Of america in shackles. We know we have a long way to go and we are living with the legacy of slavery and jim crow and racial oppression that continues to permeate every aspect of american life. And we have seen that over the last several months in such a stark and striking fashion. The covid19 pandemic, the Public Health crisis and the economic crisis, has impacted everyone, but disproportionately impacted the africanamerican. Ommunity in terms of pain, in terms of suffering, in terms of economic. Islocation, in terms of death and then, of course, were dealing with the continued epidemic, at the same time, of Police Violence, Police Brutality, police abuse. All across the land. Every aspect of our lives. Shopping while black. George floyd. Sleeping while black. Breonna taylor. Jogging while black. Ahmaud arbery. The names are too numerous to mention. But those tragedies are just a microcosm of what we confronts in our communities ideally a daily basis and we want to have a discussion about where we go from here. The Congressional Black Caucus is working hard to put forth the legislative package to respond to the moment. To finally bring some accountability and change to the manner in which our communities and every other community is. Oliced in america because we know this has been a phenomena and that has been with us year after year, decade after decade, century after century. I was struck by the fact, as i conclude my opening observations there was a video. Make sure that he has if he is harassed, if he is mishandled, shows restraint. That could be escalated in a manner where he would lose his life. And if he is being questioned, put a document in front of him, sign say anything, dont anything. Why should i have that conversation with the young teenage africanamerican boy and i know fathers and mothers and grandmothers and grandfathers are having that same conversation. I knew the words i had to say to to him. Say why . Because when i was growing up in brooklyn, my father said the exact same thing to me. And my grandfather said the exact same thing to my father when he was a teenager boy in newark in the 1950s. This time will be different people. Of the young we hear you. We see you. We are you. And we are going to make a change. It is my honor to yield to the , atinguished gentlelady leading member of the Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security committee and a , economic,r racial and social justice, ms. Sheila jackson lee. Rep. Jackson lee mr. Chairman, thank you. I will remove my mask. Indicate, mr. Chairman, where we are in the laminar in the calamity, in the of ourophic incidents lives. Let me thank our mighty chair, congresswoman karen bass and my colleagues who are with me, my sister, my brother and very important guest that we have with us. Let me just thank illhan omar to hold up a v. I. P. Badge that i wish i never had to see in my life. That is the document used yesterday when we joined the family of those in minneapolis and when i say that, the brothers and the sisters and extended family members in minneapolis to be able to mourn as they go from their to North Carolina and to houston, catastrophic because as chairman jeffries indicated, it follows into the insults that we have suffered in our most recent series of months. But it also is compounded by 110,000 dead from covid19, the fact that the administration failed to both know and prepare created a heavy burden on those who already didnt have access to healthcare, africanamericans. And when people rush to Emergency Rooms from the nations Public Housing and from inner city neighborhoods or rural america, they were turned away. They were given an aspirin and turned away to die, black people who did not have the right care, medical care that the government, the federal government should have been engaged in. So when we talk about living black in america, there is a compounding of things, not only did we have the circumstances that were recounted and breonna and Armaud Arbery and now, of course, the heinous killing, murder, slaughter of mr. Floyd, but we cant even bird watch in central park because when we bird watch in central park, someone is going to say, im going to call the police and tell them a black man is attacking us. In the United States congress, there is a Congress Black caucus that is working every day to throw up and to stop between our amazing work in appropriations, our work on the Judiciary Committee and just introduced h. R. 7100 the George Floyd Law enforcement trust and integrity act that is going to deeply embed in its new form into deep changes in the psyche of policing, so let me just close, we are working very hard and will encourage commentary on h. R. 40 to understand that the very basis of this nation is built on the backs of slaves unpaid that built cotton as king and we cant seem get rid of the disease of racism, covid19 and racism. I close with these words, i hope we will engage on this, h. R. 40 reparations, which if there ever a time is now, the catastrophic reconstructing of how africanamericans are treated, educationally, economically and beyond. Listen to these words from a white host on a radio show, are white people supposed to be embarrassed because of how we are born, speaking to white privilege. Are we embarrassed if our parents got married before we got born, they stayed together with the family through good and bad times as well. Are we embarrassed because our dads worked overtime so we would have enough, are we supposed to be embarrassed that we dont roam the streets because our parents didnt let us. Is this something to be ashamed of, a Strong Nuclear family, a strong work ethic something to be embarrassed, privilege, is working hard out of poverty to the room above and pass it on to your children. Are we supposed to be embarrassed, do we have a nation within a nation, are these people occupiers and others occupied, are we talking about that in 2020 . If we do not stand solidly with each other and face goodwill and good hearted americans that this is the time to save america, i believe that we will as well have missed our opportunity. So i thank you and im delighted to be part of this and im delighted now even more so to yield to my sister congresswoman representative Ayanna Presley for opening remarks. Rep. Presley thank you. First before i begin, i just want to censure Breonna Taylor center Breonna Taylor who was shot eight times and murdered, a front line essential worker whose birthday would have been today. She would have turned 27 years old. No more hashtags. George floyd, Breonna Taylor, Armaud Arbery, they should be trending based upon their contributions to community, to the world discovering a cure for cancer, we learned today from George Floyds second grade teacher that he had written in a school essay and asked what did he want to be when he grew up, he said a Supreme Court justice. Im just returning from minneapolis where i was humble to join the floyd family and many members of the Congressional Black Caucus including my dear sister, representative jackson lee who just spoke, and, of course, my sister in service in her city there to witness previously for Congressional Black Caucus visit, the black brilliance of the twin cities. I so deeply wish that the trip i took yesterday i did not have to take. I so deeply wish this man was still alive. He should still be alive. And in a more just america, george floyd would be alive. They would all be alive. I spent time with organizers who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of Racial Justice and as im looking up our organizers, i want to just underscore a point i have been making recently clarifying for some that just the fact of the matter for everyone who is participating in this town hall, our organizers, our activists represent a long line of organizing and activism and table shaping and peaceful protesting demonstration all while Holding Space for our righteous rage and demanding radical change. Our organizers, our Community Builders are not destroyer. They coopt the narrative and will not allow it to happen. It always feels good to travel from massachusetts to minneapolis, al although i wish to travel from massachusetts to minneapolis, although i wish i did not have to do it on this occasion and for this reason. My time spent there in community visiting thriving black businesses, eat something blackowned restaurants reminds me that until we fully dismantle these systems of oppression, all of our lives are at risk. So what do we call them for, the protesting and the demonstrating, the blueprint of the Civil Rights Movement which we are still in, no book end, is to mobilize and legislate. There will be unrest in our streets for as long as there is unrest in our lives. So we are calling for deep lasting structural legislated change. The death, destruction, denial of black people and our humanity is not new. Our lives have been devalued and our pain has been delegitimized for fag too long. To offer more historical contexasizing to this moment, this marks the near century masser. They destroying the countrys wealthiest black community and robbing it of at least 300 lives. The massacre was one of the worst incidence of racist violence in our history and one of the government denied for decades. The same way it always does, the abuses that we as black folks suffer. How we document these abuses has changed, but the instinct to deny our experiences remains. Nobly was the governments response to represent ration to red lining that guaranteed greenwoods permanent demise. We are experiencing a crisis within a crisis that is decimating our communities and we must respond and act accordingly. As a black woman married to a black man raising a black child, i will very much would like to pass on