Protest Is a Hack
Protests are doing shit. Whether you are celebrating Independence Day, Pride or Martin Luther King Day, you know that public demonstrations, even riots, have forced change where other means could not. Earlier this week, we told you about five demos that changed history ; today we will talk about what is happening now .
Protests calling for justice have raged across the country, especially in the week and a half since George Floyd was killed at the police station on May 25. See which cities suddenly felt motivated to take action:
- The officer who was kneeling by Floyd was arrested and charged with third-degree murder. He was later charged with second-degree murder, and three other officers involved in the incident were charged with aiding and abetting the murder.
- In Louisville, Kentucky, where police shot Bronna Taylor at her home in March, protests forced the mayor to suspend the hit ban and demand cameras on officers serving a warrant. The FBI has also launched an investigation into her death . (Protests in favor of Breonna Taylor continued until the death of George Floyd.) More recently, the city council has demanded that an investigation be completed within a week.
- The Los Angeles Mayor announced that $ 100 million to $ 150 million will be cut from the police department budget and reallocated between “black and colored communities.”
- New York plans to cut funding for the city’s police department, reportedly in part in response to protests.
- In Minneapolis, institutions, including schools, have severed their ties with the police department, and council members are discussing a complete police replacement for “community-driven, non-violent public safety and outreach.”
- Several schools in Portland, Oregon announced this week that they are severing ties with the police department .
- Somerville, Massachusetts has declared systemic racism a public health and safety emergency and announced upcoming police reforms.
- The Mayor of Washington announced that the city will no longer pay hotel bills to the Utah National Guard . (She also ordered the White House to paint the Black Lives Matters sign on 16th Street.)
- The Mayor of Pittsburgh, PA, announced that the city is implementing all 8 Can’t Wait proposals to reduce police violence. There used to be only four of them.
- The Governor of Richmond, Virginia, announced that the statue of Robert E. Lee would be destroyed , along with several other Confederate monuments.
I know this is only a fraction of the progress that has been made nationwide. What has your city done to work towards reform or abolition of the police force, rejection of racism or the pursuit of justice? Let us know in the comments. It turns out protesting is a trick. But we knew that.