Transcripts For CSPAN Former President Obama Holds Town Hall On Racial Justice Police Reform 20240712

Outrage. Black people are three times more likely to be killed than white people. We can take steps and make reforms to combat Police Violence and systemic racism within enforcement. Together we can work to redefine look safety so it recognizes the humanity and dignity of every person. This townhome is part of an ongoing my brothers keeper series. It was launched by president obama in 2014 after the tragic killing of trayvon martin. The president called on america and everybody to do whatever they could in their power to make sure young men of color new knew that they matter and to reduce the systemic barriers that stand in their way to make sure every young person has every opportunity to reach their dreams. Today, the work of my brothers keeper continues at the Obama Foundation, where we lead a network of more than 250 communities and a massive call to action to businesses, mayors, and other folks across the country. Our mission is to build safe and supportive communities where young boys and men of color are valued and have opportunity. We are excited to have president obama sharing his viewpoints today but i have also gathered a panel of local and National Experts that are fighting on the ground and fighting this fight for many years. Before we start our program today, i want to acknowledge the lives of george, of rihanna, of ahmaud, and others by taking a second moment of silence to remember those lives and reflect. Please join me in a moment of silence. Thank you. We speak their names and hold them in our hearts. It is with their memory that we move ahead in action. It is now my pleasure to start where we should always start, with the future. A young man i had the pleasure to meet in the ohio conference where there was an incredible statewide network of my brothers keeper in ohio. This young man blew us away with his incredible words. He graduated from Fort Hays High School in Columbus Ohio in may, class of 2020. He was a straight a student and member of the National Honors society and student council. Patrick will attend the Ohio State University in the fall and plans to major in criminal justice and criminology. It is my pleasure to introduce this brilliant, bright young man. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am 18 years old and plan to attend the Ohio State University. And this is 2020 quarantine killings. And they ask, how do black boys write about their city . How do we know streets if we dont know uncracked sidewalks . They ask, how do these black boys know anything about their city . How the buildings are sitting on corners where brothers bodies are still learning how to rot. There are small crosses placed in the grass where families cannot afford to bury their loved ones. It reminds my brothers and i we are early graves more than anything else. We call those corners playgrounds. We call those corners the killing fields. We call our bodies bullets even if we were never aimed in the right direction. We call the remnants of our mothers family the diaspora tree. We make a catalog of prayers of broken hands. It we pray for our family tree to make its way back home to this soil. We use our hands to dig the graves we cannot afford. We are farmers of broken, black bodies. We have never known city, never known comfort, never known safe street in any city. We use our feet to walk streets paved by sunlight and ask our shadows if they meant to choose this skin. We make a catalyst of bodies with our dinner menu and we eat with our eyes closed. We are fed lies so easily it tastes like medicine, always conflicted between being black and being peaceful. I wish god could have given us a choice. For years, we were told there was something we need to scrub off this body as if this dirt could go away. Breaking in the field realizes how we can run in the sun. We dont know this city. How we couldnt have gotten a house or a bed when it was first built, when it was first settled, when it was first taken from the indians. We dont know home. We know generations of our people could use these legs, could run miles into the night. Our face is bedazzled with remnants of the stars. We will forever search for our forefathers footsteps. We dont know home. We know run. We know this land has never been ours. We know how to fold ourselves into nothing. We know our sweat and tears. Somehow we make fertilizer from the soil. We know how to make these hands be useful. We are the farmers of every revolution. No country was built without the piling up of dead bodies. This country happens to be where our dead were dragged and hung up. America, the land of the free and home of the brave. We fought and died for that slogan right beside our white brothers. Doesnt that make us worth something . Tonight, a riot is the language of the unheard. I wanted take a second to thank the Obama Foundation for giving me an opportunity to communicate and spread the message. It is my honor to introduce a man who needs no introduction. He is the founder of the my brothers keepers program. He is a father, lawyer, lecturer, community organizer, and so much more. Born and raised in honolulu, hawaii, he is the man who changed america forever. He is none other than the 44th president of the United States of america, president barack obama. President obama thank you. That was unbelievable. And we could not be prouder. You are a hard act to follow. I cant wait to see all the great things that you will be doing in the future. Good afternoon, everybody. All the participants, the panelists. Let me start by just acknowledging that we have seen, in the last several weeks, the last few months, the kind of epic changes and events in our country that are as profound as anything i have seen in our lifetime. I am now a lot older. I will be 59 soon. Let me begin by acknowledging that although all of us have been feeling pain, uncertainty, disruption, some folks have been feeling it more than others. Most of all, the pain experienced by the families of george, breonna, ahmaud, and so others, those we thought about during that moment of silence. And to those families who have been directly affected by tragedy, please know that michelle and i, and the nation, we grieve with the, hold you in our prayers with you, hold you in our prayers. We are committed to the fight of making a more just nation. And we cant forget that even as we are confronting the particular act of violence that led to those losses, our nations and the world are in the midst of a Global Pandemic that has exposed the vulnerability of the health care system, but also the disparate treatment, and as a consequence, the disparate impact that exists in our health care system. The unequal investment and the biases that have led to a disproportionate number of infections and lossoflife in communities of color. In a lot of ways, what has happened over the last several is challenges, structural problems in the United States, have been thrown into high relief. They are the outcomes, not just of the immediate moment in time, but the result of a long history of slavery, jim crow, redlining and institutionalized racism that have too often been the plague, the original sin of our society. And in some ways, as tragic as these last few weeks have been, as difficult, scary, and uncertain as they have been, they have been an Incredible Opportunity for people to be awakened. We can Work