to my 11yearold daughter generational wisdom, generational wealth, generational joy instead of generational debt, trauma and fear. I would love for her to live a life free from fear, now, i understand the pain of people taking to the streets. In texas, in minnesota, in massachusetts, folks want to be seen. They want to be heard because for too long black and brown bodies have been profiled, surveyed, policed, lynched, choked, brutalized and murdered at the hands of Police Officers with callous disregard, with impunity and without any retribution or consequences. We cannot allow these fatal injustices to go unchecked any longer. Congress needs to send a clear message and act now, there can be truly no justice for george floyd or Breonna Taylor or any other human beings who have been killed by Law Enforcement for in a just world, they would still be here. They would still be alive. There, however, must be accountability and that means enacting uniform standards and restrictions on the use of force, true oversight and transparency and the elimination of special protections like qualified immunity that allow the police to use a badge as a shield from accountability in cases of brutality and abuse. We cannot give into false choices pinning our safety and freedoms against one another, whether an unlawful traffic stop, search, or assault, every single abuse must be accounted for. So in the same way that policymakers have legislated and codified our hurt and harm for generations, we must now codify our healing and our justice and our law making. We must now look to enact systemic reforms that match the scale and scope of these systemic injustices that we have faced for centuries. This will not be easy, but i know that with your partnership, we can realize justice for all. And now the chant from our 10,000 strong black lives matter protest here in boston that was organized by one of our freedom fighters, monica, she runs an Organization Called violence in boston and said all my life i had to fight and we gonna be all right. And with that, i yield to my sister representative ilhan omar. Rep. Omar thank you, congresswoman presley, thank you all for this great opportunity for us to convene to our wonderful chairwoman for calling on us to come together to have this conversation, this really important conversation and to Sheila Jackson lee and all of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus who joined us yesterday as our community memorialized the life and the contributions and the hurt, that the death of george floyd has brought not only to minneapolis but to our nation. I join you from minneapolis, minnesota, minnesotas sixth congressional district, where my community is feeling lots of pain and hurt. And it is just beginning the process of healing. And yesterday, we held a town hall conversation with our Community Organizers. Black folks, young, clear queer, as we joined in a conversation where we had our mayors, our governors, the truth senators that represent the two senators that represent minnesota federally, the state representative, city council members. And where we all sat and listened to the voices of the community, to tell us what Police Brutality the devastation Police Brutality has caused in our community. What social and economic neglect has done to the black lives in minneapolis and in minnesota. And what we should be doing as leaders who are interested to an act laws that ultimately uplift all of us. It has been 11 days since we lost george floyd due to another senseless act of racism by the hands of our Police Officers. The latest example of Police Brutality and Excessive Force has caused deep but not unfamiliar pain. From slavery, to lynching, to jim crow, black people in this country have been subjected to dehumanization since before this countrys founding. And as a black immigrant, i center myself in those voices and in that history, as i move in this space of actively fighting for justice, for all of us. Right now, we are facing two pandemics, the coronavirus and injustice. Both pandemics are disproportionately killing bella killing black americans. We know that being black in america makes you live by a different set of rules. Far too many times, weve seen black men and black women be brutalized and killed by Law Enforcement with no consequences. You are almost 30 years route from the rodney king incident and yet black people are still facing these injustices. We are tired and frustrated that we keep finding ourselves in these positions. And so today, let this be the first step to healing. We all have a responsibility to implement real, systematic, and tangible criminal justice reforms on a National Level. But that work also needs to get down on a municipal and state level. Im so glad my colleagues on the Congressional Black Caucus are taking the lead as we push for bold action that will create Police Accountability, and that will rid us of the social and economic neglect that many of our communities have faced. Our chance to dismantle the systematic racism that exists within our criminal Justice System israel. Is real. So, today, we not only demonstrate and organize, but we also have a mandate to legislate. And im so glad that in this moment of hurt, in this moment of pain, that there is a joining of many voices across our country, that finally are recognizing that if we not only make the kind of real lasting changes we need to make, then we returned to the same place. But we also have to be vigilant in the policies that we implement. Because we know that a few years back, when the movement for black lives began, across state houses, there were policies that were popping up to criminalize our right to protest. So as we fight for justice, we have to make sure that we are also systematically fighting policies that will be proposed to set us back. With that, i would like to recognize and introduce a young man who has been on the front lines in our Community Organizing for justice. Tony williams is a black Community Organizer from minneapolis, minnesota. Over the past five years, he has been working with local groups, mpb 150 and reclaim the block, in the twin cities. Hes a graduate of santa clara university, and he is also a prolific musician, broadcaster and insulation artist. Tony and i have spent many musician,c broadcaster, and installation artist. Tony and i have spent many nights in an encampment that was set as a fourth precinct over north minneapolis, when the death of jamar clark in the hands of Police Officers, who were called to respond a need, and in return, took the life of a community member. So i look forward to hearing what he will share with us about the life of lives of black lives in minnesota, minneapolis. Tony . Tony thank you so much, representative omar. Im speaking to you all today from minneapolis where we are subsuming subsumed with grief and righteous rage. And understanding that this moment needs to be the moment that we turn away from the systems of domination that have constrained us as black americans for so long. I want to tell you a story to start off. It was a warm july day, and there were a group of black students gathering on the north side of our city. They were attacked by a group of Police Officers and brutally beaten. Later that same night, a black youth was in the district of our city, and was attacked and beaten by Police Officer, who tried to pull his gun on the youth and shoot him. The youth was able to wrestle the officers gun away, and rather than choosing to kill the officer, he threw the gun on the ground and ran away. The words from the Minneapolis Police department was that the youth had started the incident. And that was the story in the press the next day, that a group of multiracial minneapolis citizens had seen the truth, had seen that the officer who was the one who instigated the instinct instigated the situation. The naacp gathered that night, the next night, and advocated for true Police Reform in minneapolis. They said we need more diversity in our Police Officers, we need more black women at the front of our Police Officers office, and deescalation practices. The changes never came about. The story im telling you took in 1922. We are sitting at the end of a long arc of history of a long and deep failure to secure Police Reform. Here in minneapolis, we just passed the 150th anniversary of the Minneapolis Police departments establishment, a group of Community Members put together this report, enough is enough on 150 three Performance Review of the Police Department. In order to take a look at the history of our department, the presence of our department, and where we are going. You can find it on npd150. Com. I highly recommend everyone check it out. When you look at the history of the Police Department, especially in minneapolis, there is a very clear pattern that begins to emerge. In that pattern is one of and that pattern is one of protest, one of brutality, one of protest, one of reform, and one of stagnation and backsliding. In almost every incident of Police Brutality in minnesotas history, of which there are hundreds, it starts out where a system of racism and domination allows a Police Officer to take the life of a person, and usually a black or native person. The Community Rises up in righteous outrage and response, sometimes peacefully, sometimes not. Elected officials, local, state, and National Proposed reform and demand for justice to be taken. These reforms can look like diversity initiatives, deescalation initiatives, Mental Health training, body camera, you name it. Universally, we see that it becomes completely ineffective or are undone by the very Police Departments who were supposed to be constrained by them. The cycle repeats, the pace of change slackens, and everything goes back to