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A coalition of civil rights organizations held a rally outside of Baltimore City Hall concurrent with the city council鈥檚 Friday evening budget hearing. Their cries: Defund the police.
Baltimore City Council members will now be faced with the message screamed in the streets every day: this time, in indelible lavender paint.
The women of Organizing Black, a Baltimore-based advocacy organization, arranged for local artists to paint the slogan in bold lettering along Gay Street between Lexington and Fayette 鈥� similar in style to the Black Lives Matter street mural in D.C. 鈥� in response to a series of high-profile police killings of Black people, including George Floyd, who died at the hands of Minneapolis police last month.
Tre Murphy of Organizing Black called it 鈥渁 constant reminder every time they walk into the building.鈥�
鈥淲e telling 鈥榚m we here and we coming to collect,鈥� he told the crowd of protesters Friday afternoon.
Murphy said that organizers are also aiming to root out politicians who are in the pockets of the Baltimore Police Department.
鈥淲e coming to get you out, and then inside that same process, we going to take 50% of the police department budget,鈥� he declared. The crowd erupted in cheers.
Everyone began to chant 鈥淵ou about to lose your job,鈥� which is now a viral hit after .
鈥淟et 鈥榚m know you about to lose your job because we comin鈥�: we comin鈥� for our power; we comin鈥� for our money; we comin鈥� for everything that should have been ours in the first place, but all these politicians, the police, they鈥檝e been stealing our resources,鈥� Murphy explained. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been hoarding their power, and it鈥檚 been waiting for a time like this for us to say 鈥榊鈥檃ll are going to implement our agenda. It鈥檚 no more about what you want.鈥�
Organizing Black presented a list of four demands to the Baltimore City Council:
- Immediate divestment from the Baltimore City Police Department
- That half of the Baltimore Police Department鈥檚 2020 budget be reinvested in Black communities
- Abolishment of the
- Local control of the Baltimore Police Department
As Murphy read each one, the hundreds of rally attendees responded: 鈥淲e mean that shit!鈥�
鈥楶rotest without strategy is an empty threat鈥�
These organizations were not just in the streets to protest, but to push major restructuring policies at the local and national level.
Nupol Kiazolu of the Black Lives Matter Greater New York chapter emphasized to rally attendees the importance of pushing policy, saying that 鈥減rotest without strategy is an empty threat.鈥�
鈥淪o if we鈥檙e out here protesting and we don鈥檛 have strategy and policy that we鈥檙e also pushing for on the ground, then it鈥檚 an empty threat to the people in charge,鈥� Kiazolu said. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day, we have to force these elected officials to remember that the power belongs to the people 鈥� and it鈥檚 always gon鈥� be there.鈥�
Kiazolu rallies behind civilian review board legislation in an attempt to have civilian stakeholders review instances of police misconduct and brutality, asserting that 鈥渢he police cannot prosecute the police.鈥�
Policy surrounding the possible implementation of civilian review boards was introduced during the 2020 Maryland legislative session by Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) under his second push to pass , which died shortly after its bill hearing.
While Maryland鈥檚 legislative session may be through for the year, meaning no new laws are on the table until 2021, organizers are pushing for immediate tangible change in where they can.
Joshua Turner, a Baltimore-area activist, in partnership with Kiazolu and other organizers have been crafting legislation that would ban 鈥渁ll forms of any kind of choke.鈥�
George Floyd was killed by a police officer who suffocated him with his knee.
鈥淐urrently within the status quo, chokes are only banned from use with an arm, but as we saw in various other instances, other instances of force can also be used to suffocate and kill someone,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淎nd for too long these practices have been in practice that have killed too many black people within our country.鈥�
Turner and Kiazolu are also pushing for mental health evaluations and racial bias and de-escalation training for law enforcement officers and, for instances where use of force leads to death, that officers be charged with a minimum of second-degree murder.
鈥淲e can no longer sit by and idly wait for our systems to go ahead and push for justice, you cannot wait for your oppressors and give you the keys to your own change,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to take those keys yourself and that鈥檚 what we are doing.鈥�
Kiazolu said that she thinks it鈥檚 鈥渇unny鈥� how the government thought that killing civil rights leaders in the 1960s and 1970s 鈥渨ould stop the movement.鈥�
鈥淎in鈥檛 we out here today?鈥� she asked. The crowd responded with cheers.