Together to tackle them, take them on, and change america to make it live up to its highest ideals. Part of what has made me so hopeful is the fact that so many young people have been galvanized, activated, and mobilized. Because historically, so much of the progress we have made in our society has been because of young people. Dr. King was a young man when he got involved. Cesar chavez was a young man. Malcolm x was a young man. The leaders of the feminist movement were young people. The leaders of Union Movements were young people. The leaders of the Environmental Movement in this country and the movement to make sure the Lgbt Community finally had a voice and was represented were young people. When sometimes i feel despair, i see what is happening with young people across the country and the talent, voice, and sophistication that they are displaying. It makes me feel optimistic. It makes me feel as if this country is going to get better. I want to speak directly to the young men and women of color in this country who have witnessed too much violence and too much death. And too often, some of that violence comes from folks that are supposed to be serving and protecting you. I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your lives matter. That your dreams matter. When i go home and look at the faces of my dollars of my daughters and nephews and nieces, i see limitless potential that should flourish and thrive. You should be able to learn and make mistakes without having to worry about what will happen when you walk to the store or go for a jog or drive down the street or looking at some birds in the park. Feele that you also hopeful, even though you may feel angry, because you have the power to make things better and you have helped to make the entire country feel as if this is something that has to change. You have communicated a sense of andncy that is as powerful transformative as anything i have seen in recent years. I want to acknowledge the folks in Law Enforcement that share the goals of reimagining policing. There are folks out there that took their oath to serve your communities and your countries, have a tough job, and i know you are just as outraged about the tragedies in recent weeks as are many of the protesters. And so we are grateful for the vast majority of you who protect and serve. I have been heartened to see those in Law Enforcement who recognized let me march along with these protesters. Let me stand sidebyside and recognize i want to be part of the solution. Restraintowed volunteered, engaged, and listened. You are a vital part of the conversation. And change is going to require everybodys participation. When i was in office, i created a task force on 21st Century Policing in the wake of the tragic killing of michael brown. That task force which included Law Enforcement, community leaders, and activists was charged to develop a very specific set of recommendations to strengthen public trust and foster better working relationships between Law Enforcement and communities they are supposed to protect, even as they are continuing to promote effective crime reduction. That report showcased a range of solutions and strategies that were proven and based on data and research to improve Community Policing and collect better data. Report and identify and do something about implicit bias and how police were trained and reforms to use the force that Police Deploy in ways that increase safety rather than precipitate tragedy. That report demonstrated something critical for us today. Most of the reforms that are needed to prevent of the type of violence and injustices we have seen take place at the local level. Reform has to take place in more than 19,000 american municipalities. More than 18,000 local enforcement jurisdictions. As activists and everyday citizens raise their voices, we have to be clear about where change is going to happen and how we can bring about that change. It is mayors and county executives that appoint most Police Chiefs and complete bargaining organizations. That determines Police Practices in local communities. It is district attorneys and states attorneys that decide whether or not to ultimately charge those involved in Police Misconduct. Are policeces, there Community Review boards. Those oftentimes may be elected as well. The bottom line is i have been hearing a little bit of chatter on the internet about voting versus protest. Politics and participation versus civil disobedience and direct action. This is not an either or. This is both to bring about real change. We have to highlight a problem and to make people in power uncomfortable. But we also have to translate that into Practical Solutions implementedt can be and we can monitor and make sure we are following our heart. Very quickly. Let me just close with a couple of specific things. What can we do . Number one, there are specific evidencebased reforms that if we put in place today, would build trust, save lives, would not show an increase in crime. Those were included in the 21st Century Policing Task Force Report. You can find it on obama. Org. Two, a lot of mayors and local officials read and supported the itk force report, but wasnt followed. I am urging every mayor in this country to review your use of force policies with members of your community and commit to report on planned reforms. What are the specific steps you can take. I should add the original Task Force Report was done several years ago. Since then, we have collected data, in part because we have implemented some of these reform ideas. We have more data as to what works. There are organizations Like Campaign zero and color of change that are out there highlighting what the data shows. What works and what doesnt in terms of reducing incidents of Police Misconduct and violence. Lets go ahead and start implementing those. We need mayors, county executives, others in positions of power to say that this is a priority. This is a specific response. Number three, every city in this country should be a my brothers keeper community. We are working to reduce the barriers and expand opportunity for boys and young men of color and standing up for Public Private partnershipss. Go to our website. It can make a difference. Let me close by saying this. I have heard some people say that you have a pandemic, then you have these protests. This reminds people of the 1960s and the chaos, the discord and distrust throughout the country. I have to tell you, although i was very young when you had riots and protests, assassinations and discord back in the 1960s. I know enough about that history to say that there is something different. You look at those protests. That was a far more representative crosssection of america out on the streets peacefully protesting. And who felt moved to do something because of the injustices they have seen. That did not exist back in the 1960s. That kind of broad coalition. The fact that recent surveys have shown that despite some protests having been marred by the actions of some, a tiny minority that engaged in violence as usual, it got a lot of attention and focus. Despite all of that, majority of Americans Still think the protests were justified. That would not have existed 30, 40, 50 years ago. There is a change in mindset that is taking place. A greater recognition that we can do better. That is not as a consequence of speeches by politicians. That is not the result of spotlights in news articles. That is a