Last week I witnessed what happens when police officers are properly trained in de-escalation and when community members respond accordingly. A scene at the corner of my street, which at its height had at least 12 police cars and 20-30 community members, ended with no lives lost. I am cognizant of the fact that decades of organizing, was at least partially responsible for how the officers responded to the incident on my street.
Read MoreBoggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership
Our young people are breaking the silence and the rest of America needs to listen, look itself in the mirror and act. We stand in solidarity with Baltimore, Ferguson and all oppressed communities responding to police violence. Locally, we remember Aiyana Jones, Shelly “Treasure” Hilliard, Terrence Kellom and others who have lost their lives at the hands of police officers.
The time to break our silence and respond to the call from our young people is now. It is time to cry out for people, not property...
Read Moreby Dennis Black
While police brutality is one of the more politicized facets of state sanctioned violence, we must never forget this countries greatest act of sanctioned violence – the mass enslavement, torture, and genocide of African and Indigenous people in the United States. The backbone of U.S civil society was built through our free labor and social death, yet Detroit has one of the highest water rates in the country, the highest car insurance, the highest unemployment rates, and one of the nations highest high school drop out rates, and to top it off, we are the largest and most populated city occupied by Black people. Police violence is just one of many anti-black technologies wielded by the state to repress the upward mobility of our people.
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