business as usual, until the next atrocity occurs. Myself, i myself have been involved in a movement for black lives in minneapolis for the last five years. Just in that time, ive seen five highprofile Police Murders innercity. The murder of jamar clark by the Minneapolis Police department. The murder of another in neighboring falcon heights. The murder of travis jordan, and thurman blendon, and Justine Damond in minneapolis. Im here to say that we are tired. We have tried reform. We have tried having conversations with officers. President obamas department of justice instituted a 21st Century Policing program in minneapolis and propped it up as a model of Effective Community policing the whole country could follow. It didnt work. We had police chiefs, our first clear chief woman of color and our first black chief of all time over the last five years, our first queer chief woman of color and our first black chief of all time over the last five years, in and say they were capable of reforming the system. They have failed. And thats why i think for the first time in our citys history, we are seeing Community Members on the ground say no more reform, no more deescalation, no more Critical Incident training, no more body cameras, no more use of force policies. Its time for us to abolish the police. Our communities have gone systemically this invested in disinvested in since our arrival in america 401 years ago. And we know that the reasons are community is because we dont have the resources we need to thrive. There is no reason we should basis should be responding to Mental Health crises in our Community Driven by under resourcing and generations of trauma by responding with paramilitary white militarized enforcers from outside of our communities. We understand here in minneapolis, and protesters have been calling for the last week, that we need a Better Safety model here. And our elected officials are finally starting to listen. We have asked time and time again, we have advocated peacefully, we have gone to the ballot box, we have gone to city council meetings. Weve gone to town halls. And weve said that the time is coming for us to find a new way of creating safety for our communities and our city. And now, we are saying the time has come. It is time for us to reexamine what Public Safety looks like in america, and create a future that is truly safe for all americans, including black americans. Black lives matter. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for sharing with us, your experiences, your perspective, and your passion. It is now my honor and privilege to introduce someone who is no stranger to all of us, she is an awardwinning journalist, she has been a White House Correspondent since the clinton administration, and she frequently speaks truth to power, questions power, and reports on it in an authentic and distinguished and intellectually robust fashion. She is a native of baltimore. She represents that city well, represents us as africanamericans incredibly well. And now she will speak on the importance of black journalism during this moment of pandemic, this moment of pain, this moment of physical distancing, and this moment of Police Violence and injustice. I yield now to april ryan. April thank you. It is an honor to be with you all here today. In this moment. In this historic moment in this discussion is so very important. One of the main reasons i believe that this is an important moment for those on the call and those watching, is we need the conversation to happen. And we need action. We have been talking for over 401 years. And our voices have not been heard. Now we are bringing in the mix of the media. And as a black woman from baltimore, who happens to be a journalist, i can no longer sit on the sidelines and just write the story. We are now part of the story. And we must be heard and we must speak up. At this moment in time, it is hard to watch my colleagues being taken into custody, on national television, threatened unbeaten, on the streets of not only minneapolis, minnesota, but across the nation. It is hard to watch black reporters being talked down to like dogs at the white house. During covid as well as this moment, that we are facing. We face this we faced this moment before. We have watched in the last 10 to 15 years, the accountability of these videos starting with erica garner, freddie gray, walter scott, Trayvon Martin and more. We heard Trayvon Martin. Going to ferguson, we had the tanks in the teargas. And we are back at this moment. This moment, we are seeing reporters teargas. We are seeing reporters beaten. We are the first line of reporting, whether we are lacked, brown, jew, gentile. We are the first line of reporting to make sure the story is told for accountability. And now that is taken away from us. It reminds me of something said by president Donald John Trump at the beginning of this administration, when he had Police Officers flanked behind him, talking about, dont be so nice. He was talking about dont be so nice when you are bringing into custody immigrants, and those from the gang ms 13. That dont be so nice reverberates now in the streets of minneapolis, in the streets of chicago, in the streets of new york. It reverberates everywhere. As weve talked to so many people across the nation, our sources, many people are saying in the civil rights community, from the naacp, to the urban league, to reverend al sharpton, it starts from the top. The embers have been stoked against the press. This president has considered us the enemy of the people. We are the first line of accountability. We were there when he held his bible backwards at st. Johns. St. Johns episcopal church. And moved a peaceful crowd, teargas to them so he could stand to take a picture. We were there to not only account what he did, but to see what the National Guard was doing to protesters, peaceful protesters, as well as reporters. I dont want to dwell on this so much because i want to go back to history, everyone is going to. I want to go back to document in the 1960s, 1968, because of violence in the streets after dr. Kings death. Because people were trying to understand why was this happening, how can we fix this issue . At issue, i want to talk about the coming the Current Commission. The Current Commission report, that panel came up with this report that seems to not make any difference at this moment. People have forgotten one piece of the report. Chapter 15. The news media and the disorders. And if you bear with me for one moment. The chapter starts off, in his charge to the commission, the president asked what effect to the mat does the mass media have on the riots . The commission determined the answer to the president s question did not lie solely in the performance of the press and broadcasters reporting the riots. Our analysis had to consider also the overall treatment by the media of the negro ghettos, Racial Attitudes and poverty day by day, and month by month, year in and year out. Im going to go further down. Basically, the recommendation at that time, bear with me, if i can scroll down a little bit more, from this report. The conclusion of the report talked about improving the coordinated and with police and reporting riot news through the conclusion of the report talked about improving the coordinated and with police and reporting riot news through advanced planning and cooperate with the police in the designation of Police Information officers, establishment of f of Information Centers and the development of mutually acceptable guidelines for riot reporting, and the conduct of media personnel. It also talked about accelerating efforts to ensure accurate and responsible reporting of poc and racial news through adaptation by all newsgathering organizations of stringent internal staff guidelines. There are guidelines that were put forth over 50 years ago. There were guidelines put forth over 50 years ago. Why arent they being followed now . It is a roughandtumble game, and this is not a game. We see minority media there to report what is happening in our community. And thats one thing also that the Current Commission report talks about, that we are needed in these spaces. These unique purchases, high purchase, to be able to report on what is happening in our community. And now we are being thwarted. We are being beaten. We are not allowed to do our job. And the framework, the blueprint is there. And it is not being followed. With that said, it hurts my heart to watch my fellow, journalists my colleagues, who are members of the state, my colleagues who are white Founding Fathers put into the constitution, and the first amendment, not knowing we would be here, not knowing there would be a riot or all of the other reporters that have been brutalized during this critical moment in history. That we are part of the fourth amendment, and we thank you so much for allowing me to have a voice for the voiceless, who are out on the front lines right now trying to cover the story for us, to hold accountable this president , and all that need to deal with Police Brutality and beyond in this nation. Thank you for my time. Thank you so much so very much, april, for really focusing on the burdens and the challenges that you have faced and others in a very important, valuable voice for the africanamerican and black community. The descendents of slaves who have carried this burden for so very long. Let me thank tony as well for a very powerful i guess saying the word powerful sometimes falls flat when peoples lives have been lost, to be able say that someones words are powerful. That all we want is to be free with peace and dignity in this nation, and treated with the dignity that is deserve and of someone who has literally built this country. Dr. Alexander, i know