Evan Williams Instagram – In this image: A massive crowd chants in support of Black Lives, at the steps of Los Angeles city hall, while under the arches, a line of police stands, symbolically defending the structural systems that have have had a knee on the neck of the African-American community for over four hundred years. (Not pictured: Heavily armed National Guard soldiers guarding the shadowed side of the street.)
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Thousands upon thousands of people took to the streets of LA yesterday afternoon. Swelling to fill the downtown core. Protesting began at the offices of DA Jackie Lacey, demanding her resignation and crying for a reallocation of funds from the bloated police service towards social programs that will actually benefit marginalized communities instead of penalizing them in a way that is statistically and unequivocally unfair. Beyond the shocking police murder of high profile cases like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are legions of young black men and women suffering the brunt of a penal system designed to incarcerate for the maximum amount of time for the minimum of offense, in order for the FOR PROFIT prison industrial system to thrive. (If you have any doubt about the validity of this claim PLEASE WATCH “13TH” ON NETFLIX.)
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Signs of the efficacy of peaceful protest are beginning to show. The other three officers in the murder of George Floyd have been charged, $150 million dollars have been removed from the LAPD budget to be reallocated to social programs (a drop in the bucket of a $3 Billion dollar budget, but it’s a start). Lastly, LA county has said that they do not intend to impose a curfew tonight, which will hopefully rid the police of the opportunity to arrest people peacefully exercising their rights. According to the LA Times, thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested since Saturday. What we’re witnessing is a crack. To which now pressure must be applied, until it splits.
Actionable steps: .
-AMPLIFY MELANATED VOICES
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-WATCH “13TH” ON NETFLIX
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-DONATE TO THE NAACP & THE ACLU (google it)
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-#blacklivesmatter BE ABOUT IT ❤️ | Posted on 05/Jun/2020 00:46:35
