Issue 12: Envisioning change
Defend the Defund deep dive
Several members of Defend the Defund met (in-person!) for a planning retreat on Sunday, July 11th. It was a fun and energizing event that focused on building community, eating good food, and envisioning our work over the next several months. Our main areas of focus will be the SPD 2021 and 2022 budget and the consent decree and there will be many opportunities to get involved. Stay tuned!
Decreasing SPD’s violence and power
City council is still grappling with how to create legislation that will decrease the amount of violence SPD uses on Seattle residents. Currently under consideration is CB 120105. It limits SPD’s weaponry and (importantly) includes an accountability mechanism called the “right of action,” which allows people harmed by SPD’s use of “less lethal weapons” to seek compensation from the city. But as currently written, the right of action is weak and unacceptably restrictive in who can utilize it.
Add your voice to those calling for the right of action to be strengthened, and tell council that settlement payments must come directly out of the SPD’s budget. You can send an email (takes 60 seconds) and/or provide public comment at the Public Safety and Human Services Committee meeting today (Tuesday) at 9:30 am.
See this document for details or click here to go directly to the email template. Please share with your networks!
Non-police crisis response
Community-led crisis response systems have the potential to reduce the need for violent cops in our streets. However, there are many ways that alternative dispatch systems can be co-opted by the cops or inadvertently recreate the harm that policing causes. This guide from Interrupting Criminalization can help you determine if a proposed non-police mental health crisis response is something to support or not: https://www.interruptingcriminalization.com/non-police-crisis-response-guide
Abolition Imagination Cards
This project, conceived by Mariame Kaba and coordinated by Micah Bazant, provides inspirational quotations and artwork to the community for free. Contact Peter (shellito@gmail.com) if you would like hard copies you can distribute at parks, libraries, demonstrations, laundromats, etc.
https://www.interruptingcriminalization.com/imagination
What failure looks like
In Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown writes:
“Everything we attempt, everything we do, is either growing up as its roots go deeper, or it’s decomposing, leaving its lessons in the soil for the next attempt.”
The above passage felt particularly relevant to this video (preview, actually) featuring youth organizers on the west side of Chicago. From 2016 to 2019, they opposed the construction of a new $95M cop training facility. This is an example of how you can lose a campaign and win a conversation. I highly recommend giving it a watch. (4 minutes)
Learn about their organizing strategies: https://nocopacademy.com/toolkit/
-Peter (he/him)
Training and resources
Haymarket Books, Interrupting Criminalization, and several other partners are holding a training on the politics of crime data on July 27th. Register here.
“Politicians, pundits, and mainstream media are claiming crime is going up and some are blaming defund the police campaigns. But how we measure crime is a socially constructed, political process and more data literacy on this topic can be useful in this political moment. In this educational lecture we will learn about some of the history of counting crime during the post-Emancipation period, who has pushed for crime data to be collected, some of the major data sources (including the samples and methods), and how crime data is deployed for various purposes.”
The Finding our Way podcast recently interviewed Mariame Kaba. Check out their insightful conversation about abolition on spotify (or wherever you got your podcasts).
!["Am I a good person? I really accurately reject that. I'm not interested in being good. I'm interested in being [with all my flaws]. That's what actually allows me to connect with other people. Because the constant obsession with 'being good' is a separating factor for me, from other people. Am I taking actions that are doing good things in the world? Am I actualizing those values that I have that are deeply held values, that I'm constantly struggling to put into action and to inhabit? That' much more interesting to me." -Mariame Kaba S2 Episode 12 Finding Our Way Podcast](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9274c3c5-1712-4199-87a6-d2f19edfd38b_1103x1110.png "\"Am I a good person? I really accurately reject that. I'm not interested in being good. I'm interested in being [with all my flaws]. That's what actually allows me to connect with other people. Because the constant obsession with 'being good' is a separating factor for me, from other people. Am I taking actions that are doing good things in the world? Am I actualizing those values that I have that are deeply held values, that I'm constantly struggling to put into action and to inhabit? That' much more interesting to me.\" -Mariame Kaba S2 Episode 12 Finding Our Way Podcast")
Direct support
Sacred Community Connections is seeking support to sustain their services. “Funds will go towards sustaining our peer-support model case management and mutual aid services for sex workers, injection-drug users, unsheltered neighbors, and Black Queer & Trans folks.” Learn more on their facebook page.
Send donations to: Cashapp: $SacredCC | Venmo: @SacredCommunityConnections | Paypal: sacredcommunityconnects@gmail.com
Support the Youth Achievement Center! Drop by the block party for the Youth Achievement Center on July 18th from 12-3pm at MLK Way S & S Angeline St. They will have a DJ, live art, food, and drinks (masks required). And help them meet their goal of $100,000 for affordable, supportive housing for young people by this Sunday. You can donate here.
Like this newsletter and want more like it? Join our google group! There tend to be just a few messages each week. You can find more ways to connect with people and get support for your own abolitionist ideas. Just look over our organizing principles here and click through to the “request to join” link.