that you are well aware of this journey. We have taken it together. We have worked together. You have appeared before the Judiciary Committee on these very crucial issues. I dont know why we are in the deja vu, were still going around the same circle, but im very grateful that you have continued to be engaged in the issues of policing and Police Reform, systemic changes needed. Catastrophic change is needed. As i introduce you, let me reinforce the fact that they are young men and women like tony, who have said to this nation, nothing less than what dr. King said, why they cant wait. Dr. Alexander, we are glad to have you, serving as the transportation security administration. You have served as a Deputy Commissioner of the new york state division, criminal Justice Service chief of police in the rochester Police Department and held several leadership roles at the University Psychiatry in new york. Dr. Alexander began his career in 1977, and was a Law Enforcement officer in florida for 15 years. Hes been a man on the beat. And he is the former National President of the National Organization of black Law Enforcement executives. And i have met him through those activities. And as well, he is now a Law Enforcement analyst for cnn. Dr. Alexander, i want to welcome you. It is good to see a friend. And we thank you very much for participating with us here today. Thank you again. Welcome. This is a tough time. Dr. Alexander it is a very difficult time. Thank you for having me, to the entire Congressional Black Caucus. It is great to see you as well, too, congresswoman jackson lee. Historically, when we think about policing in this country, we really have to go back to the beginning of policing. It has always been a challenge, right from the beginning, at the inception of police in this country. Communities of color, Police Departments across this country, have had its challenges over the years. This is not a new phenomenon that we are in. This is a continuation of history in which we are still yet to come out of. Let me say this. I can talk about the history and relationships between police and communities across this country. But for all of those who are out there listening and watching, you have your own stories to tell. You have your own history to tell. But it is where we are right now, in this present moment, and where we are going, over the last 40 years, ive held a number of positions, then to a number of cities in this country. Led a lot of people through hard times, rough times, Police Involved shootings, you name it, ive been in the ive been there and in charge of it. As time goes on, it it appears, even over 40 years of my career, but nothing seems to get better. If we go to more recent history, more recent history, that led up to the culmination of the most recent death and murder of mr. Floyd, we just go back to just a few weeks ago. Just a few weeks ago when in modern history, today, south georgia, we saw a young black man jogging through a neighborhood which he has the right to do as a citizen in this country, who was chased down by two men in a pickup truck, into turned out to be three that were involved, shot and killed in front of us, on a video. And that murder would have been coming up by the incestuous relationships that people were having with their das office there in nye county. That is not new either. We have seen that many times before. And if that was not enough, Breonna Taylor, a search warrant, no knock warrant, that should never have been issued, she loses her life in the middle of the night. And then, theres the case in central park. A black man birdwatching, harvard graduate, and a woman who decides that she did not want to take any direction from him in regards to tying up her dog. We have seen that before. So she gets on her phone, and she dials 911 in saiz, theres an africanamerican man that is attacking me. We all watch that very vividly, in color. And that is reminiscent of our history as well too, because we can take that back to emmett till in the thousands of others of black men in this country over a period of time who have lost their lives because someone said, or a white woman said, that they were being eyeballed or sexually assaulted, and all it took was an allegation. Her hope was someone from nypd would show up and arrest him. But what really would have been funny, as opposed to is if africanamerican Police Officers would have showed up. What would have been her response then . In her mind, she weaponized who she was. She weaponized her whiteness, she weaponized her being female, and she attempted to do harm to him. So much a part of our history weve seen so many times before. If that wasnt enough, on may 25, we watched a man murdered right in front of us who had surrendered to authorities, who laid on his stomach handcuffed, and his neck was crushed, and he died right in front of us. So we dont have to go back 100 years in history. We can stay in prison history and see the need for Police Reform in this country is long overdue. And during my tenure, and i know the tenure of many chiefs across this country, black, white, blue, green, and women, we have made all the efforts we could and we continue to make those efforts, to make a change in this country. And there must be Police Reform. It must come from a federal level. And must come from a state and local level as well. But it is going to take communities across this country to stand up. Because what i think is very different about where we are in this particular movement, because this is not just a protest. This is a global movement. A stand for righteousness. Because those four men who murdered and killed this to floyd, they had no soul, they had no respect for humanity, they had no compassion. Antony, i and to me, i wonder how they ever made it on the Police Department. It also suggested of a larger systemic problem that they have within the Minneapolis Police department. Because if they can be that wretched and not bold, that unkind and that mean and evil and hateful, than what do they do in the heart of darkness when there are no cameras . What do they do then . What insight what system inside the Police Department that holds those types of personalities in place . But minneapolis is not and what is inside the Minneapolis Police department that holds those personalities in place . That minneapolis is not the only Police Department. Police chiefs and sheriffs across this country should take a moment. Look inside your own organization. Find your own blind spots. If you dont have the compassion, if you dont have an understanding of our sincere affection for humanity, if you dont love people, if you are full of hate, i cannot train that into you. Either you come with compassion when you come into Public Service or you dont. That is not training. I cannot teach that. What we have to do is go back through the history of policing in this country and look at where we need to do better, not just at where we are improving, but how we are improving. I need to know if they have a sense of compassion and love for people, if they are in a mindset of being guardians and not warriors. Because the community doesnt want guardians. They want people who have a relationship of being in service to them. We know there are dangerous people out there and they have to be confronted, but we need the Community Working together. Historically, we have made some gains, but recently, we have been set back 100 years, all of us. So when we try to move forward, i would encourage you to do one thing. The 21st force report, president obama at that time, after the death in ferguson, he employed 11 persons from this country, and i was privileged to be one of those 11, but after ferguson, we were tasked that in 60 days, we had to produce a document that would become a roadmap to guiding this country into developing relationships between the police and the community. Because we had none. There was no documentation. There was no roadmap. There was no gps system. But on august 9, after the death of Michael Brown, we had to come up with something, and we were given 90 days to do it. We went across this country and we talked to thousands of people and we delivered that document at the white house to president obama, which he incorporated, adopted, and it had been utilized across this country. Body cameras as you see today that most Police Departments across the country employ became popular as a result of that document, along with many other recommendations. But a new administration came into play. When that administration came into play, they took that document and threw it in a garbage can. Three years later, with no gps, no guidance, no roadmap as to how to heal those relationships, what we need to do is take that document back off the shelf, dusted off, and put it back into play, because it was useful. It did prove to be of benefit, and there are hundreds of Police Across this country that would tell you that. They still to this day attempt to move forward would say that. We have a lot of work ahead of us. I am in this fight. I am bringing 40 years of experience, and i am a black man every day i wake up. For those employed in that profession, those i know who are out there at this moment giving their 100 best of everything they can do, they have to come in behind what we just saw. Because i can tell you, a thousand men and women out there who are employed as Police Officers, their husbands, wives, relatives, friends, neighbors, they believe in what is constitutionally right. We are going to support them and help them by reforming the cultures in which they have to work in and sometimes in which they may not be able to have as much influence as they would like. Thank you very much and i look forward to questions you may have. Thank