direct result of the activities, organizing, and mobilization and engagement of so many young people across the country who put themselves on the line to make a difference. So i just have to say thank you to them for helping bring about this moment. Make sure that we now follow through. At some point, attention moves away. At some point, protest start to dwindle in size. It is important for us to take the momentum that has been created as a society and as a country and say, lets use this to finally have an impact. Thank you, everybody. Im proud of you guys. And i know that we will be hearing from a bunch of people who have been on the frontlines of this that know a lot more than i do about it. I am proud of you. Thank you, mr. President. For everyone watching, the president decided he wanted to stay and be part of the conversation led by Brittany Cunningham with the attorney general and other leaders. Before we go to that section, i want to reiterate the pledge the president mentioned. If you are a mayor, go to obama. Org and take this pledge. I went to announce several mayors have said sign me up first. They have already taken a pledge. Mayor de blasio of new york, mayor lightfoot of chicago, the mayors of minneapolis, d. C. , san francisco, and atlanta. They are all my brothers keeper communities as well. We will be posting all the cities and the mayors that take the pledge. In 90 days, we will publicly report who has taken the pledge and the work happening to create lasting change in communities. It is my pleasure to introduce a friend, activist, educator, an nbc and msnbc news contributor. A lifelong activist after the ferguson uprising. A policy platform to end police pod savend cohost of the people. Obamas part of the task force on 21st Century Policing. She released an Advocacy Campaign to push mayors across the country to adopt use of force policies that can reduce Police Violence by upwards of 70 . Conversationhis with president obama and other leaders, please welcome britney coming him. Thank you for gathering this conversation in this moment of intense grief, but hopefully intense purpose. We are here to talk, to have a family conversation. You may be watching this because you are experiencing that grief and you need a community in which to do that. You are we can hold you up to the light. You might be here because like me, you are girded in the strength of your ancestry. You are from a people that did far more with far less. However you have come here, we are glad you are here. We are here to get honest, to get clear, most importantly to get to work, so even the heartening moments of seeing people raise their voices and in the moments where a Police Officer might take a knee, that momentary action might turn into true, systemic, and lasting change. We have so many brilliant voices that have been gathered. As we listen to these guests, we will better understand how we got to this moment and how we seize our own power. I want to lift up the names of the people that brought us here. It was not just the president , the we are grateful. It was george floyd, a father in minneapolis. It was breonna taylor, a lifesaving emt. It was shawn reed, friend and brother in indianapolis. It was a black trans man who loved life in tallahassee, florida. Though it wasnt from an officers bullet, we are having this conversation in the shadow of ahmaud arbery, and two other black trans men who were killed. Frankly, there are too many names to list, because as the president has said, we have been at this for a long time. Attorney general holder, i want to start with you. I was raised to be an activist. If you asked my mom, this is the only life i have ever known. I came into the work specifically of fighting against the surge of violence as it relates to systemic racism when mike brown was killed in ferguson, missouri. You came to ferguson. As you know, there were literally thousands of brave and mighty protesters like the ones we are seeing right now. Those protest organizers were on the ground, making the entire world pay attention. I want to know what you learned from those grassroots activists. What have you carried from those conversations in ferguson with you through to the work then and are doing now . President thank you obama for convening us today. I remember back in 2014, meeting with the president. We were on vacation and talking about whether i should go to ferguson. I did not know how people would react to my presence. We made the determination that i would go. The thing that struck me the most, a few things really got me. There were young people who were there and unbelievably impressive and in a lot of ways directing the action that you saw. You saw a community and anguish. There was a commonality in regards to the things they were concerned about. I was struck about how people talk about the way people of color were consistently unfairly treated by the system. There was a genuine desire to make things better. It was not complaining. There was a genuine desire to make things better. Saw,t heartened by what i both in terms of the reaction i left with theo notion that if we invested some time, if we invested some federal resources, we would be in a position, using the great toders, those young people, make life in ferguson better and example in the rest of the country. As the president reminded us, this is not an either or question. One of my favorite things to remind people is that it is not about policy or protest, this is about policy and protest. We know that dr. King and so many others taught us that protest is what creates pressure so that policy can get passed. Similarly, we are in a longterm game and a shortterm game. While we are dealing with radical imagination and figuring reimagining what Public Safety can look like beyond police, we have to make sure people are safe now. In your role as attorney general, you did a lot of that work in addressing peoples safety. Can you tell us what you have learned that was instructive for this moment, particularly as you onceed in consent decrees uprising all over the country when you were still in office . Mr. Holder one of the key things that people need to understand is that there is not a tension between having justice, fair treatment, and Public Safety. You can keep people safe and also have a better, more equitable criminal Justice System. Im not going to get too boastful here, but for the first time in 40 years during the Obama Administration, we reduced the number of people incarcerated in the federal system and also lowered the crime rate. There is not that tension. You can make things better in terms of community and Police Relationships and keep people safe at the same time. We tried to come up with ways in which we could look at what we thought were the problems in the criminal Justice System, address those, involve the community in those efforts, engage Law Enforcement in those efforts, bring them together that they can get to know each other and understand how difficult it is to be a Police Officer. Understand how communities of color have had to deal with unfair Law Enforcement practices over the years. Bring people together. It was through those kinds of meetings we were able to formula the policies that led to the 21st century proposals and other things we did, pattern and practice investigations, using the power that we had under the civil rights statutes. It was, for me, the highlight of my time as attorney general. Given