Transcripts For KGO ABC7 News 400PM 20240712

You are not alone today. Abc7 presents from anger to action, a bay area conversation. And we thank you for joining us for this special edition of abc7 news. Im eric thomas along with kumasi aaron and jobina fortson. And for everyone, it has been a challenging and difficult week. To say the least, eric. Weve all seen the video of george floyd being killed, the marches, the protests and the calls for change. So now the question is whats next. Today, instead of our traditional 4 00 p. M. Newscast, we are talking with a panel of experts in an abc7 listens conversation from anger to action. So over the next hour are having a frank and honest conversation about race, equality and the path forward with a panel of experts and also with questions from you. Yes, exactly, kumasi. This is an important onehour conversation airing on tv, on abc7news. Com, youtube, and facebook. In minneapolis today, mourners paid their respects to george floyd, who was killed after a Minneapolis Police officer planted a knee on to his neck and left there it for more das t ght minutes a week and a streets in south San Francisco. Its just one of hundreds of marches, protests, and rallies across the country that have taken place since golfs death. And whats happening here in the bay area and really across the country is highlighting a very tense and painful history. Abc7 News Reporter Zachary Kiesch says fear and lack of trust arent issues that exactly new for america. Law enforcement from around the country cant get far enough away from the actions of former cop and accused killer derek chauvin. When we do not live up to our core values, we chip away at the very trust weve worked so hard to build. These officers didnt just fail as cops. They fundamentally failed as human beings. There is no training across anywhere in this country, but especially here at the city of miami that teaches someone to take that kind of action. But its not new for america. This country has beenic begi in the south, organized poling was used to keep physical and psychological control over slaves. Its been described as organized terror to prevent revolt, to control movement. Some considered it a civic duty. Others did it for money. Then it was the jim crow laws that were meant to keep the black community in their place. We live in a society that still sees black people as violent, as dangerous, as immoral, as untrustworthy. So when they have interaction was Law Enforcement, we dont get a presumption of innocence. Whats unfolding in minneapolis is initiating new conversations but old issues, reflective of deeply ingrained and institutionalized racism. What youe saying well, we cant do the same things that we always do. We cant rely on the same judicial system. We cant rely on the same decision makers. We have to take justice into our own hands. According to studies, blacks are more likely to get stopped, searched, arrested and killed by police in this country. And some agree there has been progress, be threw is a fundamental difference when it comes to race and interactions with police. There is a certain amount of distrust there shouldnt be these levels of distrust or fear in many situations. So thats relevant in any discussion on race is fear and distrust. Weve got to get past this. In a 2016 pew study, 33 of blacks said police do a good or excellent job of using the right amount of force in each encounter. White americans on the other hand believed that happened 75 of the time. Study policing of black communities, of violence against black americans committed by the police, then you know that this is part of a very long history, and that these are not unrelated. There is so much to discuss with our live panel. Zooming in today, we have malia cohen, california state board of equalization chair and former president of the board of supervisors of San Francisco. Samuel getachew, oakland youth poet laureate, and pall, executive director of the San Francisco department of police accountability. We also have ersie joyner, a retired Oakland Police captain, dr. Massachusetts marshall, codirector of alive and free. And we also have leslie zeitler, who is with the nonprofit Racial Justice organization race forward. You are also part of this conversation too. Go to facebook or youtube to weigh in and interact in todays virtual town hall. Honestly, you guys, im so happy that all of you are here. Im excited about this conversation. And i think we should start it really by unpacking why people are so hurt and so angry. And ill start with you, dr. Marshall, because really, this has been years in the making. And its a lot bigger than what happened with george floyd. My first thought as to why, look at that video. That video is horrible. What happened to Ahmaud Arbery in georgia, to i think his name was Christian Cooper i believe in new york. Those three things happened in a very, you know, short amount of time. And you put that on years and years of history, its not not understandable to me what has happened and how this has hurt so many people and sparked this kind of outrage. Yeah. I talk to kids all the time. Im not surprised. Im not surprised. And ive seen a lot of these, but im not surprised by this. Dr. Marshall, first you and maybe from malia cohen, we have seen other videotaped incidents like this going back to rodney king and other incidents like this. Why is this one so different than those, or is it . You know, thats an interesting question, and i got to tell you, growing up as a kid i watched the boating of rodney king, and then in 2012, Trayvon Martin. I remember watching that shooting and that trial. It was 2012 when i was newly elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors that really moved me, that impassioned me that hey, im in a position the make change, and im in a position to begin to institute and bring about policy as an elected policymaker. And so i believe what people are feeling, what the nation is feeling is a compounded effect of seeing countless people, black men and black women being shot and killed and murdered at the hands of police. And i think we will continue to feel this pressure we will continue to feel this angst, this sadness, this grief until we start to see real systemic change. And you are slowly seeing this change. I do want to acknowledge we are some ways away from where our grandparents marched considering that we do have a right to vote. But even often in recent past, the right to vote act has been under attack. So i think what youre seeing here is really a turning point that will carry us and carry this momentum forward so that we can continue to pull people through and up the racism, the racist talk, the antiblack sentiment thats across this