you for your thoughtful articulation of some of the things that need to be considered as we move forward. It is now my honor and privilege to introduce our final panelist, and then we will have an opportunity to proceed to a question and answer period, and i thank everyone who has joined us for this town hall meeting on the state of black america since the covid19 pandemic struck, under the great leadership of our chair, karen bass. We know that the Movement Across the country, across the world, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, the antiapartment movement that liberated south africa, it was young people at the forefront, just as we now see young people in communities across america at the forefront, raising their voices in such a profound, meaningful way, demanding racial, social, economic justice. It is my honor to introduce Tiffany Lawson, the youth director of the naacp. In that capacity, she works closely with over 700 different youth councils, high school naacp affiliated groups as well as college affiliated groups, young people interested in making america a better place as tiffany is doing. It is now my honor to yield to Tiffany Lawson for her thoughts. Thank you, Congress Member jeffries. I want to first thank everyone of the speakers who spoke before me, but especially the Congressional Black Caucus members who every day are on the front lines fighting for the protection, liberation, and safety for our people. I know there is often a binary between elected officials and Community Members, but i know you all personally enough to know that this work is difficult, but it is better when we Work Together, so i appreciate not only the opportunity to address everyone here, but i also want to acknowledge the hard dedication of our elected officials, especially our black elected officials, who care deeply about us and are facing the challenges of dealing with an administration that doesnt care about us. Your work and bravery is inspirational. Being on a call like this friday evening when its a Beautiful Day outside, if you are in my community, it might cause you to fall into a depression, applause, and upset. And i want to first, before i begin my remarks, say to you i see you, i hear you, and you are not alone. We are in the middle of a global pandemic. We are dealing with racism and White Supremacy on steroids. I have been watching videos on cnn and instagram all day long. Living in the violence on steroids is not easy. So please make sure you are taking care of yourselves. Make sure you are reaching out and asking for help in this moment. With you, we continue the important work of freedom fighting, and it is a marathon, not a race. Take care of yourselves. My job is simple. I want to give you three quick things we need to do. They are not the things that will solve White Supremacy, or they would have done that already, but they are three important things. There has been some Incredible Movement building over the last couple of days, and i think the reminder right now for these three action items are essential to making sure we dont make mistakes in trends we see when we have lost Community Members to Police Violence or other violence. I was three years old when rodney king was murdered in 1991. And now i am 31, and we have uplifted a lot of things on todays panel discussion, but i also want to uplift tony in tallahassee, janel floyd, who was killed in a Brooklyn Jail yesterday, if you have seen the video of the sevenyearold first grader, miss winter, thats why she was at the protest. I did not get into activism until i got into college, and we have babies, children, who are forced to live in this moment of trauma and create an analysis early when they should be watching cartoons and celebrating summer break. I have nephews, eight and nine, and they are having tough discussions with their peers about Police Violence and black lives matter. Thats not fair for any of us, and it has a longterm, traumatic impact on our community. I want to acknowledge what we are watching we saw the entire country and flames in 2014 after the murder of Michael Brown. The first take away is for everybody to make sure that after you build community, after you go outside for a protest i went to a protest on friday. After you return home, make sure you wash your clothes and take a shower. Make sure you find a political home you belong to. A political home is a space where you are able to strengthen your organizing skills and leadership, a place where you are able to work with likeminded people on an agenda to support your community. If you dont join the naacp, joined black lives matter, joined truth defenders, joined movement for black lives, join the new york gathering for justice, join the Community Coalition created by karen bass. There are hundreds of organizations you can choose from. I need you to choose a political home in this moment because you cannot do this work alone. We cannot destroy political systems that oppress our people by ourselves. The only way we can continue the pressure and sustain the work is by being part of a political organization. I hope you will do that and that will give you the space to work with other people toward this strategy. That is the first take away. If you are not part of an organization, you have work to do. Take action. I do not mean donate, attend a memorial service, tweet or change your avatar to a blackout square for a day. The naacp worked with the student body president at the university of minneapolis, the first black student body president at the university of minneapolis. She wrote a letter to her chancellor and her regent asking them to break their relationship with the police to keep students on campus safe. Students are paying for Police Officers to come onto campus, and when that happens, whether it is a Sexual Assault case, a hate crime, or a protest, police show up and they dont have to listen to the university. In terms of protocol, they are able to do whatever the Police Department tells them to do. They dont have accountability. The chancellor agreed that was a problem, made a change, and wrote a responding letter saying they are going to break the relationship between the department of police and the school. Yesterday, the superintendent of portland Public Schools tweeted the time is now. I am discontinuing the regular presence of School Resource officers. We need to reexamine our relationship with ppb. University of colorado, boulder. Albany university. A florida university. Schools across the country are taking action so that another george floyd does not happen in our own community. We all know school is coming back in the fall. When it does come back, we need to make sure it is safe for black Community Members. If you are interested in how to write that letter or petition, the naacp has created a toolkit you can find on our website. We are making sure you have what you need to do the Proper Research and ask yourself the Smart Questions of what exists and what doesnt exist, and what you need to do to regulate the use of force. There is another action we need to take. Voting. On tuesday, i made sure i voted. Voting is necessary. It is not sufficient. But it is necessary. The reason we were able to get such quick arrests in minneapolis is because minneapolis arrested strong leaders. Across the country, i dont want us to wait for what the white house will tell us to do, for what the next president might tell us to do. I want us to make sure we have relationships with people in the midterm elections and down ballot races, the district attorney, mayor, governor, city council members, school board members, representatives. That is necessary for us. We cannot have a strategy that wins without knowing and understanding the relationship we have to our political power read so make sure you vote. Once we vote, we have to hold folks accountable. The protests last for a few days. The election day on november 3 will last for a few hours. But our obligation to be active at every level is a 365 day a year job. We cannot do it once a year. We have to remain engaged. The naacp in minneapolis had a meeting with police because they had a relationship. They worked on making sure they were part of the political process. That got the officers arrested and ultimately charged. We need to make sure we hold people accountable. You are right to be outraged over george floyd, but if you dont know who your mayor is, your city councilmember, your state attorney, or your chief of police, then you have a different problem than what we are talking about on the National Level. I am so encouraged and inspired by all of the young people i am seeing across the country. I am inspired by the language we are using. I am glad we are not silencing black women in this conversation, who also suffer violence at the hands of police, also trans folks. I want us to Pay Attention to the language we use. And folks on social media, in our schools, and at the dinner table are leading the way in making sure america goes in the direction it needs to go. I am honored to be part of this movement and thankful to be part of this conversation. I look forward to the questions you might have. Thank you. Thank you very much, tiffany, for laying that out. We have an opportunity now for a few questions in the time we have remaining. I will turn it over to the moderator to begin the questionandanswer section. Thank each and every one of you who has joined us for this town hall on living while black in america. Thank you. We have many questions on policy and a host have come in. What do you suggest we do as future steps to ensure the tragic death of george floyd and others turns into a movement and not just a moment . That question is open to the panel. I will briefly respond by saying i