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
Inspiring Women Who Fought and Won the Closing of an Atlanta Jail
By Vanessa Reis After her last stint in jail which led to losing 18 job offers, impacted advocate-turned-heroine Marilynn Winn helped close a jail. It wasn’t all in a day’s work, but she got the job done. Marilynn Winn and other formerly incarcerated women at the advocacy organization Winn founded, Women on the Rise, succeeded […]
The Price of “Public Safety”
While criminal justice reform has gained more mainstream support in recent years, there is still a long way to go in challenging racial injustice and systemic abuses that pervade communities and the criminal justice system. But Advancement Project National Office is in this for the long haul, litigating, organizing and advocating for #FreeAndSafe communities. Last […]
Keeping the Conversation Going: Call for Papers for Movement Lawyering Publication
EXTENDED DEADLINE: NOW DUE FRIDAY, MAY 15 Advancement Project National Office and Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University School of Law invite you to continue the conversation from Fall 2019’s Inaugural Movement Lawyering Conference. In response to the successful Movement Lawyering Conference put on by Advancement Project National Office, Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights […]
9 Greatest Frederick Douglass Quotes
Frederick Douglass, one of our nation’s greatest abolitionists, was born in February 1818. The man who would grow to escape slavery in Maryland would later choose to celebrate his birthday on the 14th of the month. Douglass was prominently known for his anti-slavery writings and also advocated for several social justice causes, including womens’ suffrage. […]
A Day of Hope with the Rising Majority
By Flavia Jimenez | Managing Director of Organizational Development and Leadership On a February day that started with a downpour and ended with blustery winds in the nation’s capital, something extraordinary happened in the auditorium of Howard University School of Law. It was not a call to action as much as it was a challenge […]
Celebrating Rev. Henry Highland Garnet
By Edward A. Hailes, Jr. | Managing Director and General Counsel Rev. Henry Highland Garnet was a 19th Century abolitionist, educator, theologian, and Pan-Africanist, who preached a radical theology of liberation and resistance. He delivered a sermon to Congress on Sunday, February 12, 1865, only days after the House of Representatives passed the 13th Amendment […]
What We Learned from Last Night’s #SOTU
You saw it. We saw it. But we are not subscribing to Trump’s revisionist history during this sacred month, Black History Month, or ever, for that matter. His State of the Union address last night included claims of pro-whiteness, pro-terrorism and pro-cages. Sure, what he said was expected, but still, it was angering. Contrary to Trump’s claim […]
Black History Month 2020: Advancement Project Honors Black Futures
Today marks the first day of Black History Month! Never has it been so important to recognize and honor the contributions made by people of color to America. We are in a particularly meaningful year—a year that will determine so much of our future as a nation and as a people. The future is determined […]
A World Free of Voter Suppression
Gilda Daniels, Advancement Project’s Litigation Director is author of the new report: “We Vote We Count: the Need for Congressional Action to Secure the Right to Vote for all Citizens.” Listen as she talks voter suppression in the 21st Century.
Giving Tuesday 2019
20 Years of Movement Building and Freedom Fighting We envision a future where people of color are free – where they can thrive, be safe and exercise power. Driven by the genius of ordinary people and their movements, racism will no longer exist and justice will be radically transformed. On #GivingTuesday, December 3rd this year, […]
