Why fighting for racial equity means reimagining justice
[Music]
what happens
when you hear a siren when i hear a
siren
i feel it in my body my chest feels
tight
my heart starts racing i feel on edge
both my understanding and experience of
the way black people in our communities
are policed has made
an imprint on my brain
what happens to me when i hear a siren
is not just
a bodily response it’s a psychological
response
a stress response and i’m not the only
one
the encounters you have had or haven’t
had with the police will shape what
happens to you
when you hear a siren or if you even
hear it at all
not only do we live in a society where
some communities hear
sirens a lot more than others
we live in a society where hearing a
siren can mean relief
protection and safety for some
yet fear danger and pain for others
that’s the tension for me this should
make me feel
safe so why do i feel fear
i’ll ask again what happens when you
hear a siren
and have you ever thought about what
happens to others
once again the detrimental impact of
policing on black people came to the
fore of public consciousness last summer
the police murder of george floyd in
minneapolis reinvigorated
a global movement for accountability and
racial justice
across the world millions of people took
to the streets to stand against violence
and show solidarity to the bereaved
families of george floyd
briana taylor and so many more
too many more all in the midst of a
global health
pandemic and the uk was no different
hundreds of thousands of us protested
across the nation
i was one of them across europe
millions of people got down on one knee
to physically embody
their outrage that the police had choked
yet another
black man to death in a place that they
probably wouldn’t be able to point to on
a map
why because international solidarity is
fundamental
because from america to france to brazil
to canada to the uk
black people are over policed and
underprotected
we experience a police force and not a
police service
which often results in our untimely and
violent deaths
but who were you marching for because my
observation was this
the european parliament could pass its
own resolution
denouncing police brutality in america
for the very
same reason that the national council of
police chiefs in the uk
could issue its very own statement
claiming
to be in solidarity with the family of
george floyd
because it’s far easier to point the
finger abroad than to dismantle
the systems of structural racism and
violence on our very own doorstep
we have a culture of deflection and
unaccountability
but i want to bring it home and amplify
the message of those of us
who were clear in our outrage the uk
is not innocent rashaan charles couldn’t
breathe when he was heavily restrained
by a police officer and then died on the
floor of a corner shop
in hackney in 2017 his death was ruled
accidental
the cctv footage did not secure justice
for that family ezell rodney was shot
six times
by police marksman anthony long in my
very own community in 2005.
his own bosses even joked that he was
the metropolitan police’s very own
serial killer
but he was found not guilty of azeal’s
murder in 2015.
the last things christopher alder heard
as he was laying
dying face down on the floor of a police
custody suite in hull
in 1998 was monkey chance and laughter
the crown prosecution service claimed it
could not infer
a racist motivation
five officers were cleared of
manslaughter
trevor smith darren cumberbatch edson
decosta
baker adrian mcdonald
leon briggs mark duggan smiley culture
kingsley burrell oliseni lewis sean rigg
mikey powell derek bennett roger
sylvester brian douglas
mahmoud hassan this is not just an
american problem
the deaths are the very tip of the
iceberg the culture
of violence that enables them to happen
at the scale that they do
has many more victims and most of them
survive
every experience of policing leaves a
trace
every you fit the description every stop
and search
every video of police violence from
across the world
every blue light every siren
every single experience leaves a trace
but this is not just about policing i
have spent the last decade working with
children and young people
impacted by the criminal justice system
and i can tell you first hand
it is completely broken i have spent
hours in police stations i have spent
hours in courtrooms
i have spent hours in prisons and i have
spent hours
in probation offices i have witnessed
firsthand the misery
trauma and harm that these places
inflict on individuals
whole families and entire communities
the fundamental issue is this the only
system we have
to deal with conflict and harm is in and
of itself
a source of conflict and harm
but this is not just about the criminal
justice system
this is about the structural racism
which is woven into the very fabric
of british society and the ways in which
every organization institution and
system
intertwine resulting in interlocking
experiences
of oppression the education system
the health care system the welfare
system local authorities
schools colleges and universities
hospitals
mental health services charities and
non-profit organizations
and how they all perpetuate racism
and in some ways further the work of the
criminal justice
system police officers in schools
increasing school exclusions local
councils
using police intelligence to threaten
whole families with eviction
charities complicit in the process of
criminalization in order to access
funding collectively they are all
contributing to an increasing appetite
for punishment
and this all has a detrimental and
disproportionate
impact on black communities
so whilst many organizations claimed to
be in solidarity with black lives matter
how many really interrogated the ways in
which they perpetuate racism
how many are really dismantling the
racism and anti-blackness
which is embedded within their
structures processes
procedures and practice black lives
matter is not a slogan
it’s a rallying cry for equity equity
which won’t be achieved
by posting a black square on instagram