the opportunity to get into communities and affect positive change, to bring and establish relationships between people and Law Enforcement and people in communities of color. That is, in some ways, what im most proud of. I think it laid the foundation for future work. Young people, that is our audience today. Young people were critically involved in the work we did, starting in ferguson and other parts of the country. I want to ask you one more question before i move on. WeCampaign Zero, we believe can live in a world where police dont kill people. Police trying to engage, imagine what communities look like beyond police, looking at a moment where we dont have traditional systems because communities are so healthy from the ground up. When you think about your most radical imagination for where we can get to as a community and as a people, what is that dream . Mr. Holder that is an interesting one. My dream is that we would get to a place where people are judged on their individual deeds, their individual characteristics and we dont stereotype people. Thats not only with regard to how we do things in the criminal Justice System. We make a mistake if we think the criminal Justice System exists separate from the greater society. The issues that we face in the criminal Justice System, inappropriate use of force, implicit violence, a range of things those grow out of the same kinds of problems that we see in larger society. We have to deal with problems that are more systemic. Thats if we want to deal and be effective bringing about needed change with regard to the criminal Justice System. I would hope that we get to a place where discrimination is no longer a factor in the lives of people of color, that their treatment would be something to be expected. Stereotypes born in slavery, the notion that in order to enslave a people, you have to think that they were in some ways inferior. Those attitudes may not be as explicit as they once were. They still are part of the american psyche implicitly. I would like to erase those feelings and base policy on realworld experiences and the reality of this nation as opposed to the stereotypes. Iswhat i hear you saying being able to live is not having a radical idea and what everybody is owed. Thank you so much for joining us. I want to move now to philippe cunningham, a councilman from the city of minneapolis, where so much of this is centered. Minneapolis is ground zero in so many ways, as it was home to george floyd and his family. I have so many questions for you. First i want to know how you are doing. What is happening on the ground in minneapolis . I see my friend deion jones peacefully protesting in los angeles when he was hit with a rubber bullet. We have seen so many images of that kind of unnecessary confrontation. And a lot of them, unfortunately, are coming from minneapolis. How is home . What to we outside of minneapolis need to understand about what is going on on the ground . Thank you for having me. Thank you for the question. I want to start off with naming i am here today because of the strength of my ancestors and elders that came before me fighting the fight to make my existence and work as an elected official possible. On the ground in minneapolis, folks are mobilizing on a scale we have never seen before. And a Diverse Coalition of folks is emerging, demanding justice. Not only for george floyd, but justice in how the city of minneapolis protects its residents. What we are seeing right now from folks on the ground in minneapolis and across the country is generations of trauma violence as the bestowed on the black community and disinvestment in the black community by the state at every single level of government. I will add as a black queer transgender man, i have lived the trauma and the trauma i have to carry around experiencing and witnessing state sanctioned violence as well as generational trauma of my ancestors who have survived slavery. Seeing all of this, layering it on. Been ground zero in minneapolis. We are an incredibly progressive city. At the same time, we are also the city that has the most significant Racial Disparities between white and black folks in the entire country across every indicator of quality of life. This has just been boiling under the surface. I have been in office for 2. 5 years. Within my first two years, i had to deal with three officerinvolved shooting deaths in my ward alone, including one that was suicide by cop. The trauma from those incidents doesnt just dissipate because the legal system deemed their deaths justified. The evidence is clear overall. President obama spoke to the data we are starting to see. Policing, criminalization, and mass incarceration have not kept our communities safer. People getting caught in the criminal Justice System further disenfranchises black and brown cycle thus triggering a of involvement in the criminal Justice System that is often passed intergenerationally. People are saying enough is enough. And our system is obviously broken. It is time for a new system of Public Safety in our city. Over the years we have heard from folks who believe the solution is simply adding more Police Officers. We heard from folks who are reformers that want to advocate for incremental change. Those voices now are waning because our city has seen we have the ability to keep ourselves safe and our community safe. You ask how i am doing i am a little bit tired because i have been up all night with my community, organizing my community closely with folks on the ground because the Minneapolis Police department and National Guard we are showing up to protect our homes and small businesses. We are seeing largescale protests right now. The protests and riots in south minneapolis, we see that. But in north minneapolis, the historically black community in minneapolis that i represent, it with far right wing groups burning down blackowned businesses. We have come together to protect our own community. It is time to systematize Community Led strategy and make it sustainable. I couldnt agree with you more on all of it. I want to hold space for the intersections of your identities and the way that systems particularly impact you and other folks in the community because it is such a critical part of the conversation. We cant allow it to be erased. Secondly i want to acknowledge and agree with everything you said about the fact that we save us and we continue to save us. We can imagine this beyond our traditional system and figure out how we protect one another and build up Strong Communities from the ground up. We are more than capable, no matter what anyone else says. That is what i want to ask you about. As an elected official, youre playing the role in a traditional system, but have a radical imagination about what is possible. We know that budget is a moral document. As cities are investing in cities, they are divesting from housing, jobs, things that keep people well and keep their needs met. How are you thinking about the demands coming from grassroots activists and enacting the most evenive and bold though we said earlier those are people should just received how are you making sure everyone is not just living in a liberal city, but an equitable city . Thank you for framing it that way. When i talk about the work that needs to be done, a lot of Reform Efforts that have been implemented, we have tremendous leadership from our former minneapolis mayor who came into office unabashedly demanding