James Edward Tucker Must Go!!! Since the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, institutions, organizations and companies are joining forces to recognize that black lives do matter. Some are coming to the forefront, admitting the lack of insight and reception to the pain and suffering of the Black community pertaining to racism. Others are taking action to combat discrimination so that equality is ensured. Known for its racist practices, actions, and attitude, Maryland School for the Deaf located in Frederick and Columbia, had a VLOG posted by its superintendent, James E. Tucker, claiming that black lives mattered. The Black Deaf and hard of hearing community, consisting of former and current students, their parents and alumni, found his words unbelievable. In addition to being the culprit of their trauma, Tucker is the reason racism was and still is heavily embedded into the school. Black and brown Deaf students were stripped of their freedom to learn and grow in an academic environment committed to safeguard the students from harm. Majority of their counterparts- the white Deaf kids- did not face hardships or dealt with unimaginable pain they did. Black and brown employees were forced to work in fear. Many racist incidents involving Black and brown Deaf students and employees have been reported and deliberately ignored by the white employees and the school’s Board of Trustees who were tasked to protect the students. This has been going on for more than twenty years, TWENTY-EIGHT to be exact. After TWENTY-EIGHT years of humiliation and pain, the Black Deaf/HoH community DEMANDS that this stops now. This must stop with accountability and acknowledgement. Tucker MUST be held accountable for his actions he REFUSES to acknowledge, and the Board CONTINUES to allow him to get away with. Recently, Tucker made a VLOG announcing his retirement, detailing what he would be doing without issuing an apology that has been owed to the community all these years. His retirement cannot happen because it will give him permission to get away with facing discipline for the pain and suffering he forced upon the Black and brown students and employees- current and former. In addition, he will leave the school comfortably with a pension, earning money for his contribution to racism. If James Edward Tucker was a black man, he would have been investigated and terminated immediately if there were MOUNTS of letters and reports against him. He had TWENTY-EIGHT years of opportunity to change. He refused, using his white privilege to terrorize the Black and brown students and employees. The academic journey of the black and brown students must be protected, as they are future leaders of change. TERMINATE HIM NOW!

McCulloch failed to give the grand jury proper direction and overwhelmed them with redundant and misleading information. As a result the grand jurors did not reach a majority decision that probable cause existed to charge Darren Wilson. Probable cause is a reasonable suspicion supported by circumstances that the facts are probably true. Grand juries typically indict over 90% of the cases brought before them. The grand jury does not determine guilt or innocence just probable cause to move forward with criminal charges. A lawsuit was filed against McCulloch by one of the grand jurors detailing the differences in how this case was handled compared to other cases before the grand jury and exposing their experience on the grand jury in this case. McCulloch admitted to allowing witnesses he knew were NOT telling the truth to testify before the grand jury. McCulloch thought he could avoid accountability, he was wrong. On Tuesday, August 8, 2018 the voters of St. Louis County made their power known by electing reform advocate Wesley Bell. Wesley Bell cannot ignore the voters of St. Louis County who have sent a mandate - secure justice for Michael Brown now.

In the midst of great societal change, we as a community, are beginning to recognize the faults surrounding complacency alongside social and racial injustices. As we begin to open our eyes to the dark origins of white supremacy and minority oppression in America, it is important that we identify the catalysts behind this great suffering. Christopher Columbus represents genocide, slavery, and the destruction of the minority populace. We no longer honor these principles and as a community, wish to remove this symbol of injustice!