releasing a rushed public statement
which lacks substance
or any of the other performative
gestures we collectively witnessed
we need real action because the
cumulative impact for black people who
experience
all of these systems at once is
psychological harm
as galen kinwani said racism
causes harm harm to the body
and harm to the mind these simultaneous
and layered experiences of racism
result in racial trauma there is no way
to talk about racial justice
or racial equity without talking about
racial trauma
it isn’t just a theory it’s what we’re
experiencing and living with
every single day our mental health
services have not even begun to
understand
its individual or intergenerational
impact
so how can we even begin to heal when
the very services that are supposed to
facilitate healing
often reproduce racism we have had to
create our own infrastructure
at a community level to address racial
trauma
and deal with the harm not just the harm
inflicted by the state
including state violence not just the
harm perpetuated
by other organizations and institutions
within society
but the harm that we cause each other
and experience within
our communities which is a direct result
of these societal pressures
because the only system to deal with
conflict and harm creates
more conflict and harm we have to
reimagine
what justice really looks like what
justice
really feels like and this is why i
believe in transformative justice
it is so powerful because it
fundamentally recognizes that we all
have the capacity for transformation the
ability
to change that we can address violence
in our communities
that we can seek safety and build
accountability
without relying on marginalization
punishment
policing or imprisonment that we can
heal
from generational trauma and violence
and transform the consequences of
oppression
on our hearts our bodies and our minds
that we must build collective power to
respond to all forms of violence
including state and systemic violence
transformative justice is not just a
utopian idea
it’s a practice and like many grassroots
organizations
the forefront project which i set up in
2012 to empower young people
is practicing transformative justice
and centering healing in our approach to
address violence
because working towards our individual
and collective healing is one crucial
way
that we can resist a system which
inflicts so much pain
for forefront practicing transformative
justice is many things
it’s de-escalating violence it’s
conflict resolution
mediation it’s building capacity for
community accountability processes
is safety planning it’s supporting young
people
and their families to rebuild and
strengthen their relationships
it’s being present when they are in
crisis
it’s advocating for young people in the
police station
in courts and throughout legal processes
to ensure
their rights are upheld and their needs
are met
it’s supporting their families through
these processes it’s holding
institutions
and organizations that are in their life
accountable
for the ways that they treat them it’s
building their sense of self
their identity in a world that
repeatedly tells them
that their lives don’t matter it’s
building their skills
and confidence to enable them to
advocate for themselves
their families our communities as a
means of resistance which is both
liberatory and reparatory in and of
itself
it’s the love circle we had for a young
man the day before he was potentially
imprisoned
where our whole team young people from
our community and his friends
told him one by one all the reasons why
they loved him
printed pictures wrote him letters to
take with him so that if he was
incarcerated he would know that he was
cared for
he mattered and that he would still be
supported
it’s the memorial we had for a young man
who was murdered
in our community where everyone had a
chance
to pay their respects share memories pay
tribute hold space
for one another and grieve together it’s
a community support system
which is not just in place when they
have been harmed themselves
but also when they have harmed others
not focused on perpetuating shame
but on providing compassion and
opportunities to repair harm
and move forward it’s building strong
long-term relationships with young
people that center love
service and care is actively
fighting to dismantle racist systems
which we need to do by uplifting the
voices and experiences of those most
affected by them
whilst creating the space to heal from
racial trauma not only individually
but collectively is building hope
and creating space to imagine and build
new systems
systems to deal with the harm and the
violence systems for
accountability and systems for healing
this kind of holistic support is what is
transforming
my community and our society
there is another way if you believe
black lives matter you have to support
this fight
in its entirety yes we’re talking about
policing
but we’re not just talking about
policing police killing people
we’re talking about all of the impacts
of policing we’re talking about the
criminal justice system in its entirety
and all of these other systems you have
to understand all of these systems
you have to understand racial trauma
you have to understand that even if
you’re not directly a part
of these systems that in some way you’re
still enabling them
and so in some way you are still
complicit
so really ask yourself do i want this
done in my name
what more can i do to fight for racial
equity
because i do not want to be protesting
in 50 years
with my grandchildren you can actively
support our resistance
you can actively support the building of
these new systems
coronavirus has not only highlighted the
inescapable
interconnectedness of humanity but
forced us
to rethink the ways in which we live
together
we have seen beautiful acts of mutual
aid
and care reimagining justice requires
the same
urgency compassion and commitment
and realizing how deeply connected we
all are
another world is possible so the next
time you hear
a siren let that be your reminder
of your responsibility to actively build
that world