country. I think whats different about this particular moment is youre starting to see more white people, more corporations, more people in elected positions of power as well as those within i think about our military and our Law Enforcement structure that are saying hey, i think we do have a problem here. Well need to reflect and review some of our use of force policies, some of our policies that we have in place, our practices. And this goes across the gamut. This is not just in Law Enforcement, but i think about property. Think about red line, think about the number of Small Businesses and minority businesses that have not been able to get ppp from the federal government. I mean, this is absolutely systemic in what youre seeing is a physical manifestation of this outcry of frustration, hurt and pain. I think thats interesting, buzz weve been hearing this quote a lot the last few days from dr. Martin luther king, a riot is the language of the unheard. And it kind of gives a sense that for a long time this has been ignored, and there is also i feel a bit more of the compounding of people saying there is more focus on how people are speaking out as opposed to the reasons why theyre speaking out. Have you all noticed that kind of tying into this as well . I think we absolutely have. And its when you Start Talking about the different manifestations of the protests versus a rally, versus a walk, versus a riot, like its all coming from the same source, from communities and i say a broad sense of communities that have felt a sense of frustration that are now feeling a sense of instigati instigation, right, that there is an authentic anger and a genuine demand for change. Its both of those two things that are happening right now. And we are at a flash point i think because people are frustrated to the point of taking action because they see these things happening again and again and again and theyre recorded on our television and the conversations that in many communities weve been having these conversations for decades. And now that we have somebody on campus, now that we have were recording these incidents and seeing them and we have a visceral reaction to how could this happen. And then when we see these instances and its not translated into accountability, the level of frustration continues to rise, and this is why were at a point, a crossroads, in fact, where were redefining what does Law Enforcement look like. And this doesnt mean that all Law Enforcement is bad. It just means that some Law Enforcement is bad, and then what do we do . Its just as important that we have Law Enforcement be accountable and have guidelines and accountability to what they cannot do and must not do as much as its important that we demand what they do do. And these conversations are whats taking place now. And i think thats what is behind people that are coming to the streets that are carrying signs and are demanding of communities and of their cities and of their states and of their national government. You can do better, you must do better, and its our job and our responsibility to have these informed conversations so that broader people know and understand the subjective and intransigent decisions that are behind these outcomes were seeing when we must ask why. And then we can answer how we can come up with the solution, because we cant fix what we arent talking about. Thats whats behind the movement that were seeing in this country. I like to also add that not only can we not fix what were not talking about, but were cant fix what were not chniti data on, wt wre not analyzing in addition talking about it. Yeah, i definitely agree that a lot of people have taken their phones out documenting this. And that has made such a big difference in the response that were seeing from people. And i know jobina, were checking people who are listening to this conversation. Theyre checking in with you on social media. What are thehere. We have ronald chu checking in from San Francisco here saying you cannot blame all police for ones actions. We need the police. Reform is not for everybody. All you have to do is obey the law. Now i know there are lots of people that disagree with that. We have someone following up that it is the police. That is a really controversial issue, and i know we have a retired Police Officer on this panel. So we are going to get into that. And we want you to join the conversation. You are a part of this. Abc7 listens town hall 2. Go to facebook. Im looking at it right now, or youtube, to weigh in and interact in todays virtue youll town hall. We havent heard yet from samuel getachew. We havent heard from ersie joyner. But we will. Just sit tight, folks. Well get to them. But right now we ask some bay area people what they felt when they heard about george floyd. Its not just anger. Its an overwhelming sadness. I was hurt, more than anything. Put agony on your neck, thats so disrespectful and thats such a dehumanizing position to be in. My initial reaction was to cry. Sad to me personally as an african american, a marine corps veteran, seeing the country that i protected wont protect me or people that look like me. I was really sad, and it just made me sick. It wasnt like okay, this is how the world is. It has been like this. Theyve been killing black people. Disgust. Pain. It repeatedly happens. It happened to my parents, my grandparents. Were still repeating the same story. I dont have the answer to a 400year problem. I know that there are steps we can take just to bring him to justice by convicting all of those Police Officers involved and then working on fixing the system. Our communities should watch out for us. I feel like if our Community Watch out for our back, we dont need police. Who do we call when we cant call the police and we are scared of the police . I just feel like black people are so fed up with trying to be patient and wait on change. Its like if the government doesnt change, if the president doesnt change anything, im afraid i dont know when this is going to end. To all the black people, its our time to heal. First and foremost, that needs to happen. And honestly, for the white people, its time to do your job. Start speaking up. Yeah, lots of history of Police Brutality out there. Id like to check in now with ere arded caerithe Police Department, ive got a figure people would come up to you after incident likes this, especially after they saw the video and say whats going on . Ersie . First and foremost, i want to offer a much heartfelt thank you to kgo for hosting this very important information. More importantly putting together such a diverse voice on the panel to make sure that peoples voices are heard. But i think before we even get started, we first need to