As Defund the Police Loses Luster Activists Assess Joe Biden s Prospects for Police Reform
On 12/21/20 at 4:56 PM EST
The day after cable networks projected Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a staunch Biden ally, made sure to lay blame at the feet of the defund the police movement for Democratic losses in Congress.
He said he and the late John Lewis concluded, it had the possibilities of doing to the Black Lives Matter movement and current movements across the country what Burn, baby, burn did to us back in 1960.
Biden, and even President Barack Obama, would follow suit in pointing to the potential of the movement that arose to national prominence after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, to divide rather than bring people under its banner.
Dorothy Holmes, the mother of Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson, who was killed by Chicago police eight days before Laquan McDonald in 2014, poses for a photo inside her Rosemoor home beside toys she’ll give away this holiday season. After her son was killed, Holmes became active in the fight against police brutality and organized toy drives. This year, she is planning on distributing $2,000 worth of toys to kids on the South Side.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
While grieving the death of her son, Dorothy Holmes kept coming back to one thought: She would never be able to give him another gift.
Her son Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson was born in December and loved stockpiling gifts from having his birthday and Christmas so close together.
Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
More than a dozen people gathered in front of the Chicago Police headquarters Thursday night to condemn the actions of a botched raid on Anjanette Young’s home and demand Mayor Lori Lightfoot hold every officer involved accountable.
“We want to say to Anjanette, we love you, we want you to know that we care about you and what happened to you was a travesty,” said Crista Noel. “The Chicago Police Department doesn’t protect women, it does not.”
Noel was part of a coalition of groups including Women’s All Points Bulletin, Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, Black Lives Matter Chicago and GoodKids MadCity demanding each of the officers involved be fired.