think it was ron walters, the great Political Science professor and director for the Science Department at Howard University who said the difference between a movement and a moment is sacrifice. That is something to be able to translate into a movement that results in change, sacrifices required. I think what we have seen from the young people in america and others who have taken to the streets is that they recognize that sacrifice, in terms of their day to day lives and what they are giving up to raise their voices is important. To make sure those voices are heard at every level of government, city, state, federal, as tiffany laid out. The Congressional Black Caucus is prepared to act. We have heard your cries. We are crafting legislation at record speed. We have spoken to nancy pelosi on this issue. We expect that legislation to address Police Accountability and violence will be revealed week, will be comprehensive in nature, and will be brought before the house of representatives for a vote before the end of the month. What will be the next steps by leaders in the black caucus to make sure a change takes place among Law Enforcement and the powers that be . Let me yield to Sheila Jackson lee, who has been a leader on this issue. Thank you very much. We have clearly been at the forefront of these issues. The house Judiciary Committee has been at the forefront of these issues. Chairman jeffries and myself served with john conyers. We now serve with chairman nadler. And the committee under democratic leadership knows we have serious concerns. Our goal is to have legislation marked up and presented before the house by the end of the month. On wednesday, june 10, you can log on to the house judiciary hearing on Police Reform, Police Accountability is the term i would like to use. Its going to be the gamut, the empire state building, the entire mountain of needs, which includes prohibiting on the National Level choke holds, ensuring the body cams are universal and national in requirement to ensuring a new protocol for policing through definitions for Excessive Force, and as well, the lack of punishment of individuals just because they are black. We have a number of other legislative initiatives. I want to make it very clear. I think the Africanamerican Community is one of the most lawabiding communities in the nation. We are law and order folk. We call 911 to be saved, not to be killed. The idea that anything being proposed does anything to diminish the life of an officer is not true. We want officers to go home to their families. We want citizens on the street to go home to their families. We want Breonna Taylor to have lived. We want Michael Brown to have lived. We want george floyd to have lived. We will be looking at 21st Century Policing. I think its very important to have a front end solution and a backend solution, which is a punishment solution. Speaking to Police Accountability and what dr. Alexander said, temperament is crucial, passion for service. Police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers are Public Servants and they do their best when they have a sense of duty in their work. How painful was it for us to hear that a black grandmother was shot in protest in california . How painful was it, as i conclude, to see a 75yearold did not happen to be from the Africanamerican Community in buffalo, new york, pushed to the ground, bleeding from the head, and when an officer attempted to render aid, that person was pushed away. When you are injured, aid may be a matter of seconds. Just as it was with floyd. So, we are going to look at every aspect of policing. I want to listen to tony. I want to listen to the valuable work of tiffany and the naacp, talking about voting in action. The legislation will be comprehensive. The question will be, where will be the body politic to tell leader mcconnell he cannot block this legislation anymore . Where will be that body politic, and i hope it is gathering as we speak. Thank you, congresswoman. We have a specific question about Police Unions. What role do they play in the problems between the police and the community . Unions are there to make sure that members of the union have an opportunity to have good salaries, good benefits, safe working conditions, etc. Police unions in this country have one responsibility and one responsibility solely, to take care of membership, just like any other union. Unfortunately, oftentimes we see departments and sheriffs who want to build relationships with communities, but you have an event occur in which an officer has been involved in an incident that has come to everyones attention. Oftentimes, we see unions stand up for officers that many people feel they should not serve. Oftentimes, many officers are dismayed by the fact that membership is being protected and guarded by unions after they have committed egregious acts. A unions goal is to protect membership, at all costs, sometimes. We have to begin to look at within your state, particularly if you live in a unionized state as many states in the northeast happened to be, a lot of laws and policies are written into state law as far as a bill of rights, and that becomes even more challenging. That becomes a challenging piece. Unions dont necessarily work in the interests of the community. They work in the interests of their membership. But i want to add one other thing in regards to the initiatives i know the Congressional Black Caucus is going to move forward in terms of trying to create reform throughout Police Departments. A couple of things i could add, chairman jeffries and congresswoman jackson lee, we have to look at police certification. Police officers have been fired from one jurisdiction. They need to be decertified. So they dont go to another agency and get a job. We saw this case in cleveland with tamir rice. The officer who shot and killed him had been problematic in another department outside of cleveland and probably, maybe, should not have been hired. We cant allow officers being passed around from one department to another, being problematic in one place and still able to maintain certification. That is not right. It doesnt promote good policing in any community. Those men and women who work in departments who are out there doing their very best, they dont want them around either. I would be glad to work with you all because i think there are other things we need to explore. How we hire is going to be hugely important. Who we hire. We need to look at how they are being trained. We need to look at how they are being supervised and what are the Accountability Measures . And what are the Accountability Measures utilized to show officers progressing in their careers in terms of behavior, etc. There are a lot of things internally in organizations, police union organizations, that need to be challenged. Thank you. We have one last question and then well go to Closing Remarks. This question is to tiffany. What is your suggestion with replacing the Police Presence in schools . I support you and i am in full agreement. Tiffany i do not know if the person who asked is going to be excited about my answer because my job as a National Organizer is to support folks on the ground in every School Across the country is different. So the decision from the superintendent in portland, oregon, decided they wanted to break the relationship with Campus Safety officers. I trust the people on the ground are able to make the smartest decision to keep their Community Safe and come up with create of ways to support the implementation creative ways to support the implementation. Alvin he Universitys Albany university is writing to say there have been Police Officers who have done terrible things and they want to hold them accountable including student voices. There system now is done without Student Input and they want shared governance. So our toolkit is not calling for one solution, and the relationship with school boards, districts high schools or colleges. They are to be different. When i could to jackson, mississippi, at an elementary school, and students have to walk through a metal detector and have their backpacks searched, and have security on campus walking in the hallways and off campus police, that is a different experience from what kids get a new york citys im Walking Around and students do not have to go through a metal detector. Or when im in southeast washington, d. C. And they do have to go through a metal detector, or my school and high score we had lockdowns every day because one student brought gone to campus. So there is not one solution we are calling for but we are asking people to do the hard work of answering questions we have in our toolkit. A good resource for folks, 8cantwait. Org my friends at Campaign Zero have launched a campaign we are sharing with audience and members to understand the responsibility of protecting students at schools and protecting the community and what the police force is allowed to do. There are eight criteria and they have graded every Police Station across the country. There are multiple ways to get involved in this campaign. It is not just from a student level. And it is not my job to say what every School Across the country should do so im looking to the members are experts in the field to make those calls. Thank you. We will not go to Closing Remarks from congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee and then chairman hakeem jeffries. Rep. Jackson lee thank you very much. Let me express enormous appreciation for the Congressional Black Caucus, 55 strong 57 members, and it will continue to grow. And to acknowledge that chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus for the vision of dealing with america where america is today which is in crisis. Thank you to congresswoman