From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
We are two months into a new year, about three weeks into a new administration, an economic recession, and over a year into what has become one of the most devastating global pandemics of our lifetime. What the past year has shown us is our infrastructures (or lack thereof) in the worst of ways perpetuates inequalities against BIPOC communities (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and people living in low-income areas in every category. This past year has also exposed the harsh realities of another public health crisis that Black, brown, and low income communities have been grappling with for generations, rampant over policing, and police violence that too often goes without recourse.
It’s time to reimagine safety! Tell your legislator to support the BREATHE Act Now at https://action.momsrising.org/sign/BREATHE_Act/!
According to an investigation conducted by NPR and Mapping Police Violence, since 2015, police officers have fatally shot at least 135 unarmed Black men and women nationwide. Many of the officers exhibited a pattern, specifically for some 2-5 shootings, often deadly and with no accountability. At least 75% of the officers were white and there were only 18 days in 2020 where police did not kill someone. EIGHTEEN DAYS! Let that sink in.
Why do officers get a pass when they kill unarmed people? Who holds the police accountable, when they harm communities. These questions are haunting, but force us to reimagine what it means to keep communities, ALL communities safe.
THE BREATHE ACT WAS OUR ANSWER IN 2020 AND STILL IS in 2021: SIGN ON WITH US.
MomsRising stands with the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over 150 Black-led organizations that have come together to move the BREATHE Act [1] forward in 2021. This visionary bill divests our taxpayer dollars from mass incarceration and discriminatory policing and invests in a new vision of public safety—a vision that answers the call to defund the police and allows all communities to finally BREATHE free.
Our list of demands to end the reign of police terror among people of color in this country remain the same.
We demand:
- An end to the criminalization, incarceration, and killing of Black people and people of color — not just individual accountability of officers after a murder, but entire police departments.
- Instead imagine: 911 operators dispatching unarmed mental-health experts instead of police in situations involving behavioral health crises, and callers being allowed to request responders that connect to the gender identity of the person in crisis.
- Divestment from the police and investment in our communities. This means, we are counting on our elected officials across the country to divest away from policing in local budgets and reallocate those resources into healthcare, housing, and education.
- Instead imagine: Easy access to trained, trauma-informed interventionists who can be called on in domestic-violence situations and who are equipped to facilitate long-term safety, healing, and prevention.
- Police-free schools across the country and an end to the use of police officers in public universities.
- Instead imagine: Schools free of police and full of trained counselors and restorative-justice programs, where all our children are kept safe and their needs are met. Additionally, easy access to trained, trauma-informed interventionists who can be called on in domestic-violence situations and who are equipped to facilitate long-term safety, healing, and prevention.
Placing police officers in public schools and our communities doesn’t make them any safer. Oftentimes, as we’ve seen in the cases mentioned above and those not named who fell victim to state police department violent and terroristic practices, when police officers abuse their authority in our communities, we are left to feel vulnerable, unsafe, and/or deceased.
Take action: Sign on and support the BREATHE Act!
All of us at MomsRising believe in the BREATHE Act. It is designed to ensure our political leaders invest in our communities through education, housing, healthcare, mental health services, and continued immediate COVID-19 relief for our communities. This includes the provision of direct cash payments, rent and mortgage cancellation, and cancellation of student and/or medical loans, and other forms of debt and addressing the needs of the people living in low-income communities including but not limited to: youth, elders, immigrants, healthcare workers and other essential workers, people living without shelter, public housing residents, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ and gender nonconforming people, women, informal economy workers (including street vendors, sex workers, canners and others), and the many Americans who have or may become newly unemployed or homeless as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic period.
When our communities needed medical assistance, we were sent police officers. When we needed resources for food, we were sent police officers. When people could no longer afford to pay rent, they were policed instead. Our communities need easily accessible resources and services, not over-policing during a health pandemic. We need YOU to sign onto the BREATHE Act right now.
Here’s what our letter reads:
Dear member of Congress,
We have already imagined what liberated, well-funded, safe, and protected Black and Brown communities look like. Now, it’s time that we take action. COVID-19 exposed our infrastructures (or lack thereof) in the worst of ways. When our communities needed medical assistance, we were sent police officers. When we needed resources for food, we were sent police officers. When people could no longer afford to pay rent, they were policed instead. Our communities need easily accessible resources and services, not over-policing during a health pandemic.
The BREATHE Act will ensure that our political leaders invests in our communities through education, housing, healthcare, mental health services, and address the needs of the people living in low-income communities including but not limited to: youth, elders, immigrants, healthcare workers and other essential workers, people living without shelter, public housing residents, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ and gender nonconforming people, women, informal economy workers, and the many Americans who have or may become newly unemployed or homeless as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Too many Black lives have been lost and finally, we have a federal bill that reflects OUR beliefs, OUR needs, and the future we want to see for OUR communities. We are proud to partner with the Movement for Black Lives to amplify and support the BREATHE Act. We need you to fully support this historic legislation by signing on with us and passing the BREATHE Act!
Finally, we have a federal bill that reflects OUR beliefs, OUR needs, and the future we want to see for OUR communities. We are proud to partner with the Movement for Black Lives to amplify and support the BREATHE Act. This isn’t just for some of us, this is for all of us — sign on and support right now.
References:
[1] “Fatal Police Shootings Of Unarmed Black People Reveal Troubling Patterns”[2] “990 people have been shot and killed by police in the past year“
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