“And everyone I’ve talked to associated with the Black Lives movement says that is absolutely not the case, that they care very deeply about police officers”.
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Two organizers in the New York City division of Black Lives Matter, Autumn Marie and Nakisha Lewis, spoke with TIME and ESSENCE on Facebook Live Tuesday about the recent police killings of black men Delrawn Small, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. That closes the economic gap that we have. Sometimes, people hear what they want to hear in those conversations.
Wichita Police Gordon Ramsay used a special media briefing Wednesday to address Tuesday’s protests near 13th Street and I-135.
“From the law enforcement perspective, we hear it, we understand it”, said Terry Cunningham, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. I knew what it was like to have a parent on drugs.
“If we can not talk honestly and openly-not just in the comfort of our own circles, but with those who look different than us or bring a different perspective-then we will never break this unsafe cycle”, the president said. And yesterday, at the news conference, he said, “Listen, get off the protest line and join the police department”.
I think first and foremost is to allow yourself to be. That’s the sort of heroes that we need. He likened our police officers to superheroes last night. And I agree with him.
“In communities where there are no fathers who can provide guidance to young men; communities where there’s no investment and manufacturing has been stripped away; and drugs have flooded the community and the drug industry ends up being the primary employer for a whole lot of folks – in those environments, if we think we’re just going to send the police to do the dirty work of containing the problems that arise there without as a nation and as a society saying what can we do to change those communities, to help lift up those communities and give those kids opportunity, then we’re not going to solve this problem”, he said. And we have to stop that.
KING: You know, when you talk about demonization, a lot of people are still talking about Rudy Giuliani’s comment about Black Lives Matter that it is inherently racist.
Freddie Adetoye (26) from Blanchardstown, who produces a podcast, called Unoriginal Podcast, about the experiences of black people in Ireland, said it was important to show solidarity with the movement in the US.
It’s about being productive, not political posturing, because the latter can really make you lose your sense of priorities.
But rhetoric on both sides shows how hard that has already become: Just in the past week, a white Detroit police detective was demoted after calling Black Lives Matter activists “racists” and “terrorists”. But I ask everybody to start at the level playing ground that our police are there to serve them and to serve everyone.
KING: Thank you, Mayor Rawlings. It’s interesting: whenever women assert ourselves, that we matter or we rock, or we assert that black people matter or any other group that is against the status quo of white male heterosexual patriarchy, the first thing we hear is: “This is wrong”. We thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it. Norah, back to you.
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O’DONNELL: Alright, Gayle, thank you so much.