acknowledge the fact that this is not the first time this is happening in black communities, underserved communities. We talk a lot about why this is so fueled and why people are so angry. Thing is the first time someone saw someone lose their life before their eyes. That is the most agonizing nine minutes anyone could watch, no matter whether youre wearing a uniform or not that is something that has grabbed the attention of not just the black community, but the whole United States. One of the things i can tell you in my close to 30 years of serving this community in oakland is when there has been uses of force, things happen throughout the nation, the thing that you hear officers often say is hey, most officers are good, and there is only a few bad apples. I cringe every time i hear that. There are certain professions where you cant have any bad apples. If youve ever tasted a bad apple, youre going to pause every time you pick up a apple. The good apples have to realize the bad apples are attacking their integrity and dignity and the profession they love. I was honored to wear a uniform in the community i grew up in. For where a man or woman leaves their home, their family, their loved ones, puts on a uniform and is willing to lose there life for people they dont know, sometimes for people who dont even like them. So for me, its a very, very proud profession. But with all of that said, i think our conversation needs to move and focus on the next steps, what to do and what true accountability looks like. And to your question, yes, living here in oakland, being a lifelong oakland resident, i can tell you that i cant tell you how many times i fielded a question about what do i think and waiting for people to have justification. Have i none for that. There is no just fayification f what took place. In closing, the only Silver Lining in all of this is that this conversation is starting to be had, and for the first time, the Oakland Police department, the San Jose Police department and the San Francisco Police Department put out a joint letter condemning the acts of those officers. And more importantly, condemning the officers who stood by and watched him do what he did that is something we should build on. Again, it does not minimize what happened to mr. Floyd. But in terms of moving forward, its definitely something we need to take this energy and move this community forward. I agree with the focus on accountability. Because i think that is a focus right now. Its been a focus for a long time. But i think people still feel there is a lack of accountability when police are involved in certain circumstances. Paul, i want to talk to you about that. What do you see that have been barriers to police accountability, and what can people do to hold officers accountable when necessary . I think the information itself about how our Justice System works is a real barrier. This is why when you saw a case that happened in kansas and they addressed this issue and it got resolved, and then you see the same thing happen in mississippi and you wonder how does it happen. We have to start looking at the systemic challenges and try and find systemic solutions. Some of the lowhanging fruit and approaches we have to Start Talking about is how do we empower communities . Communities should be at the table and be able to define what Public Safety looks like for themselves. They should be able to define what safety and what type of policing they want for themselves as well. These are all of the tax dollars. And i would say one of the first biggest steps is talking about the very important issue of civilian oversight. We already know these arent subjective interpretations, these are just facts. That those are best practices for having race neutral outcomes and race neutral tactics is having civilian oversight. There is over 17,000 Law Enforcement agencies in the United States, and there just other 200 civilian oversight agencies. We have to start having the conversation. And those are some of the things that we can do right now from our in front of our televisions with our computer is asking our city, our town, our mayors, our chiefs of police, why dont we have civilian oversight . How can we start civilian oversight to start having these conversations. And just as easily are things of use of force and addressing do you have a reform or updated use of force approach in your city . Because if you dont, its an adoptive admission of old and bad behaviors, not reflective of best practices that includes restrictive neck techniques, that includes not having body worn cameras, that includes not having time, distance and spacetec techniques to reduce the use of force. And that ties back really into a third very important level that malia cohen was talking about is the data. We cant take an aspirational approach to what we think could happen. We have to have it measured. We have to collect data, and we have to collect data that it is race sensitive. Tell me turn over what is your use of force with communities of color. And then once youre collecting that data, analyze that data. Its not enough just to say its being collected and its in the state arc kief. Its not enough to say weve collected it and here it is in the locker room over here. It has to be published. It has to be talked about. Because thats the only way that were going to approach a solution in an informed way, and everyone can do that. These are things that dont have budget impacts, which i think we have to talk about, because those in the past have also been barriers to some of these solutions that we talked about. Your collection of data, your dissemination of data should be at the forefront of how we try and find solutions and how we empower ourselves as communities to make sure that were making a difference every single day for the Police Department that were working with. Paul, i want to get your take on this and maybe malia right after. Because you used that all important word that we hear after every controversial use of force incident, reform. Were going reform the police departme. We hear Police Commissions saying them. We hear mayors saying it. Were going get in there and reform. So if we are reforming, why do we keep having this problem . Yeah, i think its a difficult problem to have, and oftentimes those solutions turn into a case by case analysis, and thats part of the problem. If we take a step back and we look at the Bigger Picture of whats happening in the state and whats happening in this nation, it almost defines some of the problems. So, like for example in this nation at the federal government level, our department of justice and the Civil Rights Division has shrunk to less than half of what it was during the last administration, right . And what does that mean . And what message does that send, the focus, that there hasnt been a major pattern and practice investigation from the federal government during this entire administration . That means that we are not rooting out systematic problems associated with civil Rights Violations that have been tied to Law Enforcement, right . And so the approach is that weve been seeing institutionalized by our federal government has been a focus on individual transgressions. And what that does is it decouples the solutions from broad strategies that would affect entire communities, entire states, and entire cities. So we have to start looking for those things that we cant do unless were collecting data to try and implement solutions that are going to be long lasting, and implement them across the board. If every city does one thing of lets start civilian oversight and figure out the guidelines that works best for us to have it, lets just do use of force and use of force strategy. There are so many things brought to the table that then get institutionalized so that we dont keep saying weve fixed this problem in fresno and now its in santa barbara. We had a big case in oakland that was ridiculous, and now its in san mateo in the exact same thing. And every time we come out and we say we send thoughts and prayers. This was one transgressive, no, no, we have to look beyond and address the policy. We have to ask our leaders to take the helm for us. I think its a good segue into what ms. Cohen is about to say and talk about how she used her platform. How she used her voice, her authority and her experience to translate that into empower the agencies doing civilian oversight and to make sure that we have measured outcomes. And this is outcome oriented, to make sure things are getting done in order to make change. Paul . I think thats really important. Thank you for asking that question. And malia, what are you going to say about that . One more time. I didnt hear you. I was asking your thoughts. Oh, yes, im glad you asked because have i several. So first, i would say that when dr. Marshall was on the Police Commission in San Francisco, we were actually successful in creating oversight. And as i mentioned, Trayvon Martin, 2012, that was a Pivotal Point for me, but also mario woods shooting was incredibly pivotal in my career in kind of shaping my awareness when it comes to criminal justice reform. And one of the things that i quickly learned is we need to have not only independence when there are officerinvolved shootings, we need to have independent investigation, but we also need to have audit and financial and fiscal management oversight so we have how tax dollars are being spent and how theyre being allocated. I think thats a critical portion of the conversation. The other thing is that sometimes this is a long haul. This is a marathon. This is not a sprint. And it takes in order to create policy, to bring it to voter, get them the vote, get them to implement it, the next year youre going to have to go through the budgeting process. You see right now were at a flash point, and people are incensed. Theyre enraged, and theyre engaged. Theyre paying attention to it. Now our challenge as a community is to make sure we harvest this momentum and that we keep it Going Forward to insure that were filling out the census, to make sure that we go out there and vote, come hell or high water and we get out there and exercise our ability to lift our voice. Thank you. Sorry. Go ahead. Thank you, kumasi. It was amen, right . The other portion is that we really need people to be diligent and to be attending these meetings on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis, not just when were in a crisis point. Decisions are being made. Important decisions are being made every single day. When there is nobody in the audience, when there is no public, when there is no camera. And we need to be mindful of that, and we have to be vigilant and stay on it so when a crisis arises, were organized, were focused, we know what we want, when we know what our asks are, we know the policy initiatives, and were able the take the conversation and continue to move it forward. If i may just briefly lift up with what malia and what paul were saying. Both you have thank you for your service and the accountability. I just say if we have oversight for the sake of oversight, there is no oversight. Almost half of our Police Career weve been under a Consent Decree at the Oakland Police department. I give john burrs and shannon a lot of credit to bring for whard what needed to be held accountable. But look where we are multiple years later. The reason why were there now, you look at our current monitor who does not live here in this community, who does not actually have a team who lives in this community and often times is speaking about what the black community needs. He doesnt know, nor does his team know what me and my family need in the Police Department. But yet as a community weve allowed this to go on and pay this man millions of dollars. Again, when you have oversight for just the sake of oversight, what youre going to have is Police Officers checking the boxes to fulfill the requirements of the federal judge so they can move on. So therefore you have no systemic change. You are have not addressed any of the issues which is porl moral compass with individuals, and how to treat people with dignity and respect, those who are the bad individuals who are entrenched in the Police Department at all ranks. We want to talk more than. By the way, what ersie was talking about, he is the federal Court Appointed monitor to oversee the Oakland Police department. And he has been doing that for several years now. Yeah, its a very complex issue. And people are certainly weighing in on this on social media right now. Have i something from carrie peterson. She is saying can we figure out some tools and methods to stop the racism from being inflicted upon our youth . They force children to say the pledge of allegiance at school, but we must educate the meaning. We have here coming in Scott Stauffer from San Francisco saying what conversations can we as white people have that dont think reform is needed for the Police Department and blame the, quote, thugs for derailing the message . Some really deep stuff that is being brought out right now. We will have to kick that off in our next segment here, and we want you to join in on this conversation. Go to facebook or youtube to interact with our panel today. Thanks, jobina. We know there have been marches, protest, rallies across the country the past week calling for change. And its not just one group of merica oick matt whae . Juhen doe wt ela fil members. We have black