The Cultural New Deal for Cultural and Racial Justice is a call for us to transform our personal, institutional, and global thinking. We believe that culture moves before policy. We believe that culture endures beyond politics. We wrote this Call because our work in culture and arts is inextricably linked to larger social movements for change. We invite you to adopt and adapt this Call to your specific contexts to hold leaders, policy-makers, and institutions — and ourselves — responsible, accountable, and transparent in achieving equity and justice. In these unprecedented times, as justice movements converge, many of us have asked ourselves what the stakes are for the culture we want to advance. We concluded that we needed to change the conditions under which we artists and culture bearers labor and live. The Cultural New Deal for Cultural and Racial Justice points us toward new understandings of how we together can build a culture that is inclusive, sustainable, and leads us toward justice and freedom for all. We urge timetables that are immediate and demonstrate change that is not aspirational, but concrete, measurable and visible within 1-3 budget cycles. We offer this Call in the spirit of advancing accountability and collective responsibility, and urge you to activate these ideas within your work and our shared future. // El Nuevo Trato Cultural para la Justicia Cultural y Racial es una convocatoria para que transformemos nuestro modo de pensar personal, institucional y global. Creemos que la cultura cambia antes que la política. Creemos que la cultura perdura más allá de la política. Escribimos este llamado porque nuestro trabajo dentro de la cultura y las artes está inextricablemente entrelazado con los movimientos sociales para el cambio. Les invitamos a adoptar y adaptar este Llamado para sus contextos particulares para responsabilizar a líderes, creadores de políticas e instituciones, al igual que nosotres mismes, por lograr la equidad y la justicia de forma responsable y transparente. En estos tiempos sin precedentes, conforme convergen los movimientos por la justicia, muches de nosotres nos hemos preguntado qué está en juego para la cultura que queremos avanzar. Hemos concluido que tenemos que cambiar las condiciones bajo las cuales nosotres les artistas y portadores de cultura trabajamos y vivimos. El Nuevo Trato Cultural para la Justicia Cultural y Racial nos dirige hacia nuevos entendimientos sobre cómo, juntos, podemos crear una cultura que es inclusiva, sustentable y que nos lleva hacía la justicia y la liberación para todes. Exigimos cronogramas que son inmediatos y que demuestran un cambio que no es aspiracional y que, más bien, es concreto, medible y visible dentro de 1 a 3 ciclos presupuestarios. Ofrecemos este Llamado en aras de avanzar la transparencia y la responsabilidad colectiva y urgimos que activen estas ideas dentro de su trabajo y dentro de nuestro futuro compartido.

We are members of the Northeastern University (“NU”) and Fenway, Roxbury and Boston communities who are outraged at the continuing systemic violence against Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. We stand against the manner in which systemic racism, racial violence, and white supremacy is institutionalized at Northeastern University including through NU’s investment in and operation of a private police force. The fight against institutionalized racism requires that we divest from organizations and systems that harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. We must rebuild our institutions to engage in life-giving practices. In this vein, we support the #BlackatNU platform’s call to build sustainable alternatives to policing, to fund efforts to end systematic oppression of Black people, to terminate interagency agreements with public law enforcement agencies, and to demilitarize and disarm Northeastern University Police Department. Further, we endorse #BlackVoicesMatterNEU’s demands regarding financial support to retain students of the African diaspora, increasing access to health insurance and hiring Black health practitioners and therapists, observation of Black historical celebrations, diversity and cultural competency training, and recurring town hall meetings on anti-Black racism. Undoing racism inherent in the function of our institutions requires that we understand and confront the harms that our systems create. Accordingly, we seek transparency from the Northeastern University Police Department.

The most impressionable time for a student is during their years of mandatory education. These years should be centered and catered towards providing the absolute best educational experience that is based on accurate, factual information in a safe and comfortable learning environment. This cannot be accomplished with the use of police on campus and anti-Blackness systemically perpetuated in the curriculum. The removal of police officers from campus as well as reformed curriculum that addresses racism in its actuality will foster the growth necessary on FCUSD campuses. For more information, contact us at: Instagram: @genup.fcusd & @cordovahighbsu Facebook: GenUp FCUSD If you have a testimony in regards to your experience with racism, discrimination, or police on campus, don’t hesitate to leave a comment as you sign the petition.

