Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police when they shot her 8 times in her own house while she was asleep. Cops broke into her house in the middle of the night to do it. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, called 911 to report an intruder had killed Breonna. What gave police the right to enter her home with a SWAT team without warning? A no-knock raid.
There's an uprising in this country because of police violence against Black men and women. All over the nation, hundreds of thousands of people are in the streets demanding cities defund the police. We know that police don't keep us safe. As a nation, we spend almost $200 billion on police and jails. The only way to stop the racial profiling, harassment, and terrorizing of Black and Brown communities is to defund the police.
Public safety agencies in Louisville comprise 52% of its budget. By comparison, Louisville spends only 8% of its budget on public services. On one side, we have cops, courts, and jails. On the other, we have affordable housing, job training, and social services.
Resources
Divesting from Policing: Advancement Project National Office’s List of Demands
Advancement Project National Office is committed to supporting grassroots organizations across the country to build the power that will end this system. Our legal, communications and organizing teams were developed for this moment. Through collective action, we are confident that we can build a new society where communities of color can be free and safe. […]
The Price of “Public Safety”
What really makes up a city’s public safety budget? Advancement Project National Office examined the budgets of five cities during Week Against Mass Incarceration last week and found exuberant figures that keep residents criminalized.
The Genius of Ordinary People: How the Ferguson Collaborative Became the Voice of the Community
As the nation marks five years since the police killing of teenager Mike Brown and the series of protests known as the Ferguson Uprisings, a group of residents […]
News
Our Democracy is in Danger, But You Can Help Save It
By Jenna Israel, Communications Intern As a young person, it often feels like there’s not a lot you can do to change a world that seems like it’s not listening to you. But for me, helping other people vote, engage their government, and make their voices heard is my activity of choice during my free […]
Freedom Dreaming is Freedom Fighting
By Ky’Eisha Penn, Staff Attorney Juneteenth is a day that we come together to celebrate the emancipation of Black people enslaved in and by our very nation. From 1619 to 2021–much has changed, but our fight for liberation from oppressive systems remain the same. As Freedom Day approaches, I reflect on the liberation struggle my […]
Our Fight for Justice Continues
By Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director Last month marked a year since George Floyd was murdered on a street in Minneapolis at the hands of the police. The video and his cries for his mother will forever be seared into my memory. George Floyd, unfortunately, was not the first, nor was he the last, person […]
Shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant Should Remind Us All That Black Girls Die at the Hands of Police Too
By Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director For me, it was the shoes. Thinking about my 18-year-old Black daughter, off at college, who wears those silly oversized plastic Crocs most every day, taking a moment to rejoice that she might know in the wake of the Derek Chauvin verdict that accountability for Black death can happen. […]
Remembering George Floyd
By Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director One year ago, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer. He deserved to live on as more than a memory to his family and his community: he deserved life. Instead, his name was added to the long list written on our hearts-alongside Breonna Taylor, Botham Jean, Atatiana Jefferson, […]
AAPI Heritage Month: Interview with Board of Directors Chairperson Bill Lann Lee
Advancement Project has an inspired team of organizers, lawyers, dreamers and thinkers fighting for racial justice. One of our many contributors to the Movement is the Chairperson of our Board of Directors, Bill Lann Lee, who has had a distinguished legal career as a civil rights lawyer and advocate. Have you ever wanted to know […]
Asian American Belonging: Caste and Constitutionality in the U.S.
By Jennifer Lai-Peterson, Power and Democracy Senior Attorney In early 2005, I moved to New Orleans to work alongside former members of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). While supporting their campaign, I found myself re-reading U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan’s renowned dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson, the infamous 1896 decision legalizing racial […]
New PSA Unveil: Why Georgia Ministers are Mobilizing their Communities for Voting Rights
We are excited to unveil a new PSA around SB 202, Georgia egregious voter suppression law
The Best Mother’s Day Gift is Freedom
By Ashley Carter, Justice Project Program Deputy Director and Senior Staff Attorney Photo credit: Cyndi Elledge // Photos are a part of the #FreeBlackWomxn series. Visit www.freeblackwomxn.org. Thousands of women with children across the United States will spend this Mother’s Day behind bars. The crisis of mass incarceration has fueled a family separation endemic: more […]
More Cop Convictions Won’t Stop Racist Police Violence
By Thomas B. Harvey, Justice Project Program Director Last week, as people across America waited for a verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial, police in Ohio murdered a 16-year-old girl, Ma’Khia Bryant. As Chauvin was found guilty on three counts for murdering George Floyd in Minneapolis, Ma’Khia Bryant lay dead in the street in Columbus. While […]
