Mural project brought Black voices to a shuttered State Street

Will Cioci

June 23, 2020 |

Wisconsin Watch |

Photojournalism |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Madison, Wisconsin

A “rapid response” mural project transformed shuttered storefronts with vibrant messages of pride, perseverance, anger, justice, and unity. The project was funded by Arts in Public Places Looking Forward, a new organized formed to support artists impacted by Covid-19. An open call was posted for interested artists, and the project prioritized artists who had been affected by racial violence and injustice. More than 100 commissioned murals, and many more works of graffiti and public art, focused on support for the Black Lives Matter movement or called on an end to police misconduct.

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In Seattle, Protests Over Racial Equity Turn to Land Ownership

Gregory Scruggs

June 23, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Over 1000 community members gathered to demand officials keep a 2016 promise to give a vacant publicly-owned fire station to the Africatown Community Land Trust. The station is in a historically Black and quickly gentrifying neighborhood and the trust wants to turn it into a resource center to develop the next generation of Black entrepreneurs. As citywide protests for racial equality spread, the city abruptly agreed to turn it over. The group also wants more unused properties turned over to Black community ownership and for the city to develop an anti-gentrification land acquisition fund.

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Minneapolis theater community uses stagecraft skills to support businesses of color in the aftermath of protests

Ashley Vaughan

June 23, 2020 |

CNN |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

University Rebuild brings together theater members in Minneapolis who are not working due to Covid-19 to use their skills in support of the Black Lives Matters movement by helping communities clean up, make repairs, and create infrastructure to gather safely. Volunteers, numbering more than 100 within the first week, used set design and construction skills to help around 200 businesses impacted by protests following the killing of George Floyd. Windows and doors are boarded up and then prepped for murals painted by local artists and leftover materials were used to build stages for Juneteenth celebrations.

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Defund police? Some cities have already started, investing in mental health instead

Lindsay Schnell

June 22, 2020 |

USA Today |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Less than one month into its use of a crisis intervention team to handle mental health calls in place of the police, Denver’s one-year STAR pilot project has been flooded with calls and already has achieved success in cases where police presence could have been a hindrance. Like many cities modeling new programs on the successful, long-running CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon, Denver is making “defund the police” a reality with investments in mental health services. Empathic dialog in place of a police presence can lead to peaceful outcomes for people of color afraid of police.

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How 12 Teens Who'd Never Met Before Organized Honolulu's Black Lives Matter Protest

Suevon Lee

June 22, 2020 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Honolulu, Hawaii

Twelve Honolulu high school students, who had only ever met online, used social media to organize a Black Lives Matter protest that drew over 10,000 people. The teens used online forums to communicate about their goals for the protest and also to provide details to the public regarding the march's route, reminders to wear masks, remain peaceful, and abide by city laws. The teens also enlisted the support of established organizations to provide volunteers and bring hand sanitizer, water bottles, face masks, and bullhorns. The result was an entirely peaceful and emotionally stirring protest march and rally.

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Can Floyd protests break cycles of police brutality and racial unrest? History has lessons.

Jessica Mendoza

June 19, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Just as the Emmett Till murder helped inspire protests in the civil rights era, which in turn led to the passage of civil rights and voting rights legislation, the protests over policing in 2020 already have sparked reforms and could lead to even more dramatic social changes. Policing and racial inequity often lie at the root of protests, past and present. The question is whether the predominant focus will be on riots and violence or on the underlying grievances that concern public policy.

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Canada's largest school district ended its police program. Now Toronto may be an example for U.S. districts considering the same.

Kalyn Belsha

June 19, 2020 |

Chalkbeat |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Toronto, Ontario

Prompted by Black Lives Matter protesters and informed by a controversial survey of high school students on their feelings about having police stationed in their schools, Toronto pulled police from its schools in 2017 and since then has refuted warnings of a spike in misbehavior and crime. While arrest numbers and data on students’ current feelings about safety are unknown, Canada’s largest school system at least proved that it could address unhappiness with a police presence without decreasing safety.

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These Black Students Have Fought Over-Policing In Schools for Years

Zach Schermele

June 17, 2020 |

Teen Vogue |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Minneapolis school board’s vote to remove police from public schools arose not only from protests over the police killing of George Floyd, but also from a long-term advocacy project to end the so-called school-to-prison pipeline. Local youth activists for years have piggybacked on a national movement to stop the racially disparate practice of criminalizing student misbehavior. A coalition of groups, nationally and in Minneapolis, marshaled evidence of the racial inequity of such policing and the benefits of reinvesting the money saved on police in restorative justice programs and other services.

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Food drives around Chicago continue a tradition of revolutionaries feeding the community

Matt Harvey

June 17, 2020 |

The TRiiBE |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Many organizations are holding food drives, providing hot meals, and delivering essential items like groceries and diapers to children and their communities in underserved Chicago neighborhoods. Based on a tradition of providing free breakfast to kids started by the Black Panther Party, the initiatives began as a way to serve those participating in Black Lives Matters protests and shifted to reach communities, most of which are food deserts that rely on corner stores that have closed because of protests. The communities have many needs and some organizations plan on continuing to provide additional services.

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How nonprofits are getting people out of metro Detroit jails during COVID-19 pandemic

Angie Jackson

June 16, 2020 |

Detroit Free Press |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Nonprofit bail funds, which use donated money to pay the bail of low-income people held in jail on pending charges, have won the release of about 55 people in Detroit during the COVID-19 crisis. Beyond the immediate need to free more people from an environment that makes social distancing difficult, the bail funds are part of a larger movement challenging a system that disproportionately affects people of color. The combination of bail payments, bond reductions, and administrative releases have reduced Wayne County's jail population by almost half.

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