Dear friends, check out some of the work we have been doing!
On Monday (4/25) our Academic Complicity group held their monthly meeting. The group has been mapping the spectrum of academic complicity that serves state violence. They’ve also been discussing ways to create support and accountability structures for academics whose work is considered too political due to its alignment with activists’ views. Additionally, the group has started to explore the concept of Data Abolition further.
On Tuesday (4/26) the Coalition held our 100th webinar, the second half of our deep dive into Part 5 of Automating Banishment: The Surveillance and Policing of Looted Lands. We focused on the burgeoning presence of white wealth in South Central LA, along with the increased criminalization that comes with it. We were joined in conversation with Zerita Jones, housing organizer at Baldwin Leimert Crenshaw Tenants Union, who walked us through their experience with surveillance and policing in Baldwin Hills. Zerita famously organized the tenants at Chesapeake Apartments who were subjected to intense policing and surveillance following a CNAP lawsuit. Zerita also walked us through ongoing efforts to reclaim and maintain Black autonomy in LA.
On Thursday (4/28) we held our NO COMMUNITY SAFETY IN POLICING action in front of LAPD HQ. We gathered together to participate in collective learning and discussion, and view a video made by LA CAN and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition in collaboration with the Othering and Belonging Institute and Revolve Impact. The event was kicked off by our very own Hamid Khan and LA CAN’s Civil and Human Rights organizer General Dogon speaking on community policing as counterinsurgency. The Youth Justice Coalition followed, introducing their history and work as it relates to combatting policing. We were then blessed with a performance by the immensely talented Natosha Smith of the LA CAN freedom singers.
We want to thank everyone who participated in our collective learning session. We were honored to have organizations like JAS, People’s City Council, and DPN initiate this conversation, and develop strategies to unveil the harm of community policing.
On Friday (4/29) our Community Policing work group met to debrief on the prior evening’s action and celebrate the release of our newest zine. A CHIEF-BY-CHIEF HISTORY OF LAPD ‘’COMMUNITY POLICING’’ AND COUNTER-INSURGENCY came about from the work groups’ profiling of different LAPD chiefs and how they’ve contributed to community policing as we know it today. Check it out!
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. If you or your organization are interested in hosting a teach-in or discussion regarding our report please fill out this google form.