The City Council seeks police reform of hiring, firing, and discipline of officers, as well as, the civilian complaint review practices in the Springfield MA Police Department. We want the Mayor to follow the law he is breaking and implement the Citizens Police Commission.

Thousands of us are out of work, thousands of families with medical issues. Please help us.

If people cannot work, they cant afford to pay bills. This crisis could cause people to lose their homes.

Heads up - it just became a lot, lot harder to find out if the police officers in your neighborhood are brutalizing Black and Brown communities. When Jim Kenney was elected mayor, he recognized the lack of trust between communities and their police, in a city with massive over-policing (1) and prosecution of Black and Brown people. So in 2017, he followed the lead of other major cities like Chicago (2) and New York, and signed an executive order mandating that data on police complaints would be published online every month - instead of just available to see in person at the Internal Affairs Bureau of the police department. But news outlet Billy Penn is reporting (3) that the Mayor has removed “grim or embarrassing” reports from the database, and that the database will now strip all identifying information about the offending police from the records, making it all but impossible for neighbors to know what cops are acting out - and for watchdogs and journalists to tell the story of police brutality in Philadelphia. Billy Penn reporters Ryan Briggs and Max Marin provided a harrowing example of the differences between the reports after their whitewashing - a Black man run off his bicycle by plainclothes cops in an unmarked car, then handcuffed and detained for hours before receiving medical treatment. See if you can spot the differences: "The complainant, TW, 36/B/M, states that he was physically abused by Officers W and G, 17th District. According to the complainant, on 5-24-15, at 10:10 PM, he was riding his bicycle near 20th & Wharton Streets when someone called to him from a car. He continued riding his bicycle and was struck him from behind by the vehicle. The complainant was knocked from the bicycle to the ground. He was then handcuffed and searched by the occupants of the vehicle before being transported to the hospital for treatment by two uniformed officers. The complainant maintains he did not know the operators of the vehicle that knocked him from his bicycle were plainclothes officers. He maintains they did not identify themselves to him as police officers, nor was he arrested or charged with a crime in connection with this incident." But after the whitewashing, the complaint looks like this: According to the complainant, on 5-24-15 at 10:10pm, they were physically abused by officers assigned to the 17th District. Summary reports of alleged police abuse in Chicago (4) are far more detailed than either style of report we have in Philly, with reports sorted into categories for analysis by watchdogs, press, and the public. But in Kenney’s new version of summary reports for Philly, we don’t have anything: the initials of the officers, the race of the person the police allegedly knocked off his bike, or any details of the brutal story that lets us even try to hold police accountable. In a city where at least 300 police officers were shown to be putting racist, violent, and homophobic content onto their personal social media feeds (5), we need more public accountability for police and their behavior to Black, Brown, queer, immigrant, and poor people, not less. Sign this petition to Mayor Kenney: move right now to restore all the data to the police accountability database. For more information: (1) “In racially diverse 14th District, Philly police target black drivers 3 times more than whites, analysis shows,” By Bobby Allyn and Maura Ewing, January 11, 2019, WHYY. https://whyy.org/articles/in-racially-diverse-14th-district-philly-police-target-black-drivers-3-times-more-than-whites-analysis-shows/ (2) Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), City of Chicago: Publications. https://www.chicagocopa.org/news-publications/publications/ (3) "After promising increased transparency, Philadelphia is redacting police complaint records." Max Marin and Ryan Briggs, July 26th, 2019, Billy Penn. https://billypenn.com/2019/07/26/after-promising-increased-transparency-philadelphia-is-redacting-police-complaint-records/ (4) COPA: http://copadev.wpengine.com/investigations/how-to-read-a-case-summary-report/, https://www.chicagocopa.org/news-publications/publications/summary-reports/2019-summary-reports/ (5) "13 Philadelphia Officers to Be Fired Over Racist, Violent Facebook Posts," by Alicia Victoria Lozano, July 18th, 2019, NBC 10. https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philadelphia-Police-Officers-Facebook-Posts-512891921.html

