2022
Our Repro Rights Community stands in solidarity with the Black community. Black lives matter. Freedom from violence is reproductive justice. All facets of social justice affect reproductive justice and we cannot fight for one without the other. Join us as we learn, listen, and fight alongside the Black community.
No more violence
UPDATE: Police reforms that have passed in NYS
Camden disbanded its police department 7 years ago. Here’s what happened
Biden doesn’t want to defund police
FEDERAL: Demand accountability.
Dear Rep., I urge you to support the resolution authored by Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Barbara Lee, and CBC Chairperson Karen Bass to condemn the militarization of the police and police brutality. We call on the Department of Justice to hold officers and police departments accountable. This has been going on for too long. Amadou Diallo, 42 shots, police officers found not guilty. Sean Bell, 50 shots, police officers found not guilty. Eric Garner, choked to death, police officers let go by the grand jury. No more. I will not stand for this today or on Election Day.
Background: Reps. Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley introduce resolution condemning police brutality after George Floyd death
STATE: Pass the Safer NY Act.
Update: 50-a was repealed, but New Yorkers still face punitive measures for low-level offenses.
Dear Senator, We need you to convene a special session right now to pass the Safer NY Act. This includes ending police secrecy by repealing 50-a, require police departments to report data on low level offenses, ensures prosecution of deaths in police custody, legalizes marijuana, and reduces arrests for minor, non-criminal offenses. We need to do this right now. Where do you stand?
CITY: Defund the NYPD. No more chokeholds. No cops in schools. More NYPD discipline.
Update: Chokeholds were banned, but cops are still rampant in schools. De Blasio won’t disclose if he will cut $1B from NYPD budget.
Dear Mayor/Council Member,
I urge you to call for cuts to the NYPD rather than social safety nets that New Yorkers so desperately need at this time. While schools go without social workers, while families go without food and stable housing, while young people go without summer employment programs, police continue to be hired, cadets are trained, and abusive cops are kept on payroll. This funding of militarized police must stop now.
I'm calling to urge your vote in the City Council to criminalize the use of chokeholds, remove cops from schools, and to create a standardized system to discipline officers. We lost Eric Garner in 2014 and the City did nothing. We need transparency. We need justice for George Floyd and all who have died at the hands of reckless officers. Please act now.
Background: Speaker Johnson to Move Chokehold Ban for a Vote
NYC Budget Justice, Communities United for Police Reform
CITY: If you witness police misconduct or abuse, file a complaint. If you file a complaint with the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), it will be impartially investigated. At the very least, it will create a record. You do not need to know the name or badge number of the officer to filed a complaint. Learn more.
CITY: Join your local police accountability group. Brooklyn Movement Center, for example, has a Police Accountability Working (PAW) Group. Members participate in and lead actions fighting for reforms that will promote community safety. Email paw@brooklynmovementcenter.org to join.
Donate, volunteer, or attend a training.
ACLU - Community Action Manual
https://www.aclu.org/other/fighting-police-abuse-community-action-manual
Audre Lorde Project
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Brooklyn Movement Center
http://brooklynmovementcenter.org/police-accountability/
Campaign Zero
https://www.joincampaignzero.org/
Center for Anti-Violence Education
Cop Block
Cop Watch
https://twitter.com/copwatch?lang=en
Communities United for Police Reform
https://www.changethenypd.org/
Gathering for Justice
https://www.gatheringforjustice.org/
Legal Aid Society - Cop Accountability Project
https://legalaidnyc.org/programs-projects-units/the-cop-accountability-project/
Make the Road New York
https://maketheroadny.org/issue/policing-and-criminal-justice/
New York Anti-Violence Project
Organization for Black Struggle
Educate yourself.
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Bodyminds Reimagined, Sami Schalk
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, Ed. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, Angela Davis
The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, Toni Morrison
So You Want to Talk About Race?, Ijeoma Oluo
Sisters of the Yam, Bell Hooks
Sula, Toni Morrison
Women, Race & Class, Angela Davis
White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo
When They Call You A Terrorist, Patrisse Khan-Cullors & Asha Bandele
White Rage, Carol Anderson
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Audre Lorde
Disability Pride Month and Black Lives Matter: Listen to Black womxn, especially Black womxn with disabilities. They are leading us to a more equitable future. Question your ableism and ensure your activism is intersectional and inclusive.
On Instagram, follow:
@blckincorporate
@wellreadblackgirl
@blackwomenradicals
@crutches_and_spice
@blackwomensblueprint
@thewhitneywest
@disabilityfashionistastylist
@blackgirlswithgardens
@black.owned.everything
@blackgirlmagicwines
@zansari8
Look into these disability organizations
Research the work of these disability activists
Protests/Rioting: Martin Luther King Jr. is well-known for many quotes but the media fails to share this quote: “Riots are the language of the unheard.” If you listen to the speech, Martin Luther King Jr. did not condone violence, but he understood. Most importantly, if you are non-Black, you do not get to say how Black people should protest.
Black Trans Lives Matter
Hear fromTGI Justice Project and take action to support Black trans women
Supporting Black LGBTQ Youth Mental Health - The Trevor Project
Why we are avoiding Shaun King
Shaun King Keeps Raising Money and Questions About Where it Goes - Kali Holloway
Shaun King threaten to sue activists who accused him on Twitter of mishandling fundraisers