Greetings friends, check out what we’ve been up to:
Last Saturday (8/19), the Coalition held our third monthly Youth Day at the Park in collaboration with Stem to the Future. The youth space is both an unstructured abolitionist art making space for youth of all ages to dream and play, and a place for the Coalition to share some of the abolitionist curriculum we’ve been working on with students. Join us for our next day at the park on September 16th.
This week the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and Los Angeles Community Action Network held a Black August Week of Action to commemorate and honor the memory of George Lester Jackson and the legacy of Black Resistance we continue to this day.
We kicked off the week with a grounding conversation between LA CAN Executive Director, Pete White, and Human and Civil Rights Organizer General Dogon. The pair discussed the significance of August within the Black historical context, and the early practice of commemorating Black August by the Black Guerilla Family. You can listen to this immensely powerful and educational conversation here.
On Tuesday (8/22) morning the Coalition held a press conference condemning city leadership for staying silent as the LAPD executed their 20th shooting this year.
That evening, the Coalition discussed Data Driven Policing’s role in facilitating the incarceration and banishment of Black communities during our monthly in-person meeting at LA CAN. Participants were also invited to work on a banner for our upcoming Black August festivities.
On Wednesday (8/23) the Coalition attended City Council’s Personnel Committee meeting, where the three person body was deciding on whether or not to approve the MOU by Mayor Bass granting LAPD officers a raise that would rob the city of another billion dollars allocated to policing. The MOU was passed with a 2-1 vote.
On Thursday (8/24), we continued our Black August Week of Action by holding an Art and Sustenance event at LA CAN, and it was BUMPIN. LA CAN was filled with music, food, and palatable culture. Skid Row community members took turns on the mic sharing their words and offering their artistic expression.
We concluded our Black August Week of Action on Friday (8/25), with our Monthly Movie Night outside of LAPD headquarters. This month we exhibited the long banned 1973 film, The Spook Who Sat by the Door.
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, Automating Banishment, please fill out this google form.