overhauls in the Minneapolis Police department. She appointed the First Woman Police chief who is native in the first lgbt police chief. Every officer is receiving procedural justice and antibias training. A Community Engagement team was created. She appointed our citys First Black Police chief. Even with all of that work, many officers have been in all but open revolt against these efforts with their grievances being aired by the police federation. When we take a step back and look at the big picture about what does it mean to keep our community safe, we have to be thinking about it from a different frame and a different paradigm. We know the system of policing is founded on and rooted in white supremacy. A history of slave catching. To do this work of reforming the culture and institution of policing overall, we have to get serious about investing in new alternative systems and Public Safety rooted in justice and our community. We have a paradigm for this. It is the Public Health approach to Public Safety. Thinking about violence as a disease that spreads, it spreads interpersonally and intergenerationally. There are evidencebased strategies. We in minneapolis has been working with John Jay College as well as their National Network for safe communities and cities united. We have been working together to really institutionalize this opportunity. I have been a tireless advocate for violence prevention and intervention efforts. We have created, in late 2018, the office of violence prevention through city ordinance. We institutionalized a new system. But that only goes so far. We need money to go into that. That is where the budget as a moral document comes in. There is always political will to put money into the Police Budget. The Police Budget in minneapolis is almost 200 million. We approved last year a budget of 1. 6 billion. They take up a huge chunk. I had to fight relentlessly to get 50,000 for a Domestic Violence Intervention Program strategy for us to implement, despite the fact that in minneapolis, the number one reason for 911 initiated police calls for service is because of domestic assault. We are not successfully getting to the root of these issues. Having a systemic institutionalized approach that investsnity led, that in communities with intervention, thinking about employment, tr aining, education, that is what true comprehensive Public Safety is. What would it look like to have a future without police . What does it look like to not need police and work backwards from there. I used to be a teacher, so backwards planning from Everything Possible is my jam. Its my favorite thing to do. I am glad you helped root us in the concept of radical imagination and action toward that. There are things that have to happen in the short term. Need are investments that to be made. You, i want to ask, what should we do about the grassroots demands as we are attempting to be supportive of what is happening on the ground there. What should we be lifting up in the shortterm, longterm, and everything in between to get to that place of its comp reactive Community Safety that needs to include not just safety, but culture and investment . I too was a teacher. I was a special Education Teacher on the south side of chicago, so the backwards planning is a good thing. [laughter] what we need in terms of support in minneapolis is for folks to keep an eye on us and be able to hold us accountable. There is real momentum here. Since i have been in office, i , the way weo many solve this problem is just add implemente, or if we specific reforms, bodycams, diversifying the police department, antibias training, those sort of reforms, then we will see the outcomes. We need to dig deeper into it. We have seen a groundswell of demand in minneapolis to defund the police. These folks are the ones who are transformation oriented. Minneapolis, the public and political will are very concentrated at this point in transformational change. Things have changed in who is elected office here. I am not the only black trans person on minneapolis city council. A lot of folks dont realize that. My sister, the Council Vice President , is also on the minneapolis city council. She is a powerhouse. Really opened the possibility when we all Work Together. Into it. Arting to dive the Minnesota Department of human rights has opened an investigation for the last 10 years for systemic racial discrimination. Folkse need now is for outside minneapolis to keep an eye on what is going on and to invest in the folks that are on the ground and have been doing this work for years and years. And also to push folks on the ground to make their voices heard. That is one of the biggest things i hear the most from folks who simply want more police. I have been labeled soft on crime because i advocate for a comprehensive approach to Public Safety. We need folks who believe in transformational change and in order to get there we need folksvoices to be heard. We have already begun to see the seeds of so much of that transformation right there in your hometown due to leadership of so many others. We saw the first black woman president of the university of minnesota got them to stop contracting with the police force. As a former teacher i am always like, yes, it is about time we make schools safe for young people. That does not mean more police. Thank you so much, not just for this conversation, but your continued action in the role you are playing. I will come lastly to my good friend and partner rishaad robinson, who is the president of color of change. We have been on the phone a lot in the last few weeks. You are always thinking so critically about how we ensure that the local conversations that councilman cunningham just talked about are upheld at the National Level and that everyone is doing our part. I always say we dont have saviors, we build teams. That is how we get the work done in the community. That is the work color of change has done, to give us the opportunity to be on the team. How are you thinking about making sure people understand what their role is on the team . What is the spectrum of demands you are seeing from your members at color of change and you are all exploring as you do this work . Thank you for the question. Thank you president obama and attorney general holder. It is great to be on this conversation, doing work with my brothers keeper. I would say a couple of things. Over the last eight months alone, over 5 Million People have taken action with color of change. Raising their voices online, signing petitions, making phone calls, showing up to rallies. That is important. We want to be able to translate the present of this moment into the ability to actually change the rules. Sometimes those are the written rules of policy, and sometimes those are the unwritten rules of culture. I want to talk about why those are critically important in this moment and why we need strategic action to get things done. Will changel alone systemic racism in the way it impacts our society. Racism is like water pouring over a floor with holes in it, it will find a crack. We have to find out how are we shoring up a system that will have cracks in them and building new systems for the future . On the written rules side, we are focused on how you give people something clear to do. Pushing for justice when Justice Needs to be served, but recognizing we have to move people up the letter of engagement. Ladder of engagement. The longterm goals need