friends. I have black coworkers. This matters to me. This is important to me. And i dont want to in 20 years, i dont want to look back and not be able to say that i was standing up for people. Its a frustration. How else are you going to get your point across that this is not okay. Seeing the diversity of the people here, if i wanted to show my support for black community. And everybody coming together in this way i think showed the impact of the death of george floyd along with Breonna Taylor and all the others, yes. It seems as if like this is a turning point right now. Black lives matter no justice no peace the country is tired of it, and im proud that the younger generation, a little younger than i are even more over it. I. No racist police i think showing up is really key. Understanding that its not safe for everyone to be here. As a white person, its a lot less likely that im going to be hurt or killed. So i really need to be there. There are so many things that we need to do. Ye, would be wof if we were all over it. But racism is an issue that everyone has to work to overcome. Alliship is a really important part of this process. Allyship is a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, accountability with marginalized individuals and or groups of people, specifically a marginalized or mistreated group to which one does not belong. So i want to start with leslie as we kick off this conversation, because in the last week or so, a lot of people have been asking how can i be an ally . What does that look like, and where do i start . Leslie, can you hear us . Oh, i want to make sure we can hear this. Oh, she was being so responsible, muting her mic. Thank you, leslie, for that. We want to hear your response. Okay oh, no, we cant hear you. Oh, not yet, leslie. Weve been waiting to talk to you. Well, while you work on that, im going to ask samuel a qustion, if we can. Samuel wrote an article that was featured in the washington post, and it had an egalitarian angle to it that is rarely expressed. Would you like to talk about that, samuel . And sure, before i say anything, i want to preface this by saying i know this was advertised as an expert panel. I want to clarify i am a student. I am a poet, and i am a black person, but i am not an expert. The only thing i can claim to be an expert is my own limited experience. Im also not an activist. I graduated high school last week. And instead of graduation parties, i spent my first week of summer getting tear gassed by the Oakland Police department at a peaceful protest and donating my graduation money to bailout protesters. I dont want platitudes from elected officials or police chiefs. I dont particularly want reform. As we heard echoed earlier on this call today, reform for reforms sake is useless. Te use of tear g by the Oakland Police department on monday was guest opds own policy for crowd control. In 2010, opd rolled out a body cam program, and that was touted as some kind of reform solution. But citizens of misconduct complaints are not even guaranteed access to that footage. And in 2014, a quarter of that departments footage was accidentally deleted. New regulations and reforms are absolutely meaningless if will are no consequences for Police Departments that break them. I want to start off by saying that. I also want to thank abc for giving me a position on this panel. I dont necessarily feel im worthy of it, but i feel like i would be doing more of a service to turn it down than it would be to use this platform. About my article, that article was written in a response to Christian Cooper case that we saw in new york. When a white woman called the police on a black man for asking her to leash her dog in an area where leashes are required. I wrote that article in response to my own frustration of what i was seeing and on social media in response to that event. When details about Christian Coopers background started to go public, and people found out he was a harvard graduate and was eloquent and loved bird watching and was every model of respectability, politics they could think of, they somehow started to see that as the reason he did not deserve the reason why what happened to him. When we start to place certain black people on higher orkys if you dress this way, if you talk this way, you have r somehow more deserving of human rights, of human respect, of the presumption of your innocence and protection of your life, that is when we start to separate people into another category of black people that inherently deserve to die. That is why i wrote that article. While i still have the mic, i also want to you can keep the mic, because we have followups now. I would like to yield my time to samuel for the rest of the show. That wont be necessary, ersie. Well get become to you. But samuel, you keep going. I like him. Keep going, bro. I know i know we heard earlier from one of the commentaries on facebook. Somebody said if you dont want police to use excessive force, dont cause violence. I want to challenge everybody watching at home to reframe the way they think about violence. When the police kneel on a mans neck for nine minutes and murder him, that is violence. When the taxpayerfunded agencies that we call Law Enforcement are able to routinely murder black americans without facing consequences, that is violence. What follows is an act of selfdefense. If you manage to be more outraged by the destruction of property bying anry citizens than you are by the destruction of black lives by taxpayerfunded government agencies, it is because you have been conditioned to view black people as subhumans. It is because you have been conditioned to Value Property more than you do black life. I want us all to reframe the way that we look at nonviolence and protest. When white people out the Martin Luther king as the ideal form of protest and say that because of what he did works, we should all be nonviolent, theyre forgetting that Martin Luther king was met with severe violence at those protests. Martin luther king jr. Was assassinated, i want to remind you also. And when the Civil Rights Movement deployed nonviolent tactics, they were routinely met with inhumane violence. So when you tell black people to protest the statesanctioned murder of their people nonviolently, consistently across the board, even as Law Enforcement meets these peaceful protests with violence, you are essentially asking them to passively and defensively accept the enactment of further violence upon them in order to protest the violence that has already been enacted. And that is for now all that i have to say in answer to that qestion. Well, samuel, thats a lot to unpack. Jobina, did you have some followup questions from people you said on social media . Yes. And more so directed at samuel, and also to add to his note, in the 60s there was a survey done that showed Martin Luther king jr. Was the most disliked person in america at that time. Samuel, being a young person and seeing all of this, obviously you have not lived through these other points in history where we have seen similar protests and demonstrations. In your classroom, in your friend groups, are you all able toe learn more about this, talk about this, or is this something that completely blew you away . And also, do you feel like there is a focus lacking in the movement right now . I did an interview earlier this week with a reverend that is working very closely with George Floyds family, and he says ig from this movement is the focus. He talked about the bu bus boycotts. That was a focus. He talked about the right to vote. That was a focus. Are you all finding that as well . First, to answer the first question specking on my peers and other young people, i think i have found a rare source of comfort in the past week in the outrage that i have seen my peers express over this. I was in middle school when Trayvon Martin was killed. I remember vividly in a seventh grade classroom putting my hood on against the School Dress Code in protest of that. This is something that has been a consistent part of my childhood and the childhood of the people around me. And, you know, several of my friends were there with me protesting on monday. I have been unable to protest then since physically, but have i consistently seen my classmates and peers out there as well. I think that there is something incredibly fresh about the pei wei that people my age are able to imagine a World Without Police Brutality because they have been in one for less time. And then in response to your question about the lack of focus, i absolutely think there is a lack of focus. I also am viewing that from a compassionate lens. I understand that a lot of people are feeling a lot of intense emotions. I myself am included in that. But with our anger has to come proper guidance and leadership. As i mentioned before, i am not an organizer. I am simply a black person who is angry and has some sort of platform. I think the most important thing that we can do right now is follow the lead of black organizers who have been doing this work, who do this work year round, not just in the spotlight. I personally have been following the work of people the antipolice terror project and taking their lead. I am consistently learning. I think the most important, important aspect of the work that were doing right now is humility. You have to be consistently willing to learn, and you have to consistently be willing to take the lead of others. Well said. Well said, young man. We wanted to give some of our colleagues a chance to weigh in on this today as well, beginning with our spencer christian. As a youngster, even as a college age kid, i couldnt go to public playgrounds or swimming pools or tennis courts. Well, in the late 60s, that all changed as civil rights legislation was passed, and that was a time of great hope and idealism for me. And i just believed that the American Dream was finally going to would be racial harmony and justice, and opportunities certainly did open up. But what didnt change rapidly enough to move our society to where it should be is hearts and minds. Peoples hearts and minds havent changed enough to produce the kind of understanding and harmony that we need. And thats why were having these heartbreaking incidents that have been in the news lately. Black people are victimized for driving while black, jogging while black, bird watching while black, breathing while black. That still happens. And large segments of the country are not aware of that because they dont experience it. So now, although whats happening that is causing so much turmoil is heartbreaking, im also hopeful. Im hopeful once again because when i watch the protest, i see a are inbow coalition, if you will, of people of all colors and ethnicities coming together and demanding Racial Justice and equal treatment under the law. That gives me hope. The killing of george floyd was nothing short of horrific. The fact that a Police Officer or anyone for that matter would think its appropriate to kneel on a persons neck for more than eight minutes is appalling. Whether fueled by racism or driven by aggression, the fact is there is too much senseless killing in our communities. While im not going to sit here and say i have the answers to solve this problem, i will say we all have to solve the problems within ourselves. Be a better person than you were yesterday. Work on being more considerate. Focus on being a better listener, and have some gratitude for the gift of life. Its only when you look within yourself to be the best you can individually that we can be better collectively. To my fellow Black Brothers and sisters watching right now, i know youre hurt, and im hurting with you. The only thing more painful than the repeated nightmare of seeing people who look like us unjustly killed at the hands of police are the jarring similarities of the grieving families. Another grieving wife, girlfrie err dren meone oks like us, and whoou b. Im fi rag soany of you as wev seen a full display in our streets and peaceful protests day in and day out recently. Now we must triumph over the trauma and channel that generational frustration into action. To all of you watching, i hope you use your voices and platforms, however large or small to create change, real change, have those Difficult Conversations and hold each other accountable, including our elected officials and Police Forces as we will continue to do so as journalists dedicated to the truth, including this one, black lives matter. My black life matters. And to paraphrase brother james baldwin, committee we can make america what it must become. Join us in taking a step forward. Such good perspectives. And abc7 news anchor dan ashley has been watching our discussion today. And dan, im curious what you are thinking and observing as youre watching. Well, kumasi, thank you so much for including me on this incredibly profound conversation. Ive enjoyed thoroughly and learned from it and benefitted from it. I think like so many of my colleagues, i would say that i was sickened, as we all were by what we saw happen to george floyd. Hard to believe. We know it happens far too often in this country. But its so difficult to watch. I couldnt sleep for hours a couple of nights after it happened. But watching everyone speak today and hearing this conversation, i find a sense of purpose in all of this. And we have to try to look for the good in whats happening, and we have so far to go in this country. I was