Greetings dear friends, here’s what we’ve been up to:
On Tuesday (5/7):
LAPC Fails, a coalition comprised of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, White People for Black Lives, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Community Action Network held a press conference in collaboration with USC Law Professor Jody Armour and USC Students, echoing demands for Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners President and USC Senior Vice President of Public Safety Erroll Southers. Southers, who has built a career demonizing Black and Muslim community members has recently been instrumental in subjugating student organizers to severe police brutality at USC’s campus. You can watch the press conference here.
Following the press conference the Coalition joined the Board of Police Commissioners meeting to speak out against Southers anti-Black and anti-Muslim rhetoric.
That evening the Coalition held our monthly Gender and Sexuality meeting. This month we reviewed public records related to sex worker arrests at the Figueroa Corridor. Attendees discussed the ecosystem of penal codes used to target sex workers and crafted follow up records requests that can expand our understanding of how this criminalization is being perpetuated.
On Thursday (5/9)
This week’s episode of Radio Insurrection featured special guest Peggy Lee Kennedy, a Venice organizer, discussing KPFK’s recent platforming of notorious champion of homeless criminalization and work place racist harassment, Tracy Park. Peggy uplifted the realities of gentrification and displacement of unhoused communities in the Venice area. You can listen to the episode at kpfk.org/archives.
To plug in with any of the work groups listed above, or for more information about the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, email us at stoplapdspying@gmail.com.