presley and congresswoman omar and congresswoman omar in the moment she is in history and the healing she is engaging in the fight she is engaging with her community for them to know she is standing by them. And to acknowledge april ryan for her visionary pioneering for the work she has to do. And acknowledging tony who presented a challenging statement that look forward to getting to know him more. And as well, thank you, tiffany, for bringing us together around action items, and leading in the naacp as the director for the youth and colleges division. That is a place of great history, and people i knew in those positions. I hope i said dr. Alexander. I started out reading from a host that has now Gone National from houston, texas, who was able to spew hateful talk under the guise of freedom of speech. That really captured what our challenges are going to be. When we speak of white privilege, which is real, and we have the kind of hateful talk coming from a white person, who has no good intentions regarding anyone of color, any immigrant, status and on status, who has brutalized those of us who are africanamerican elected officials, and continues to spew hate on the nations airwaves, and that was the story of saying, are we supposed to be embarrassed because our families work . Our dads worked overtime . Our parents did not tell us to be in the street. We scraped up ourselves and we made a difference. Are we to be embarrassed . This is white person speaking in contrast that our dads do not work, our families do not Stay Together. He indicated their family Stay Together in good times and bad times. The tragedy of it is, he says that without anyone reprimanding or speaking from the Broader Community in this nation. This is not to say we work every day with the best and most loving and caring members of congress and in our communities are loving and caring people. But by living lack in america we have to look at the many burdens we carry. And we must also engage the Larger Community of white americans. I hope during this period of great outpouring of affection and love, as we begin to push legislation that may be controversial, as we look to ensuring and insisting on body cameras and having civilian review bars and establishing standards of ending Excessive Force, and ensuring you have a duty to intervene at a duty to serve and save, to ensure you do not punish people because of the color of their skin, see going to neighborhoods and just stop African Americans for nothing, or you pull black College Students from morehouse and spelman out of cars and you tase them or kill a 12 euro boy 12 year old boy. We are going to have to put hard legislation on the table and we are going to need our colleagues from across the nation, the United States congress, who are of different backgrounds who are white and who are in the try caucus. Tricaucus. We are going to need to have the people dictate to the United States senate, not mitch mcconnell. And we are going to have to have people who do not look like us on this afternoons messaging, to speak against a hateful speech that is coming about, through the killings of ahmed aubrey, Brionna Taylor and the outright murder of george floyd. We are working on an enormous agenda and i look forward to that agenda being propelled. I close my remarks by indicating that it is never easy to go against the wind. The Congressional Black Caucus from its founding went against the wind, the storms, we follow the words of my angelo, to show me who you are. That is who you are. For those who show you who they are in the course of wrongness for the Congressional Black Caucus who have shown you who we are for decades, never faltering in the time of a storm. It takes the Congressional Black Caucus to put forward legislation that immediately response is horrific hatefulness, critiquing and dislike. But i am grateful to say that 126 members of the Democratic Caucus from all backgrounds, have signed on to hr 40. Hr 40 for 30 years has been the recipient of speech of dislike, and wondering what black people are thinking. Reparation . Is there ever a moment in history if there is ever a moment in history for this constructive legislation to be signed by the president of the United States by a president of the United States because when congress acts, the nation changes its laws. Maybe not its hard heart, 1964 for the Civil Rights Act and in 1955 for the Voting Rights act. They made a difference. When congress acts, a different can be made. The systemic response to racism in this nation starts with many legislative initiatives. It starts with reparations to cover the systemic response that we need. So i wish to close on that note. Frederick douglass saying, there is no power without struggle. And Sojourner Truth who said, antiwoman aint i a woman . I have borne 13 children and seen almost all sold into slavery. Aint i a woman . We take it as harmony, as family and is a victory for justice for all. I thank you for the opportunity to participate in this town hall meeting this afternoon. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for your leadership. Chair jeffries thank you, congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee. I want to thank my other colleagues in government, their presence and their fierceness on the cause of justice has been a breath of fresh air. We are thank full for them. To tony and to tiffany and to dr. Alexander. We appreciate your presence and your thoughtfulness in the way you have laid things out as we move forward through this twin storm the Public Health crisis of covid19 as well as the storm of injustice that continues to engulf our community. I want to think those of you who have joined this town hall meeting. There will be others as we move forward. This is a long march to justice. But we will not abandon course or change course. Until we are able to accomplish the mission. The twin pillars of our democracy are protest on the one hand and voting on the other. Protests, embodied in the constitution, our freedom of the speech, our freedom of assembly and our freedom of expression. The freedom to petition authority, is in the dna of the country. Then, of course, voting, as part of the printable of government of the people, by the people and for the people. Who you put into office matters. We see that with attorney general keith ellison. We are thankful he is there and will pursue justice on behalf of the family of george floyd, respect to the four officers who have now been charged. Continue to protest. Protest peacefully your voices are being heard. We stand with you. And continue to vote. Give us the ability to legislate change on your behalf. Thank you for joining us. God bless you. God bless the Congressional Black Caucus. God bless the United States of america. Have a safe weekend. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] former president s jimmy carter, bill clinton, george w bush, and barack obama had statements on the killing of george floyd. Here is what they had to say. Beautifully diverse. We must overcome the divisiveness of our fears and prejudice. , 50ident clinton remarked seven years ago, dr. King dreamed of a day when his four little children would be judged, not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character. Today, that dreams seems you that dream seems even more out of reach, and will never reach it if we keep treating people with the us they are not human. , thisent bush said tragedy raises long overdue questions. How do we end systemic racism in hours cited . The only way to see ourselves in a true light is to listen to the voices of so many who are hurting and grieving. Those who set out to silence the voices do not understand the meaning of america, or how it becomes a better place. And president barack obama delivered his message on social media. He said, it falls on all of us, regardless of our race or station, including the majority of men and women in Law Enforcement who take ride in doing their tough job the right way, every day, to Work Together to create a new normal in which the legacy of bigotry and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions or our hearts. You can read these on cspan. Org. Later today, white house spokesman scheduled to reef reporters this afternoon at 2 00 p. M. Eastern. Here on cspan, online at cspan. Org, or on the cspan radio app. Tonight, on the communicators. Beginningat the very of building our city. We were fortunate early on to old telephone booth infrastructure into wifi kiosks, and they are located across the city of new york. That provides a means of communicating that sets out a predicate for what can be done with Sensor Technology and how we can regulate our lighting is to him. So much can be done just from that platform alone. Clark. Hat tonight it 8 00 p. M. Eastern on the communicators on cspan2 this week, the house and senate will hold hearings on the federal response to the coronavirus and Law Enforcement accountability. Tuesday live on cspan, the secretary of labor testified before the Senate Finance committee on the cares act and on the role of unemployment is insurance. Live on cspan, the house Judiciary Committee on police as an Law Enforcement also livelity oh stop on cspan3, secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin testifies that death before the Senate Committee on the implementation of title i of the cares act. Watch this week live tuesday and wednesday on cspan and cspan3, online at cspan. Org or listen on the cspan radio app. Press secretary Kayleigh Mcenany is scheduled to brief reporters, here on cspan. We take you live now to the white house. [background conversations] the probably see many of these. There was sean bell. I saw police empty bullets into him, my First Experience with this at