This week, the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives introduced the BREATHE Act. This visionary bill divests our taxpayer dollars from brutal and discriminatory policing and invests in a new vision of public safety—a vision that answers the call to defund the police and allows all communities to finally BREATHE free.
You can click here to download a summary of the bill.
In honor of the lives of those stolen by police and state-sanctioned violence — Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Natasha McKenna, George Floyd, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Elijah McClain, Pearlie Golden, Kayla Moore, Freddie Gray, Atatiana Jefferson, Oscar Grant, and far too many more…
We are rising up against all the ways that the criminal-legal system has harmed and failed to protect Black communities. The current moment requires a solution that fundamentally shifts how we envision community-care and invest in our society. History is clear that we cannot achieve genuine safety and liberation until we abandon police, prisons, and all punishment paradigms.
You can learn more at this link.
TAKE ACTION!
Our friends at Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) have suggested three ways we can support the BREATHE Act:
- Publicly support the BREATHE Act today by posting on all of your social media platforms. You can find their posts of solidarity here on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and additional examples and graphics in the toolkit.
- Join SURJ for a national webinar about the Breathe Act and how you can take action to support it on July 21st at 8 ET. Register here.
- Check out these toolkits for more information for organizations and individuals. Move your organization or individuals in your life to also come out in support of this bill.
I do believe there can be important changes in our Policing and the Consequences for law enforcers and citizens that disobey humanitarian and just laws. I would like to read the actual document, not a summary, before signing.