Dear Senator [FIRST1 LAST1] and [FIRST2 LAST2], My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE], and I am writing to urge you to support S.1897, the Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015. I know this bill has the potential to save not only my life, but also those of my family, friends, and neighbors. Senators, my entire community can benefit from this bill, which is why I cannot overstate its importance. The bill, as drafted by the National Bar Association and supported by the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., will help to prevent some of the unnecessary confrontations that occur when unarmed citizens- both Black and white- are being detained and arrested by law enforcement officers. While some have labeled these unfortunate encounters “Blue on Black Crimes”, and point to UVA student Martese Johnson as an example, facts demonstrate that around the country many whites and Hispanics have also encounter such incidents. The death of John Geer in Fairfax is one that is noted. These senseless deaths and encounters must stop. [THESE EXAMPLES ARE FROM VIRGINIA DISCUSS LOCAL EXAMPLES] Between 2003 and 2009, 4,813 people died while in police custody or in the process of being arrested. [1] Proportionally, African-Americans and other minorities take a heavy toll in many of these incidents. However, it should be noted that whites too experience ill consequences while being arrested and are at risk of losing their lives. Deaths in the hands of law enforcement during the aforementioned time period totaled 2,026. [CLARIFY STATISTIC] In a study done in California in 2012, body cameras resulted in a 60% reduction in use of force, and an 88% decline in the number of complaints against officers. In closing, I urge you to support this legislation and to bring the powers of your office to bear. With your help, we can end this senseless violence and death at the hand of law enforcement. Our society and our judicial community is better than this and we must work together to end this vicious cycle of violence. Our communities are begging for your assistance. [1] Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Dear Senator [FIRST1 LAST1] and [FIRST2 LAST2], My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE], and I am writing to urge you to support S.1897, the Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015. I know this bill has the potential to save not only my life, but also those of my family, friends, and neighbors. Senators, my entire community can benefit from this bill, which is why I cannot overstate its importance. The bill, as drafted by the National Bar Association and supported by the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., will help to prevent some of the unnecessary confrontations that occur when unarmed citizens- both Black and white- are being detained and arrested by law enforcement officers. While some have labeled these unfortunate encounters “Blue on Black Crimes”, and point to UVA student Martese Johnson as an example, facts demonstrate that around the country many whites and Hispanics have also encounter such incidents. The death of John Geer in Fairfax is one that is noted. These senseless deaths and encounters must stop. [THESE EXAMPLES ARE FROM VIRGINIA DISCUSS LOCAL EXAMPLES] Between 2003 and 2009, 4,813 people died while in police custody or in the process of being arrested. [1] Proportionally, African-Americans and other minorities take a heavy toll in many of these incidents. However, it should be noted that whites too experience ill consequences while being arrested and are at risk of losing their lives. Deaths in the hands of law enforcement during the aforementioned time period totaled 2,026. [CLARIFY STATISTIC] In a study done in California in 2012, body cameras resulted in a 60% reduction in use of force, and an 88% decline in the number of complaints against officers. In closing, I urge you to support this legislation and to bring the powers of your office to bear. With your help, we can end this senseless violence and death at the hand of law enforcement. Our society and our judicial community is better than this and we must work together to end this vicious cycle of violence. Our communities are begging for your assistance. [1] Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Dear Senator [FIRST1 LAST1] and [FIRST2 LAST2], My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE], and I am writing to urge you to support S.1897, the Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015. I know this bill has the potential to save not only my life, but also those of my family, friends, and neighbors. Senators, my entire community can benefit from this bill, which is why I cannot overstate its importance. The bill, as drafted by the National Bar Association and supported by the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., will help to prevent some of the unnecessary confrontations that occur when unarmed citizens- both Black and white- are being detained and arrested by law enforcement officers. While some have labeled these unfortunate encounters “Blue on Black Crimes”, and point to UVA student Martese Johnson as an example, facts demonstrate that around the country many whites and Hispanics have also encounter such incidents. The death of John Geer in Fairfax is one that is noted. These senseless deaths and encounters must stop. [THESE EXAMPLES ARE FROM VIRGINIA DISCUSS LOCAL EXAMPLES] Between 2003 and 2009, 4,813 people died while in police custody or in the process of being arrested. [1] Proportionally, African-Americans and other minorities take a heavy toll in many of these incidents. However, it should be noted that whites too experience ill consequences while being arrested and are at risk of losing their lives. Deaths in the hands of law enforcement during the aforementioned time period totaled 2,026. [CLARIFY STATISTIC] In a study done in California in 2012, body cameras resulted in a 60% reduction in use of force, and an 88% decline in the number of complaints against officers. In closing, I urge you to support this legislation and to bring the powers of your office to bear. With your help, we can end this senseless violence and death at the hand of law enforcement. Our society and our judicial community is better than this and we must work together to end this vicious cycle of violence. Our communities are begging for your assistance. [1] Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Dear