street level activity. This has been a problem in america for a problem in america for long time. The difference now i am seeing is, i think two. There are objectively more white people involved in these protests. That is an objective fact. I think it is an objectively positive fact. Yesterday i saw mr. Romney say, black lives matter. Not let corporations matter, not black corporations matter, black lives matter. That made me clutch a pearl. I believe the racial harmony of these protests is something we have not seen since the main line Civil Rights Era march on washington. So i think that is great, that is a really good sign. The second i would distinguish from other again this happens a lot. What is maybe different now, is the intensity of the specific harm. This isnot diffuse, not we need to hold hands and sing kumbaya. This is we need to get your foot off our next. There off our necks. Theres focus there and intensity there and that is one reason it is making so much news and raising so much awareness. Everybody involved wants to see some type of end result. What is the end result . Guest i like to focus on the results already achieved. Arrested. In was the other three have been arrested and i believe these would not have been arrested without the protests. So i want to credit the protesters already for having achieved a victory. In terms of further victory and more action, i think we have seen already some of the city mayors start to make changes and reassess their relationship with the police. So often, and you are talking about this in her last segment, these are local concerns. Political is a local issue. Policing is a local issue. In many of the cities we have democratic mayors who despite being allegedly liberal oral allegedly progressive, have had a very aggressive posture when it comes to policing. They think they are in the pocket, you could argue, of police units still. Have not broken free of Police Unions. One is a dutch Police Unions pocket theyre in the of Police Unions still. They have not broken free of Police Unions. So that would be a great thing going forward. Host talk of partial budget just funding or dismantling the police, to think longterm results are possible . Guest it is weird. When people are talking about d or i use defunding, the word disarming police. That is different than saying we are not going to have any cops and that man will protect us. We are not talking about a lawless era. We are talking about decreasing the budget of the police and the way people sometimes talk about decreasing military spending in this country. Declawing the police. Defundingt of the movement. Do i think it will have longterm success . I will say that nothing else has worked. This is not a new problem. This is not something people figured out two minutes ago or two weeks ago or two years ago. This has been a longterm, systemic problem in america for my entire life and i am 42 years old, and most of my mothers entire life and she is much older than me. So Community Policing has not worked. Electing democrats and progressive mayors has not worked. What is supposed to work, right . From theo defunding position of, nothing has worked so far. I do not know, longterm, if that is something that people are ready to really walk into intellectually. But pushing toward taking away somef the polices toys, of the Police Militarization toys would be helpful. Ust another guest joining for this conversation until 8 45 a. M. And if you want to ask questions on the regional time zones. Enforcementaw 2027488002, 2027488002. Your latest in the nation talks directly to white people. Like every black person i know has spent as a get amount of time in these past two weeks fielding calls and Text Messages and well wishes from white friends you want to help. White friends who want to help. They see how bad things are and are becoming aware and want to know how they can become involved or help. I tried to take it positively. As rob lowe once famously said in the west wing, lets ignore the fact that your late to the party and embrace the fact that he showed up at all. That is the manner i try to have it. But it is difficult, right . Because again, this is not to. I have had white people say to me over the past couple of weeks, while, i used to think you were extreme and now it seems you are right about the cops. Yes, i have been. And i have been for a long time. My goal with that piece was to say look, i am glad that now, you are awakening to this problem. But what i need you to do, as opposed to reaching out to me, as opposed to seeing if i need a cookie or a fruit basket, i need you to go out there in your own networks, around your own white people were i am not invited and my voice is not heard and im not allowed to speak to them, and you do that work. You sound like meat when youre hanging out with your only white friends you sound like me when youre hanging out with your only white friends or when youre hanging out with your family at thanksgiving. Because this has been a longterm problem and aggressively combating Police Brutality and the racism that leads to Police Brutality is a fulltime job, that African American people, black people in this country, do every day. If you are white and you want to help, you have to make part you have to make that part of your fulltime job, to stamp out or at least challenge racism and oppression wherever you see it. Because as a white citizen you will be allowed into rooms and conversations where people of color are not going to be there. So you have to be the advocate. You have to be my ally in that moment, not just over a text or twitter in my face. Host one of the themes that have emerged from George Floyds death, this idea of systematic racism within the departments, you can look at specific instances like gorge floyd. But what other metrics to look at to make that case . All i thinkt it all goes back to once the state has you and puts their hands on you, and by the state i mean agents of the government, one state put their hands on you anything can happen. Anything can go wrong. Whether racism, bias, anything can go wrong. What we need to do is decrease the time and the ability of the state to put their hands on you. When you look at stops, stops have always been incredibly, overwhelmingly, racially biased. The reason why people, it seems like eight years ago, three month ago, Mike Bloomberg was trying to run for president , right . And black people were like, im not having that. Why were they not having that . Because Mike Bloomberg was johnny on the spot when it came to stop and frisk. He thought was a good idea and it was actually the worst possible idea. If police do not stop you, they cannot kill you. When we talk about system and bias in the system, the need to force police to show a standard of probable cause for a stop, that goes beyond, he was black and it looked like he was doing something. That has to be priority number one. Priority number two has to be piercing the veil of what is called qualified immunity. That means that if a cop is doing something in the line of duty, they cannot be sued, which gives cops impunity to commit constitutional violations and crimes while in the line of duty. We have to peers the veil of qualified immunity and makes ops pierce the veil of qualified immunity and may cops pay for violations while theyre doing their work. If we can stop those two things i think that is a quicker way to get at the underlying systemic bias in the system, as opposed to focusing only on what is called post custodial treatment. What we saw with george floyd was post custodial treatment. What we south air garner was post custodial treatment what we saw with Erik Gardiner was post custodial treatment. Im trying to get it where we are not putting people in custody in the first place. Caller, go ahead go ahead. Caller i think it is sad that people do not trust the police. I love the Police Officers we have and i respect them and i think the vast majority of them do a terrific job. I think it is just disgraceful the way these terminals these criminals have torn down our city and i do not respect criminals who would go and lose and tear down and i cannot believe they have a nerve to talk about defunding the police when the Police Protect us and save our lives. It is a disgrace. Thank you. Guest yes, well, i do not. I do not trust police. Im always more worried in most situations about the cops then he alleged criminal activity. Is, isson why that because we have laws against crime, right . Of government,m that says certain things are bad, you cannot rob me you cannot bug me. We do not seem to have you cannot bug me. Mug me. We do not have laws against police crime. Police are allowed to stop me with no reason. People are allowed to restrict my movement in my axis on comes up charges. People my access. People are allowed to beat me and shoot me and that is not ok. ,olice operate above the law and i cannot begin to trust somebody who does not operate within the bounds of society and the law. Im sure that will not be our first call suggesting that what is really happening now is a bunch of criminals losing and i do not want to go too far down that rabbit hole. I will simply say, that the vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, and respectful. And if you think about what theyre protesting, if you think pain,the kind of the and the illegalities they are protesting. The fact that 90 of them [cameras clicking] kayleigh hello everyone. The transition to greatness has officially begun. Fridays jobs report was encouraging. The jobs in this country, we had 2. 5 million added. The prediction was 7. 5 million jobs would be lost. This was a swing toward the Positive Side and the greatest number of jobs created in a single month on record