No verdict will bring back George Floyd. He should still be alive, along with every other Black life lost from police brutality.

The horrific murder by Derek Chauvin of George Floyd, and the murders of so many other Black people, have led to the powerful uprisings that have captured the focus of the nation.

The good news is the power of our uprisings, and organizing, and movement is rapidly expanding public and political will for real change for racial justice.

Because police kill Black people with no accountability in this country, we must lay bare Black people’s deaths in the pursuit of justice. It is no different than 65 years ago when Jet Magazine published the photos of Emmett Till in his casket, after his mother said, “Let the people see what they did to my boy.”¹

Policing in Black communities and communities of color is failing us. It has always failed us. The origins of modern police departments were Slave Patrols.²

The beautiful lives and horrific murders by police of Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, George Floyd, and so many other Black people, has led to the powerful uprisings that have captured the focus of the nation.  

The good news is the power of these uprisings is rapidly expanding public and political will for real change for racial justice.

The starting point for real change in policing is defunding the police.

Our communities are not starved of resources, just starved of resources that actually protect and serve us. There are huge amounts of resources being invested in policing our communities. Meanwhile, relatively little resources are invested in strategies that help our communities thrive and actually increase public safety.³

The over-investment of our tax dollars in policing Black and Brown communities and the under-investment in supportive services is the foundation for mass criminalization and inequity in the United States.

Defunding the police is the starting point because any other supposed half measures have been proven to not work. Anything short of defunding the police is relying on a failed framework of procedural justice to solve our policing problem.⁴

Instead of increasing police departments budgets with even more money for impotent programs that serve as political cover for police and politicians, we must divert that money and significant money from our city and county policing budgets into services that strengthen individuals and communities.

Add your name to join communities and advocates around the country who are calling for defunding of the police now, and investing in community driven strategies for public health, safety, and opportunity.

1. 'Let The People See': It Took Courage To Keep Emmett Till's Memory Alive

2. A Brief History of Slavery and the Origins of American Policing
   

3. Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety and Security in our Communities and Incarceration and Crime: A Complex Relationship
   

4. The Only Solution Is to Defund the Police