Senator [FIRST1 LAST1] and [FIRST2 LAST2], My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE], and I am writing to urge you to support S.1897, the Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015. I know this bill has the potential to save not only my life, but also those of my family, friends, and neighbors. Senators, my entire community can benefit from this bill, which is why I cannot overstate its importance. The bill, as drafted by the National Bar Association and supported by the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., will help to prevent some of the unnecessary confrontations that occur when unarmed citizens- both Black and white- are being detained and arrested by law enforcement officers. While some have labeled these unfortunate encounters “Blue on Black Crimes”, and point to UVA student Martese Johnson as an example, facts demonstrate that around the country many whites and Hispanics have also encounter such incidents. The death of John Geer in Fairfax is one that is noted. These senseless deaths and encounters must stop. [THESE EXAMPLES ARE FROM VIRGINIA DISCUSS LOCAL EXAMPLES] Between 2003 and 2009, 4,813 people died while in police custody or in the process of being arrested. [1] Proportionally, African-Americans and other minorities take a heavy toll in many of these incidents. However, it should be noted that whites too experience ill consequences while being arrested and are at risk of losing their lives. Deaths in the hands of law enforcement during the aforementioned time period totaled 2,026. [CLARIFY STATISTIC] In a study done in California in 2012, body cameras resulted in a 60% reduction in use of force, and an 88% decline in the number of complaints against officers. In closing, I urge you to support this legislation and to bring the powers of your office to bear. With your help, we can end this senseless violence and death at the hand of law enforcement. Our society and our judicial community is better than this and we must work together to end this vicious cycle of violence. Our communities are begging for your assistance. [1] Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Dear Senator [FIRST1 LAST1] and [FIRST2 LAST2], My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE], and I am writing to urge you to support S.1897, the Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015. I know this bill has the potential to save not only my life, but also those of my family, friends, and neighbors. Senators, my entire community can benefit from this bill, which is why I cannot overstate its importance. The bill, as drafted by the National Bar Association and supported by the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., will help to prevent some of the unnecessary confrontations that occur when unarmed citizens- both Black and white- are being detained and arrested by law enforcement officers. While some have labeled these unfortunate encounters “Blue on Black Crimes”, and point to UVA student Martese Johnson as an example, facts demonstrate that around the country many whites and Hispanics have also encounter such incidents. The death of John Geer in Fairfax is one that is noted. These senseless deaths and encounters must stop. [THESE EXAMPLES ARE FROM VIRGINIA DISCUSS LOCAL EXAMPLES] Between 2003 and 2009, 4,813 people died while in police custody or in the process of being arrested. [1] Proportionally, African-Americans and other minorities take a heavy toll in many of these incidents. However, it should be noted that whites too experience ill consequences while being arrested and are at risk of losing their lives. Deaths in the hands of law enforcement during the aforementioned time period totaled 2,026. [CLARIFY STATISTIC] In a study done in California in 2012, body cameras resulted in a 60% reduction in use of force, and an 88% decline in the number of complaints against officers. In closing, I urge you to support this legislation and to bring the powers of your office to bear. With your help, we can end this senseless violence and death at the hand of law enforcement. Our society and our judicial community is better than this and we must work together to end this vicious cycle of violence. Our communities are begging for your assistance. [1] Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Dear Senator [FIRST1 LAST1] and [FIRST2 LAST2], My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE], and I am writing to urge you to support S.1897, the Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015. I know this bill has the potential to save not only my life, but also those of my family, friends, and neighbors. Senators, my entire community can benefit from this bill, which is why I cannot overstate its importance. The bill, as drafted by the National Bar Association and supported by the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., will help to prevent some of the unnecessary confrontations that occur when unarmed citizens- both Black and white- are being detained and arrested by law enforcement officers. While some have labeled these unfortunate encounters “Blue on Black Crimes”, and point to UVA student Martese Johnson as an example, facts demonstrate that around the country many whites and Hispanics have also encounter such incidents. The death of John Geer in Fairfax is one that is noted. These senseless deaths and encounters must stop. [THESE EXAMPLES ARE FROM VIRGINIA DISCUSS LOCAL EXAMPLES] Between 2003 and 2009, 4,813 people died while in police custody or in the process of being arrested. [1] Proportionally, African-Americans and other minorities take a heavy toll in many of these incidents. However, it should be noted that whites too experience ill consequences while being arrested and are at risk of losing their lives. Deaths in the hands of law enforcement during the aforementioned time period totaled 2,026. [CLARIFY STATISTIC] In a study done in California in 2012, body cameras resulted in a 60% reduction in use of force, and an 88% decline in the number of complaints against officers. In closing, I urge you to support this legislation and to bring the powers of your office to bear. With your help, we can end this senseless violence and death at the hand of law enforcement. Our society and our judicial community is better than this and we must work together to end this vicious cycle of violence. Our communities are begging for your assistance. [1] Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Dear