Although we are not seeing protests in the streets like we did in 2020, local activists are making sure that we know they are still working in the community. They recently showed up in the streets calling for justice and for actions to defund the police.

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Local activist, Jamaica Miles, was one of the community activists who showed up in Townsend Park on Saturday to rally for justice. According to The Daily Gazette, several community-based groups joined Jamaica Miles to make their voices heard.

The Poor People’s Campaign joined the Center for Law and Justice and All of Us in Townsend Park on Saturday to discuss strategies to improve police involvement in the community.

When we hear the term, “Defund the Police”, we should know that the term’s name may be deceptive. What people are actually calling for is to have some of the police department’s funds diverted into other agencies to better serve the community.

Police officers are often called to incidents where a person may be experiencing some sort of emotional or mental breakdown that may not necessarily require police involvement. Activists are calling for social workers to respond to these types of incidents instead of having police respond. Social workers are trained to handle people in crisis and with their involvement, tragic outcomes may be avoided.

The community groups also took time out to acknowledge Black August which is used as a time to remember the life of Black Panther member George Jackson. Mr. Jackson was killed while in custody during a prison rebellion in California. According to The Center for Constitutional Rights, Black August is ”a time of collective grief, clarity, rage, and rebellion”.

It was good to see community activists making their voices heard for justice and fair policing in our communities.

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