鈥淪o to the government, to the CIA and whoever else is listening to the police: You have fucked with the last generation,鈥� she proclaimed.
April Goggans of Black Lives Matter D.C. told the crowd that her chapter is pushing not just for defunding, but for abolition.
鈥淏lack Lives Matter D.C. believes in abolition,鈥� she said. 鈥淐ircumventing the police to make our own selves safe should be our everyday goal.鈥�
Goggans called abolition 鈥渁 way of life,鈥� suggesting that communities may be better off policing themselves than being policed by systems 鈥渨e鈥檝e been told are supposed to be for us but we don鈥檛 control.鈥�
鈥淗as anyone learned about autonomous zones this week?鈥� she asked. 鈥淒id y鈥檃ll know that y鈥檃ll standing in an autonomous zone?鈥� noting the lack of police presence within the demonstration area.
About 20 police officers were standing behind the gated area at City Hall. A series of helicopters also buzzed over demonstrators鈥� heads for hours.
Goggans said living in an 鈥渁utonomous zone鈥� 鈥� or community-policed areas 鈥� is possible.
鈥淲hy was it possible? Because people all over the country been doing it 鈥� shutting shit down. People have been out here making the people that line for the community because who keeps us safe?鈥� she asked.
鈥淲e keep us safe,鈥� the crowd roared.
In between speakers, the crowd danced as the smell of paint permeated Gay Street.
As she prepared the crowd to move, Samantha Masters of Organizing Black emphasized the need for Black joy.
鈥淏lack joy matters, Black resilience matters. Black laughter matters. Black fun matters. Because our people were not slaves, they were enslaved. Our people were not just the victims, they were human. And humans deserve joy,鈥� she said.
Whose streets?
Organizing Black held protests throughout the day 鈥� even, much to the chagrin of one City councilmember, very early in the morning.
Around 7 a.m., demonstrators held a noisy caravan outside of District 11 Councilman Eric Costello鈥檚 home. Costello is the city鈥檚 Budget and Appropriations Committee chair, and ran unopposed during the primary election held earlier this month.
The councilman issued an apology after admitting to lashing out at a constituent over the phone. Her son, J.M. Giordano, was covering the protest as a member of the press.
鈥淚 have attempted to apologize to her son, who I did not realize was a member of the press and covering the event as such,鈥� Costello wrote in a statement published on Twitter. He said he plans to do 鈥渁 bit of soul-searching and a lot of listening鈥� over the weekend.
Murphy said organizers are planning events throughout the city鈥檚 budgeting season, which ends June 30.
鈥淪o make sure that you tell him: 鈥楨ric Costello, we鈥檙e gonna wake your ass up again,鈥欌�� Murphy told the crowd. 鈥淪o y鈥檃ll let him know. Let the mayor know if he ain鈥檛 committed to reducing the police department budget we鈥檙e gonna wake his ass up, too, 鈥榗ause we got his addy, too.鈥�
鈥淏ut he already on his way out. He ain鈥檛 got no job.鈥�
Toward the end of the event, which was extended by two hours to allow the paint to dry, Murphy reported to the crowd that Johns Hopkins University officials would to form an independent, armed police department for a minimum of two-years.
鈥淲e want Johns Hopkins to be part of the conversation about what is possible for our city and country in rethinking the appropriate boundaries and responsibilities of policing, and to draw on the energies, expertise, and efforts of our community in advancing the agenda for consequential and enduring reform,鈥� Ronald J. Daniels, university president, Paul B. Rothman, CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Kevin W. Sowers, president of the Johns Hopkins Health System wrote in a statement.
鈥淲e stopped Johns Hopkins today and we鈥檙e gonna stop their asses tomorrow, and the next day, and the next month, and the next year and years to come because they ain鈥檛 getting no private police force as long as we up in here in Baltimore,鈥� Murphy declared.
鈥淲hose streets?鈥� he asked.
鈥淥ur streets,鈥� the dwindling crowd returned.
