Local youth activists hold ‘Day of action against police violence’

20th January 2015   ·   0 Comments

By Charmaine Jackson
Contributing Writer

Many young activists are not solitary in showing solidarity in support of ending police violence.

The local American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), along with Dillard University’s National Pan-Hellenic Council, presented “A Day of Action to End Police Violence” at Dillard University’s George’s Auditorium.

Across the southern region, cities like Atlanta, Baltimore, and the District of Columbia, designated a day of action to have marches, demonstrations, and rallies, all in support of ending police violence.

AFSC Area Director for Greater New Orleans, Dee Dee Green, said this event was a timely, youth led effort. “They felt like young people need to be engaging other young people about what we can do as a community to confront the ongoing attacks on people like us—our demographic,” she stated. She explained that the event was in the planning phase during the non-indictments of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases, so the timing was just right because people were already having conversations.

“We hope to be able to generate ideas, policy, legislative, and campaign opportunities, as well as promote a more human relationship between law enforcement and the community, if they’re here to protect and to serve,” Green continued.

The order of events included a live broadcast of a national panel discussion of young activists and community leaders, which was streamed by The Real News Network, via Youtube.com, followed by a discussion from the viewing audience.

Activists Bree Richardson and Taylor Payne, who protested in Ferguson against the non-indictment in the Michael Brown case, talked about violent acts, such as being peppered sprayed and exposed to tear gas, while on the front line, exercising their freedom of speech. They also reported a federal victory in which a temporary restraining order was granted against St. Louis police officers, St. Louis County, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, due to “protestor’s claims that the police had violated their constitutional rights by using unnecessary force and preventing them from speaking freely and gathering peacefully,” according to The New York Times.

Payne stated, “It’s the second city in the nation since the ’90s to get a temporary restraining order.”

A panel discussion, including local activists in their own right included Devin Sordelet, Psychology sophomore; Ursula Price, Director of Community Relations, New Orleans Inde­pendent Police Monitor (IPM); Norris Henderson of Voice of the Ex-Offender (VOTE); along with moderator Dee-1, RCA, hip-hop recording artist.

The crowd, while small, created a sound dialogue concerning ways to improve interactions between police and the community. Contrary to panel discussions in recent past that have solely targeted the police officers, the panel highlighted ways in which the community, particularly Black males, should improve during police encounters.

Dee-1, a former middle school teacher who is familiar with conflict resolution, stated that policing ourselves as well as projecting an appropriate demeanor should be practiced. “There are definitely things you can do to diffuse the situation, and there are things to do to agitate the situation, especially when a police officer has aggression when approaching you. As a Black man, we have to stop feeling like ‘I’m gon man up’ because a lot of us didn’t grow up with a father in the house and if there’s someone we perceive as an authority figure and feel we have to assert ourselves and say ‘you’ll never punk me’ because that’s the wrong time to do that,” he said.

According to Henderson, taking simple measures such as walking around your car to make sure everything is working properly is useful because it will not easily give police officers a reason to pull you over. In the event one is pulled over, Henderson advises “to lock your door.” An audience member said when he’s pulled over by police; he’s always turned on the lights inside of the car, and they have let him go, with no problem.

Price, who handles New Orleans Police community complaints with the IPM, said calling 911 is a viable option as well because it produces supported evidence of a police officer’s behavior. Based on her LinkedIn profile, part of Price’s mission is “to assist our mission of healing the police/community divide. During the panel, she said the verbiage used in the N.O.P.D., such as the phrase “police community relations,” should not exist because the police is a part of the community.

“This is just the beginning of our discussions,” Green said, regarding the day of action. “We wanted this day, Dr. King’s birthday, to be the day we take a stand against police violence,” she stated.

The event’s reception was so favorable, there are talks to host another event, only next time; panelists urged those in attendance to invite others, such as classmates, and friends, to attend as well.

This article originally published in the January 19, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.