Our hearts are heavy. We feel the pain of insult from our own President. In the interest of all our moral and emotional health, we ask you to reserve Presidents’ Day 2018, Monday, February 19, as a National Day of Mourning. We need one another. We need people who profess no particular faith in addition to religious community leaders. They may want to call attention to our psychic need to embrace our sorrow in your services on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Let’s all find time on that Monday to connect with people of all backgrounds, and including the most vulnerable, like Salvadorans and Dreamers, but not only them, because we are all hurting. You may want to share messages that inspire you on social media platforms. Perhaps even more powerful will be inviting people into your home, or creating larger assemblies for the purpose of lament. Let’s all pause at 2PM EST/11AM PST for a collective moment of silence.

Imagine you have worked tirelessly for the creation of a Mississippi Civil Rights Museum for decades and it's finally opening. Imagine you are being honored for your decades of civil rights work, an honor that is long overdue. Imagine that the governor has the audacity to suggest you sit onstage with a President who believes Nazi protesters are "very fine people." Imagine being forced to sit through his bungled speech full of lies and racist language. Close your eyes and picture Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer or Dr. Martin Luther King sitting on stage with Donald Trump. Can you imagine their innermost thoughts? Their level of gut twisting anguish? We can not allow this to happen. Inviting the President to the opening of Mississippi Civil Rights Museum is an insult and affront to those being honored. These heroes fought against hate and for justice and equity in our state. Their families and friends gave their lives in dedication to their belief in equality. Within the walls of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the heroes of a generation are being honored. Heroes who gave their all to further racial progress in Mississippi and our country at large. Fannie Lou Hamer, Hollis Watkins, Jimmie Travis, and many more were beaten and jailed. Many more, men like Vernon Dahmer, Medgar Evers, and Wharlest Jackson lost their lives. Hundreds of everyday people were a part of the historic work that lives on today. They deserve to be honored. The next generation must have a place to preserve this history. To invite a man like Donald Trump to speak, when these icons and forgotten everyday heroes are being honored can only be seen as a classic white supremacy power move akin to raising confederate statues in the city square after reconstruction. Allowing this President to overshadow those who fight for equity and justice screams "Yes, you can have this museum but men like us will always control things." Time and time again, Donald Trump has failed to respect and honor people of color, exhibiting a special disrespect for black people. His political career was built on disrespecting and insulting our first African American President, Barack Obama. From his tone deaf visit to the National African American History Museum to engaging in racist rhetoric while honoring Native American veterans he has repeatedly proven he can not be trusted in people of color centered spaces. Donald Trump demands the attention be on him, distracting from the sacred spaces he has the privilege of occupying. He is supported by many racist groups including the KKK, neo-nazis and white nationalists. All of which show up to support him when he makes appearances. They have no place here. Why would Mississippians want to encourage this bigotry by inviting this man to such a momentous occasion? President Trump's record on human rights, racial justice and equity should, most definitely, exclude him from being included in this opening. Donald Trump should not be who Mississippi wants to be. His ideas are vestiges of the past. He isn't representative of where those of us united for a better Mississippi want to go. Governor Phil Bryant needs to make this right and rescind the invitation he made to President Trump immediately.

Saving the last intact Gullah Geechee Culture on the southeast coast of the Ga barrier islands

On Saturday, August 12th, white nationalists marched through Charlottesville, communities and the University of Virginia campus, rallying around a statue of the Confederacy and carrying torches evoking a history of violent racial terrorism. The next day in Charlottesville they killed in the name of their white supremacist symbols. Protesters were rammed by a car killing someone in a terrorist attack. These symbols were not chosen randomly. Confederate monuments have been erected and remain as a direct rebuke to the recognition of the full humanity of Black people. Confederate monuments were built and given places of honor in public space as gains in this recognition have been made and it is the commitment to the reversal of this recognition of humanity that draws white nationalists to these symbols. These symbols of white supremacy have always been memorials to the cause of slavery and the denial of humanity to Black people. Now they are being weaponized to rally white supremacists. We have the power to diffuse these modern-day lynch mobs by removing these statues altogether, instead of giving white supremacists a rally point. Confederate statues and named institutions are more than mere symbols of a heritage but instead, they are an assertion of the continued imposition of white supremacy and its current political power. Terrorists in Charlottesville understood this and were willing to kill in the name of this, we must be determined to persist in the face of this white supremacist terror. Removing all Confederate statues would be one step among many in sending the message that we are no longer honoring white supremacy at a societal level. We've already many communities take the step to address these monuments in cities like Tampa and New Orleans. Join with me today and pledge to work to remove all Confederate statues or names from our community.