On January 19th our Love Without Reason (LaRayia’s Bodega) Community was heart broken to discover 3 year old Talia Cook, (known to our community as Bodega Baby T) was brutally murdered while in the care of Loraine Washington who is free walking the streets of Downtown Los Angeles. We are demanding that the department of mental health bring resources to this case, by placing Loriane Washington in a facility for treatment. Since the event, the police had questioned her, received multiple stories from what happened to Talia, shortly afterward they released her. She is a mother of three, not only does this put her children at risk, it’s also putting people experiencing homelessness and the rest of society in jeopardy.

On December 14, 2019, 22 year old FAMU student, Jamee Johnson, was wrongfully murdered by Officer Josue Garriga. Officer Garigga was protected by the "blue code of silence". A culture that the Fraternal Order of the Police promotes. He was not required to give a statement until seven months after the incident and now his actions have been deemed justifiable by the Attorney's Office Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida. 20 days after Jamee's Murder, the Jacksonville Police Union filed a lawsuit against the Jacksonville Sheriff. The lawsuit asked the courts to decide if officers' names are related when they are "victims" of a crime. “Whether it’s an officer-involved shooting, whether you’re attacked by a suspect, whatever it is that caused you to be a victim of a crime while you’re working, Marsy’s Law- in our opinion- should apply,” says, Steve Zona, President of the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police. Zona also stated that the release of J. Garigga's name, the murderer of Jamee Johnson, was in fact, wrong. This is in claim that the releasing of the names of the officers involved in deaths is a violation of Marsy’s Law, which protects crime victims and their privacy. Police unions grants officers impunity which is detrimental to black and brown communities. Police officers our able to get away with murdering the innocent sons and daughters of BIPOC. The FOP claims that the police officers who use lethal force are the victims of a crime. Police officers who use lethal force unwarranted are not victims, the people on the receiving end of the unwarranted lethal force are. The FOP lobbies for and protects police officers who commit crimes, whether that crime is murder, rape, or domestic abuse. The FOP violates the rule of law, under which all persons, institutions, and entities are accountable to laws. The FOP protects the police first and the people second. No one is above the law, not even police officers and they should be held accountable, fired, tried, and jailed for their crimes. We are calling for the abolishment of the Fraternal Order of Police here in Jacksonville and we need the support of the community to create a safe city for black and brown people.

Sign this petition if you support Black and brown students and want to be on the RIGHT side of history.

MDCPS is the nation's fourth largest school board district, with over 350,000 students, and is the largest employer in the county. In the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis, we all know public schools will be one of the worst hit, with severe budget cuts concurrent with over-policing policies. Join Power U in demanding that schools be sites of support and holistic student development.

During our council meeting on 6/22/2020, many concerned residents commented that the city council needs to reconsider their proposed budget for The Bell Gardens Police Department. However, individuals who oppose the defunding of BGPD created a petition that was not representative of our community’s needs and concerns. Their petition received a mere twenty signatures. A problem expressed via their petition was that the Police Explorers program would be heavily impacted. However, this program receives only four-thousand dollars (to pay salaries for police officers) of the BGPD’s 15 million dollar budget. The program depends on extensive fundraisers, NOT the police budget. If funds were reasonably invested, we would be able to fund many community programs that offer a space for youth development. This petition is meant to demonstrate to the city council that many Bell Gardens residents do not support a budget that allocates 53% of our funds to BGPD. Many residents believe that we should divest (incrementally remove funding from the police budget) in our police department and invest into other resources in our community. This petition will record Bell Gardens’ community members responses to our proposed city budget and alternatives to funding.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office currently has 40% of Jacksonville's budget and yet only 31.5% of homicides are solved. We demand a people's budget to create a more equitable allocation of funds. For these reasons as well as transparency, and accountability we are demanding community control of the police, complete transparency and full accountability in investigations. This means immediate release of body cam footage and jailing killer cops.