourse
▪ Documented decrease in stops (but stop-and-frisk isn’t over)
▪ Culture change
▪ Secured initial policy reform victories
▪ Building community-based leadership/infrastructure
▪ Coordinated multi-sector strategy
Current National Context: Systemic lack of accountability & devaluing of Black & Brown lives
ERIC GARNER MICHAEL BROWN
Just since last summer those killed include: John Crawford, Ezell Ford, Tanisha Anderson, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Jessie Hernandez, Antonio Zambrano-Montes and too many more.
Current Context: protest, movement, change
▪ Ferguson
▪ Ferguson, Beavercreek, NYC (After non-indictments in killings of Mike Brown, John Crawford, Eric Garner)
▪ Racial justice & police accountability demands
Current Context: Opportunities
National awareness & mass movement building
• Connections to workers, immigrants, women, LGBT & other movements
• Leadership is abundant, grassroots and everywhere – including youth leadership
• Growing public acknowledgement of problem with policing & lack of accountability of police
Challenges include
▪ Organized & well-resourced opposition
▪ False dichotomy of “civil rights” vs. “public safety”
▪ Misperceptions (e.g. in NYC “stop-and-frisk era is over”)
▪ Capacity limitations + few philanthropic resources for police accountability work
▪ Long-term, multi-pronged problem requires committed long-term work/solution
What NYC example helps illustrate
▪ Policing won’t be fixed by decreasing 1 discriminatory tactics
▪ Coordination across sectors is critical; support of grassroots is key
▪ Philanthropic support of coalitions led by grassroots can be successful
▪ Long-term problem requires multi-year vision and strategy
Steps funders can take
▪ Know/learn about the history of the racial justice & police accountability work in your area
▪ Support through racial justice, youth organizing, immigrant rights, LGBT, gender justice and other portfolios
▪ Consider multi-year general support
▪ Help to promote the community organizing work of grassroots organizations led by communities of color