On Saturday, August 12th, white nationalists marched through Charlottesville, communities and the University of Virginia campus, rallying around a statue of the Confederacy and carrying torches evoking a history of violent racial terrorism. The next day in Charlottesville they killed in the name of their white supremacist symbols. Protesters were rammed by a car killing someone in a terrorist attack. These symbols were not chosen randomly. Confederate monuments have been erected and remain as a direct rebuke to the recognition of the full humanity of Black people. Confederate monuments were built and given places of honor in public space as gains in this recognition have been made and it is the commitment to the reversal of this recognition of humanity that draws white nationalists to these symbols. These symbols of white supremacy have always been memorials to the cause of slavery and the denial of humanity to Black people. Now they are being weaponized to rally white supremacists. We have the power to diffuse these modern-day lynch mobs by removing these statues altogether, instead of giving white supremacists a rally point. Confederate statues and named institutions are more than mere symbols of a heritage but instead, they are an assertion of the continued imposition of white supremacy and its current political power. Terrorists in Charlottesville understood this and were willing to kill in the name of this, we must be determined to persist in the face of this white supremacist terror. Removing all Confederate statues would be one step among many in sending the message that we are no longer honoring white supremacy at a societal level. We've already many communities take the step to address these monuments in cities like Tampa and New Orleans. Join with me today and pledge to work to remove all Confederate statues or names from our community.

On June 20, 2017, there will be a runoff election to fill the vacancy in Georgia's 6th Congressional District left when Tom Price was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. We are demanding that the Secretary of State comply with federal law and set the voter registration deadline for no more than 30 days before the runoff election! The voter registration deadline for the April 18th election was March 20th, approximately 30 days from an election, which is in alignment with the National Voting Rights Act. The runoff will be held on June 20th. The NVRA requires the VR deadline to be on or around May 22nd. GA's SOS has set the VR deadline for the June 20th election as March 20th. This means eligible voters in GA's 6th congressional district are blocked for 90 days from registering and participating in an important election. This is what modern-day voter suppression looks like. Setting a VR deadline for 90 days before the election is an attempt to keep the electorate as small as possible. This is not what democracy looks like. As Georgia's "Chief Elections Officer" Secretary Kemp's job is to use his office and the law and technology to remove barriers to voting not construct them! --Update-- Thank you for signing the petition Stop Voter Suppression in GA-6 Congressional District! The relief we sought has been granted. The voter registration deadline has been moved to May 21st at 11:59 pm -- 30 days before the June 20th runoff. This means that tens of thousands of Georgians in the three GA-06 counties will be added to the rolls and the Sixth Congressional District will have the highest registration rates of all of GA's congressional districts. Your support was valuable, and we're going to ask you to remain vigilant with us as we work to ensure that Brian Kemp follow's the orders of the court.

SB 13 is problematic for several reasons: 1) It further criminalizes Black youth by targeting what they wear 2) It intensifies a culture of hostility between law enforcement and Black communities, whereby Black folks are disproportionately targeted, harmed, and killed by police violence 3) It curtails constitutionally-protected free expression rights 4) Lastly, it doesn't include political protest as one of its exceptions At Million Hoodies, we use hoodies strategically for protest around the country. This #HoodieBanBill would not only make it more difficult for us to carry out such protests in the future, but it also reinforces a culture of hostility and discrimination by unjustly targeting harmless fashions associated with Black folks. Join us in demanding that the Oklahoma Senate reject this harmful and unjust #HoodieBanBill!