to change. When it comes to policing, there is so much that happened at the local level that we have to pay attention. We need to be focusing that energys on local policy, pushing to change local practice. The difference between policy and practice is sometimes we change the law, but we have to change the people who implement those laws. We have got to change all the ways in which money from the federal level incentivizes and deincentivizes different types of action. What we try to do at color of energyis building the and helping to describe for people how to do it. A couple years ago in the height of the work to challenge police biases, we came up against district and state attorneys that we did not have the ability to move. We had 10 petitions or 10,000 petitions or 100,000, they were not nervous about disappointing our community. We recognized we have to help the Community Better understand the role of a district attorney. Build more energy. These are executive level positions that can have large amounts of powerful actions in the criminal justice space. We built a National Database across the country. We worked with folks in hollywood to develop an animated video that describes the role of district attorneys to everyday people so they can understand how they operate. We worked across the movement to get folks from big organizations to grassroot organizations aligned around this clear demand people can take to get talking about treating kids as kids, ending the use of money bail, increasing transparency. All of these things are quickly important to winning justice longterm. We have to change the role of prosecutors. We have to change what the public expects from prosecutors. We have to change the way the public thinks about criminal justice. That leads me to the cultural conversation. For the last 20 years, a couple of blips here and according to pew, americans think Violent Crime has gone up. We have a deep gap between perception and reality. That makes it hard when we are trying to do the critical things the councilman talked about in terms of reducing Police Budgets, making sure we are investing in education and Mental Health and jobs and all of the things we know that communities that have reduced the need for Law Enforcement. They dont need as many police. Because the public has been inundated with images that make us believe that Violent Crime is right around the window. Right around the door. We had to build a program and through our work at changehollywood. Org, we worked with usc to study crime tv shows, and now we are working in writers rooms to push and change the content and storytelling. One of the things we looked at, all of these crime tv shows covered in cities like new york, very diverse on air. Then you look at the writers room, all white, no sort of connection to the community, no skin in the game on the impact of the images that they are portraying, constantly putting black faces on the criminal Justice System, a magical world where black and brown people exist but racism doesnt. We have to work that and change that and part of that activism is the work we have to do. Get to the place where narrative change is enough, for us to achieve the type of policy changes that are needed, we have to change the story. And i want to say far too often we tell a story about back black communities being vulnerable. We will say things like black communities are vulnerable when they have been under attack and black communities have been targeted and have a history of being under invested. All of those things are not about being vulnerable but being on the chopping block. So when we work to change that story, we can accomplish so much more. Brittany i have one very brief question because i know we have to wrap up. People keep asking me this question. I want to ask you and maybe give me some tips, is this moment a game changer . We have been in this work for a while now. Is this moment a Seismic Shift in whats possible where we see ourselves right now . Rashad i think its a great question. We want fast food. We want things that are quick and easy, and progress and justice is not easy. But think about an inflection point. It predicts the possibility for a huge leap forward, and also a threat for us to go backward. I think what we all have to recognize is a lot of things have changed over the last several years. White people in a starbucks take out their cell phones and are filming a Police Interaction that they recognize is wrong because the movement has trained them. A major Financial Company that creates consequences for an employee that does something racist in a park uses the word racism in a statement that we wouldnt imagine them doing it. That doesnt mean we give institutions too much credit but we recognize what we have won along the way and the way in which we have shifted what our demands can be, we shifted what can be possible. I want folks to think that we have been the game changer. The game has continued to change. The deep level of pushback we continue to get from forces shows the power our movement is building. It doesnt mean the progress is a straight line, but i want folks coming into the Movement Thinking they have to put on their armor and join us. Any have to follow institution making change and then they have to add their creativity and interest to what we are doing. But we have been winning and so much reaction to what we are saying is a result of the progress i believe we are making. The pushback would not be so great if the progress was not real. We are the game changer. Thank you so much. We have heard in this conversation that social change, changing communities, having the world we deserve is hard work, but it is necessary work, and we have to be brave enough to imagine what is possible and then go work for it and not just dream it. We also have to be incisive enough to make sure people are safe and whole and healthy now. Live people deserve to because they are human and black people deserve more from america for a lot of reasons, but also because we save it from itself. We deserve to thrive and that means we need we need justice. Lets make sure love is living out loud in public. Mr. President , i have seen your our meetingses in before and i know youre itching to make a statement. Just beena ive enjoying hearing the wisdom being spread so many others. Holder hisive eric props as attorney general. Rightsilt a Civil Division within the justice department. And he was consistently on the ground working with communities, lifting communities, and coming up with Practical Solutions to make things better. I could not prouder of him. Blown away by philippe and the good work he has been doing. A consistenteen warrior for change. He was part of the conversations we had after ferguson. I think you know all that. As i listen, i am feeling once again inspired. And what has particularly inspired me is the degree to which folks are thinking andtegically, practically, at a very detailed level about where are the places where you can make change and what are the upctical solutions, backed by research and data and experience, that allows us to communities that are safe and just. Safe and fair. Safe and nondiscriminatory. That is possible. I think one of the things that the fact thatd is we dont have the capacity to eradicate 400 years of racism in so i hope people dont feel like nothing is going to happen once we figure this out. I have been known to quote dr. , the ark of