rereading as i have read many times and watched many times dr. Kings i have a dream speech delivered on august 28th, 1963. Again, amazing document. Now there will be another march on the 57th anniversary with al sharpton leading the charge in washington, d. C. This summer. And im just reminded that 57 years since that amazing speech, we have still not solved this problem in the United States. And its so hard to believe that we havt and weo have to change, as spencer mentioned, hearts and minds. When you listen to a young man like samuel, the Oakland High School graduate, i dont know what you were doing when you graduated high school, but it wasnt thinking and writing as he does. What an amazing young man. It gives you hope for the future. Im so proud of this television station and to work for people and with people who are so compassionate and so dedicated to have this conversation and to continue to have this continue. I can tell you that the people we work with and work for are committed to continuing this conversation. The george floyd is just one in a string of very sad cases in this country. Unfortunately, it probably will not be the last. We know that instinctively. But this time so many people are coming together with such a profound sense of outrage and determination to make things different Going Forward that we can be hopeful, hopeful that out of this more good will come and more conversation, more understanding and more changing, as spencer mentioned, of hearts and minds can result. So thats how im feeling today. Certainly a sense of sadness and anger, but also one of some optimism that at least were having this conversation and people around the country are traching to the streets in peaceful and meaningful ways to make their voices heard. Definitely, dan. Thank you. And i think a big part of what dan is talking about is people coming together. And that kind of ties back to our conversation that we were having about allyship, and what it means to be an ally. And for people who want to, but dont necessarily know where to start. I dont know if leslie, if we can connect with you really quickly. Because people want to know how they can be a part of this to see the change that so many people are calling for. Absolutely. Thank you. Can you hear me . Yes, i can hear you. Excellent. So before i answer the question about allyship, because i think thats an important piece to address, id like to first address something that came up really quickly, and some of the conversations just a few mincing ago about why do these things keep happening in our communities, and whats government doing about it. At race forward, i work with the Government Alliance on race and equity, and i work with agencies in california who are applying a Racial Equity tool, a Racial Equity analysis to their programs, their policies, their practices. And so its something thats intended to be applied on an ongoing manner to things liken gauging with communities, to budgeting, to hr and workforce issues so that it is approached in a systematic and systemic manner. I just want the say there is some work being done out there to address systemic solutions. Secondarily, allyship. So im an Asian American woman, and have i been struggling to find way to be in solidarity with black families and black communities. This is really the silence of others, of nonblack people. We cannot afford to be silent. Our silence allows black people to die as a result of institutional and structural racism. And not talking about race and racism because weve been socialized not to talk about it has made the average person and especially white people uncomfortable talking about race. But this results in more deaths of black people and allowing black people to die because we cant talk about institutional and structural and everyday racism is unconscionable. So a few things. One, we either speak up in support of black families or we shut up and listen. So we stand alongside black families and communities. And if were asked to stand in front of or behind black families and communities, then we do what were asked to do to support them. This means that were centering black communities, the people who have been most harmed by injustice. Another piece of this is that as an Asian American woman, i have a different relationship with police than do people in black communities. My family members havent had to deal with the kind of ongoing violence that black communities have to deal with on a daily basis that results in death for their families, for their communities. In that respect, i have privilege, and it means its even more important to stand in solidarity with black families and plaque communities. For me its important to address in what ways do i have privilege and how do i choose to use that privilege . And do i choose to support those most negatively impacted by institutional and structural ra anyou. Well, i appreciate that. Starting with just having conversations. And i know since all of this has happened, there are so many resources onlie right now for people to reach out if they want to know how to be an ally. We have it on our abc7 news page. But i think another piece thats important to talk about as we kind of end our conversation is where do people go from here when it comes to focusing and taking action . Because we see the unrest in the streets. But what are the next steps . What can people do . And we only have about five minutes or so, but if a few of you could touch on that, because people want to know what they can do. And ersie, i know you and i talked about this, so if i can start with you briefly and some of the ideas you have. First, let me just say action looks differently for everybody. Whatever your Comfort Level of action, thats what you should stick to as your core principle. About what leslie brought up about the conversation, the first true step is admitting that we have a problem. When we had chief Anthony Batts who came from outside, when he got to opd, he had an offsite meeting with every command staff member. There was roughly 50 of us sitting in the room, and he asked a very easy question. He said do you guys think racism exists in this Police Department. Out of the ten black commanders that were there, eight people raised their hand. Out of the white commanders that were there, about four or five people raised their hand. Some of the white commanders who i served with early on in my career who were willing to die for me and i die for them, they looked at me in disbelief. Are you serious . Do you really think racism exists . And i think the conversation we need to have is we need to Start Talking about racism not as an attack. When you hear the word racism, you equate that to someone wearing a hood or doing