Senator [FIRST1 LAST1] and [FIRST2 LAST2], My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE], and I am writing to urge you to support S.1897, the Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015. I know this bill has the potential to save not only my life, but also those of my family, friends, and neighbors. Senators, my entire community can benefit from this bill, which is why I cannot overstate its importance. The bill, as drafted by the National Bar Association and supported by the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., will help to prevent some of the unnecessary confrontations that occur when unarmed citizens- both Black and white- are being detained and arrested by law enforcement officers. While some have labeled these unfortunate encounters “Blue on Black Crimes”, and point to UVA student Martese Johnson as an example, facts demonstrate that around the country many whites and Hispanics have also encounter such incidents. The death of John Geer in Fairfax is one that is noted. These senseless deaths and encounters must stop. [THESE EXAMPLES ARE FROM VIRGINIA DISCUSS LOCAL EXAMPLES] Between 2003 and 2009, 4,813 people died while in police custody or in the process of being arrested. [1] Proportionally, African-Americans and other minorities take a heavy toll in many of these incidents. However, it should be noted that whites too experience ill consequences while being arrested and are at risk of losing their lives. Deaths in the hands of law enforcement during the aforementioned time period totaled 2,026. [CLARIFY STATISTIC] In a study done in California in 2012, body cameras resulted in a 60% reduction in use of force, and an 88% decline in the number of complaints against officers. In closing, I urge you to support this legislation and to bring the powers of your office to bear. With your help, we can end this senseless violence and death at the hand of law enforcement. Our society and our judicial community is better than this and we must work together to end this vicious cycle of violence. Our communities are begging for your assistance. [1] Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Crime in Minnesota is at a 50-year-low. Yet our prison population is at an all-time high after years of unnecessary jail time for victimless crimes through sentencing practices that disproportionately target Black and Native American people. In response to the boom in our prison population, some Minnesota lawmakers have proposed opening a prison in Appleton, Minnesota. Under their current proposal, the prison would line the pockets of Corrections Corporation of America, a for-profit prison company with a long history of abuses. The proposal to allow CCA, whose business model is to profit off of the imprisonment of Black and brown bodies, to operate in Minnesota adds insult to injury. But Minnesota doesn’t need ANY new prisons, whether privately or publicly owned. Minnesota’s systemic imprisonment of Black and brown people is interwoven in every part of our worst-in-the-nation racial disparities. We must address the root causes of poverty and education and policing disparities that result in high rates of imprisonment, as well as access to housing, jobs, and voting rights for people with criminal records. Our tax dollars should be interrupting the cycle of our racial disparities and addressing the root causes, not exacerbating them with more prison beds. The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission has proposed a series of common sense sentencing reforms for low-level drug offenses that will reduce the need for 560 prison beds, and additional sentencing reforms could eliminate the need for hundreds more. The legislature should adopt these reforms and consider this the beginning of a conversation for how we can reduce our prison population, not increase it. Instead of adding new prison beds, the Minnesota legislature must prioritize reducing our prison population and giving our communities the support we need to thrive.

As a young person raised by two civil rights and health advocate parents, I learned that preventing illness saves money for everyone. As we can see from the legislative battles around gun control the congress is not the place to handle this. It is much too serious and too much of a life and death matter to let the political whims of the party shift as we have seen with gun legislation. With a Black infant mortality rate that has remained unchanged for the past 50 years, and with Black children 4 times as likely to be admitted to the hospital for an asthma attack than white children, there are countless, tragic and unnecessary examples that demand that the CDC take serious action on behalf of the 44 million Black people in the United States. Last summer, I wrote a letter to CDC asking their head, Dr. Tom Frieden, to fulfill his own mandate and officially declare racism a public health threat. Their response was disappointing- the Associate Director of Minority Health replied listing the initiatives they have already been doing. But we know that the impact of racism makes this issue much more urgent and requires the CDC to act accordingly. If CDC fulfills its mandate, the estimated $4-10 per dollar spent in preventive health savings over diagnostic and treatment costs can be channeled to develop real world interventions that will save millions of lives. If we display the kind of integrity we promote in other countries, the conditions for Black people in our country will improve significantly. From HIV/ AIDS prevention to unhealthy water in Flint and the ongoing conditions of police violence in the name of "public safety", we can see that current measures are insufficient. Change will begin with the investment of resources into our children; from public education on health disparities to real interventions to create schools, homes and neighborhoods where they can be themselves and be healthy. Because health is the one human need above all factors of greed, shame, fear, competitiveness, etc. the issue of racism's impact on health has roots in every human endeavor from financial to educational; from the religious to the mundane. Add your name: Demand the CDC admit that Racism is a Public Health threat and invest resources and research to address it. We deserve more than to survive – Black health matters and its time there is a real investment in initiatives that make it possible for us all to thrive.