the universe is bends toward justice. Lastf you have bent it the five, 10 years. We are seeing the degree of awareness that is out there. Think about some of the people who have unequivocally spoken happened inwhat minneapolis. Saw jim i just harbaugh. State we have the ohio contingents. Michiganthe coach of football marching today. That is not something that was happening 5, 6 years ago, although jim i know has been on the right side of the issue for some time. You have unlikely participants because all of you have worked so hard to raise awareness. That is the progress that has been made. It doesnt mean everything has been solved. The only question i think might be worthwhile for me to throw out there, even though i have read enough of the literature to have a pretty good sense of what brittany, will be, you mentioned Campaign Zero has forward we talked about the 21st century Task Force Report. It might useful to take off quickly what are these things theseff quickly what are things that Campaign Zero are promoting. For a lot of people who are watching, they might be surprised that some of these things are practical and could be implemented quickly. Of my headf the top i know we can all focus on because it is so painfully real these last couple of weeks, stranglehold, that is not what we do. You do not need that in order to effectively restrain someone. Me in an executive summary forms of people can hear what the specific things are. Are banning things chokehold and strangleholds, requiring deescalation, first requiring a warning before pulling out a weapon, exhausting all alternatives before that action, the duty of other officers to intervene. Officers cannot just stand there and watch injustice. Banning shooting at moving vehicles. And requiring force to be reported. I want to be clear, together those eight things can reduce Police Violence by upwards of 70 . That does not stand in competition with what police have walked us through. Because we know these things can out an immediately with executive order or act of congress, all america has to do is say im going to change the standards tonight. Do that now and continue to work with your community. We will continue to keep up the pressure, i can promise you that, to make sure we are getting the comprehensive Public Safety solutions that are communitybased and Community Oriented and far beyond anything we are experiencing right now. In competitionnd with imagination, they are necessary steps immediately to keep people safe as we do the hard work. Pres. Obama that is great. Int me just point out my opening remarks, i mentioned that sometimes the tension is posed between political participation and protest. Police are an example of why you have to participate politically. Are on the streets protesting and making demands, having somebody on the city council who can follow up and respond and advocate and pushback, and is in the room when budgets are made, and advising mayors on how they will negotiate the next collective bargaining contract with the police union. In order tose folks ultimately deliver the goods. You know, i am constantly this isof the fact that or thing. Her when rishaad talks about the dr. Ural element of this king, i think somebody mentioned to him, just having an antidiscrimination bill and antilynching will will not minds, no it and wont, but it will stop me from being longed and that is important, too. Again,e important, then the narrative and the story of telling people see me, i am son, this is somebodys this is some buddies uncle. This is what you need to understand about our community. How do we break down stereotypes, as eric holder talked about. That is the work of a lot of you. Some will be protesting, some will be running for office. This week, i reread the fire next time. It is frightening to see how layout adwin can future 50 years ago that sounds like it was written yesterday. That is activision, that his work him about his participation. Activism, that is participation. O the pati we all have a role to play. We have to be practical in the shortterm and visionary in the longterm. With that, i will be quiet. More old need to hear head stuff. But i wanted to say appreciate all of you, and michael, i am assuming the conversation will be michael let me think written a for the masterful moderation and hard work on display. I am going to turn it over to nicole fields, who will take some questions from the community. Not everyone watching has an opportunity to ask questions. But if you are in the community, you do. We will get you out of here by 6 30, everyone. We have been on a while, but we will send resources afterward and we also want to continue the conversation. Nicole, let me bring you want to field those questions. Nicole thank you. Powerful conversations and great questions. If we dont get to your question, dont worry. We will continue the conversation in our google group. A question from one of our young people, directed at councilman cunningham. How has the medias portrayal of her frequent violent riots in minneapolis affected your efforts to protect protesters, activists and elected officials pushing toward a selfsustaining Public Safety system . Thank you for the question. Portrayal of hyper protestson the violent or the violence and rioting happening during the protests really pulls away from what is actually happening. The trauma andof pain and of the reason folks are workn the ground doing the , why we are traumatized as a community, why we are doing this Work Together. For a media is looking sensational story and talking about the approach to Public Safety is not that sexy. It is easier to pick what is happening right now, make that newsworthy. From the voiceng of the folks in the community who have a demand and clear vision. It is pulling away from their these folks have been on the ground nonstop for years. In some cases, decades. I havemake sure been all over the media and i have been fortunate that folks have been reaching out all over the world, and i keep hammering it home Everyone Wants to talk about the riots and violence and everything happening, but i always redirect it back to it is possible for us to build alternative systems to Public Safety outside of policing. Investment,will and and we are already doing it and it works. Trying to constantly bring it back to that i think is what is important, that we have messengers who have a platform to be able to speak that. We have to keep speaking it and not let media distract us from the point, which is justice. Thank you, councilman. Well said. Next folks asked this question. What advice can you give to mayors to honor protester demands, more police accountability, and less racist practices while supporting the police force and maintaining broad Public Confidence . Folks up and asking how we change Accountability Measures while also confronting Police Unions that have invested in election elected officials. Pres. Obama i am going to take a stab at something because i dont think it answers the entire question. When i was in the state ure back in illinois, we passed one of the first if laws dealing with racial profiling at traffic stops. That was no way to get passed without the support of ,he fraternal order of police the primary organization of the Police Unions. Argument was able to that police was officers are going to be safer if there is Greater Trust and less tension. That they will be able to do their jobs better if they have data that