become what we saw in the earlier days. Racism has evolved. Its at a different level. You have covert racism, overt racism, until we can all admit there is a problem, we will never come up with a solution. Now to offer quickly to surmise a quick suggestion on what we can do. We should not lose this moment. When black lives matter happened, it was international. The momentum was fierce. As time goes on, they still exist, but they lack the momentum they had before. When we seized that movemen when black lives matter, president obama earmarked money for the United States Police Departments and tried to give as many as he could body cameras. But where we failed as a society is we sent these body cameras out that were paid for by People Like Us with no policy. So basically, there is Police Departments all throughout the nation who is making up their own rules for body cameras that we all paid for. Thats a travesty. So as we have everyones attention right now and we Start Talking about crafting policy and moving forward, we need to make sure that our policy and our actions actually match the results that we want to see. Thank you for that. And i also want to ask you, malia, about it. Political action is a really important part of this too. Swhoen we talk about next steps politically, what do you see as best next steps . Im in agreement with ersie. If you recall black lives matter, you recall Trayvon Martin, you recall mario woods, it was a conversation around tasers. Do we allow officers to have tasers . Do we not . And we lacked the policy to govern the images the Data Collected once a taser was given or not given. I just want to put that out there that i agree. And im coming to this conversation as a policymaker. So i see the importance of mandatory implicit bias training for and also antibias training Law Enforcement as well as overall Government Employees. And i pull in Government Employees because governments have access to large amounts of capital. Theyre funding nonprofit organizations, Public Health organizations, and theyre doing a lot of social service work, and sometimes, oftentimes there is bias in who gets money and who does not get money. I think that is a critical point to look at. I also think its important for us to update and or revise all of the use of force policies. Up until six years ago, San Francisco hadnt touched its use of force policies in over 25 years. Over 25 years. So use of force policies deserve a fresh look on an annual or biannual basis. And again, that is by a large spectrum, not just Law Enforcement, but that you do have civilian oversight and thought leaders. Id even bring in educator, academics that study the data and can understand and can help us shape policies again that will best help give us the tools to serve our constituents. I think that we should be having a more across the country country, i think we need more departments of Police Oversight so that there is a sense of independence when there is an officerinvolved shooting. I think that state attorney general offices should be called on more often to do impartial investigations. Yes. I think thats actually another critical portion to the conversation. In addition to advocacy. Yeah, there is so much. And i just appreciate us starting it here. And this conversation that weve all had, its been beautiful. And i thank you all for joining us and being a part of it, taking your time out of your busy schedule today just to talk with us about these issues surrounding race and equality. Its only the beginning of an important conversation. One worth having, but one that will not come with easy solutions. Absolutely not. And i want to thank everyone that has been interacting with me online throughout the show. And at the end of these programs, weve done our final thoughts. So here is mine. I talked quite a bit about race on the air this week, and i received so much kindness from so many viewers, so thank you for that. Other messages, though, very negative. One that is appropriate to say on the air simply said stop it. Its not about race. It is. Like many black americans, have i been the subject o subtlend bng uninteto a a ahi becauseer arents were going t f my ald fusi word to my face. All av t ability to lcountry, and i am encouraged by the path forward that we have discussed today. And to that lady that said stop, we will not. Anger is many things. Its powerful. Its universal. Often it is justified. But it is not a strategy. In order to effect real change, that shortterm anger has to become longterm determination. Weve had cruel and disturbing flash points as long as i can remember, and often because of tribalism we saw in them what we wanted to see. This is one of those rare times wr ias that also makes it one rare times we can all push together towards a common goal. And i really hope that this has inspired you to do your part to make sure that everybody is treated equally. And it doesnt stop here with this conversation. It is time to take action. I know you might not know where to start. We all might make some mistakes. But the point is we have to just start. We have to all Work Together to make sure that we are creating a better bay area. So im so grateful that you took the time out of your afternoon to joi these are extraordinary times, and we want to thank the Extraordinary People in the healthcare community, working to care for all of us. At novartis, we promise to do our part. As always, were doing everything we can to help keep cosentyx accessible and affordable. If you have any questions at all, call us, email us, visit us online. Were here to help support you when you need us. Take care, and be well. To learn more, call one eight four four cosentyx or visit cosentyx. Com thats why usaa is giving Payment Relief options to eligible members so they can pay for things like groceries before they worry about their insurance or credit card bills. Discover all the ways were helping members today. Or credit card bills. Z3wvmz z1s6z y3wvmy y1s6y why to black lives matter . All lives matter. [ bleep ] you guys. A marine county man yelling at people to write in chalk on the walk. What the man is saying and thousand community the banding together over what happened. Were learning what it was like for San Jose Police as protesters converged onto the streets, throwing rocks and chunks of concrete. One officer says it was like a war zone. Happening now, another day of nonstop marching and rallies. Hundreds of people in gatherings large and small honoring the life and legacy of george floyd. Also tonight, hair salons are now less than 48 hours from possibly reopening in sonoma, what you can expect if you go. Announcer building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. This is abc 7 news