John Crawford was 22 years old when he was shot to death by Beavercreek police officer Sean Williams in a Walmart near Dayton, Ohio when a white customer called 911 on him while in the store. He was holding a toy gun. In Cleveland, Tamir Rice was murdered by police after a neighbor called 911 on him for holding what was “probably a fake gun.” He was only 12 years old. Ohio grand juries declined to indict both of the cops responsible for stealing the young and innocent lives of John and Tamir. And just weeks ago, 35-year-old Kiesha Arrone was shot 15 times by Dayton police because she was seen as a “threat.” This was only months after she was married to her partner in a ceremony that was officiated by Mayor Whaley. No justice has been served. This is what the 9th grade students from the STEM school powerfully uplifted in their artwork, only to be censored by the City. The City’s removal of the student’s artwork from the Dayton Convention Center after only two days on display because it depicts ‘Black Lives Matter’ and remembers the lives lost by police murder is part of a bigger injustice- the persistent anti-Blackness and continued disinvestment of Black communities in Dayton. Dayton is the fourth most segregated city in the state of Ohio. West Dayton, a Black community, has been disinvested from for decades, with no public health facilities and the total absence of economic development as the city allocates ample resources elsewhere. With the history of injustice against Black people in Dayton, it is no surprise that the city has an issue with publically displaying art that asserts Black Lives Matter in the convention center. The city of Dayton has never taken a stand against the state-sanctioned violence, police murder and police brutality of its Black residents. City officials have never stood in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and Racial Justice NOW! The city continues to demonstrate that to them, Black lives don’t matter. These students found a creative and productive way to express their frustration and trauma of seeing these killings happen right in their own communities. We will not stand by and let this happen, we demand their artwork be put back on display and the city works with grassroots organizations like Racial Justice NOW to co-create a community dialogue that encourages students and disenfranchised community members to speak up and actively engage in the decisions that directly impact their lives.

State laws substantially contribute to the overuse of school suspensions and expulsions in Louisiana, where students can be dismissed for a wide range of minor misbehavior and Black students are far more likely to be penalized. In the 2013-2014 school year, 61,201 students, including students in grades pre-kindergarten through 5, were suspended out-of-school. Under current state laws, minor infractions have resulted in children losing a tremendous amount of instructional time and falling behind in their academic progress. School policies on “willful disobedience” are vaguely defined, arbitrarily enforced as a ground for suspension, and disparately used. Black students are suspended at disproportionally higher rate than their white counterparts. Data shows that “willful disobedience” has been used as the reason for 13,535 suspensions in the 2013-2014 school year that includes 8,000 suspensions of children in grades pre-kindergarten to 5. HB 372 solves the problems of excessive, racially disparate, and arbitrary use of student suspension. While disruptive behavior should be addressed, we need to ensure repercussions are the most beneficial and effective for our children. Alternatives, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, are not only more effective discipline methods, but they also result in higher attendance rates, improved student behavior, higher academic performance, and more positive overall school climate.

There are several attempts to suppress the voices of people of color not only in the State of Illinois, but across the country. With a great deal of confusion around registration deadlines, application errors, long lines at polling locations, and other structural failures, millions of eligible voters are not making their voices heard in our democratic process. At Chicago Votes, we organized a group of high school students (on their Spring Break) to travel to Springfield to advocate for AVR. They advocated on behalf of their families and communities who have, on multiple occasions, faced difficulties registering to vote. In addition, many of the students were first-time voters in the Illinois primaries, and despite having all of the appropriate identification needed to register, they were faced with long lines, confusion, and a great deal of frustration. After listening to the students share their stories with the elected officials, one student asked me what keeps me coming back to this work after three years. He asked, “Why voter registration?” Kevin, a middle-aged Black man with a felony, keeps me coming back to this work. Kevin, who stated, “My parole officer told me that I cannot register to vote because I have a felony, and if I do it anyways, I will go back to jail” is the reason. Kevin, who didn’t know that his right to vote was restored upon his release from prison, is the reason why I keep coming back to this work. I am aware that Kevin is one of many eligible voters in Illinois who are not voting due to misinformation. He is the father, uncle, or cousin of a high school student somewhere in Illinois who is excited about the potential of voting, but are told they cannot. If we pass AVR, we will raise the voices and open the doors for people of color who want to participate in our political process, but are constantly faced with barriers every election cycle. HB4208 and SB250 is currently gaining traction in the IL General Assembly by moving through committees. Join me in telling our elected officials that democracy works best when all voices are included, and Automatic Voter Registration is a step in the right direction. Let’s ensure that this bill is introduced on the Senate floor by signing this petition and showing your support!