has been collected that is clear, and Police Chiefs will be able to manage forces more effectively. They will be less distracted by anngs that dont require armed response, and they can refocus attention in ways that are good for them as well as the community. Time to make that argument, and i am sure there are rankandfile members who did not believe it. Started passed it, we able to collect data on that issue. Able to get them to go along. Responsive the police union is going to be in any circumstance, you have to go city by city. And it is not easy. But i guess the point i am making, and eric holder, if he is still on, might want to chime in. Is policeere leadership that recognizes the need for change, but changing culture is hard. And sometimes the dynamics in the unions themselves are difficult. Sometimes there is a sense of we need to close ranks even though we know some things are messed up. Listen andways to recognize they have a tough job, but also insist that this is what we need to do and we are going to do it. We are going to figure out how to do it. Dialogue toave a find out what specific things are a problem with not having to choke somebody, particularly when they are already in handcuffs. What is it you think is a problem . People toorce articulate what it is they objection to with reasonable demands of the sort that have been outlined, a lot of times they come out empty. But you have to engage in that conversation. I think it is possible to get that done. At the end of the day, if you dont have the political pressure to do it, they will the status because quo always resists without pressure. Thats why it is important both for the protesters and the followup that people like councilman cunningham can apply. Thank you, president obama. The next question. Yonkers, new york. Saysinks our panelists and how do we effectively integrate the generational differences often seen between the Younger Generation and those of us who have been in this fight many decades in such a way that we respect each others ideas and approach it in our respective communities and not diminish the role and will of the other of either . This will have to be the last question. Im going to ask one of our panelists to take that and give us a 90 second response. We are so grateful for the doctor summoning the question, they have been doing good work in yonkers. Who would like to take that question with a Quick Response . I would say this. There is the need for young people to work with people like myself who have some years behind them. The arrogance of youth cannot be the determinate. The arrogance of age cant be the determinant. Theres wisdom through lived experience. Theres idealism that young people possess in abundance. Its a combination of that idealism with that experience that makes the most effective movements. People are older have to understand that young people have always been at the forefront of positive change in the nation. The Founding Fathers were young people. The oldest was george washington, who was only 44 years old. Richard pryor used to say, you dont see many old fools. Young people need to understand that as well. You dont get to be 60, 70, 80 years old without having navigated a whole series of things. Thats worthwhile. As a young person, you might want to test theories. Older people can say, ive experienced this and this is why this will not work. Its a combination of the two. A lack of arrogance on the part of both ultimately can create a coalition that can be successful. Thank you. Mr. President , any final words . Pres. Obama keep working. Stay hopeful. As i said, this is a moment. Weve had moments like this before, where people are paying attention. That doesnt mean that everything will get solved. Dont get disheartened. Its a marathon, not a sprint. The fact that people are paying attention provides an opportunity to educate, activate, mobilize, and act. I hope that we are able to seize this moment. I hope the mayors across the country who have either been watching or hearing about this take that pledge to start immediately implementing steps that can make a difference. I hope all the young people who have been inspired to engage, they keep at it. Thats what ultimately is going to create the kind of country we want. For those who have been talking about protests, remember, this country was founded on protests. Its called the american revolution. Every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom, every expression of our deepest ideals, has been won through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable. We should all be thankful for folks who are willing to come in a peaceful, disciplined way, to be out there making a difference. Thanks, everybody. Im proud of you. I encourage all of you to go to obama. Org. If you are a mayor, take a pledge. If you are looking for places to donate or resources or to join the alliance, go to obama. Org. We will continue to be there for you and with you. We are excited to provide Technical Assistance for you as you think about reading those use of force policies. This is just the beginning of a conversation. We will continue this in many different ways. Be on the lookout for our next town hall that will be coming up as well as other actions. Thank you mr. President , thank you mr. Attorney general, thank you councilman cunningham, thank you brittany and rishaad. Thank you to our communities for the export and rework that you do everyday. Thank you to all of our young men and women for everything that you do. Not just to be the future but to be the change today. Have a great day. President s, available now in paperback and ebook. Presents biographies of every president , organized by ranking from noted historians from best to worst, and features perspectives into the lives of our nations sheath executives and leadership styles. Cspan. Org thepresident s and order your copy today wherever books and ebooks are sold. Washington journal, everyday taking your calls on the air on the news of the day and discussing policy issues that impact you. Sunday morning, a former number of the Obama Administration task force on 21st Century Policing discusses police Reform Efforts in the wake of boyds death. Then, a former Trump Administration Economic Advisor talks about the costs of shutting down the u. S. Economy because of coronavirus. Watch sunday morning. And be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, text messages, and tweets. Join the discussion. On friday, president s Reelection Campaign hosted a Virtual Event targeted at black voters hosted by Katrina Pearson , a Senior Advisor to the trump campaign. Also featured was a Senior Advisor to the Republican National committee, and a democratic Georgia State representative supporting President Trumps reelection. They discussed the political records of President Trump and former Vice President joe biden, including the handling of the economy, women will justice reform, and sentencing laws. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to black voices for trump, real talk. Tonight, we are joined by and aats from georgia, communications advisor. Thank you for joining us tonight. The recent job numbers have exceeded expectations for the month of may and the u. S. Gained over 2. 5 million jobs. That is the largest gain for a single month in our history. Even with half of the country shut down, President Trumps policies are still working. I want to get your reactions to is