Taking Action
- 11 Things to Do Besides Say "This Has to Stop" in the Wake of Police BrutalityCollected advice from Black community activists and their allies on "how to turn your empathy into action in the wake of police brutality."
- National Lawyers GuildThe National Lawyers Guild is the nation’s oldest and largest progressive bar association and was the first one in the US to be racially integrated. Their mission is to use law for the people.
National Resources
- National Resources ACLU Know Your Rights: ProtestorsResources for organizing, attending, taking pictures at, or being stopped by police at a protest.
- Racial Equity Tools: Movement BuildingProvides "examples of social movements and ways of using the tools of movement building to create community change. It also includes some research on common features of effective movements, and links to some groups and organizations with a history of supporting racial equity movements."
Social Protest and Police Reform Readings
Chokehold by Call Number: HV8141 .B88 2017ISBN: 9781595589057Publication Date: 2017-07-11Cops, politicians, and ordinary people are afraid of black men. The result is the Chokehold: laws and practices that treat every African American man like a thug. In this explosive new book, an African American former federal prosecutor shows that the system is working exactly the way it's supposed to. Black men are always under watch, and police violence is widespread--all with the support of judges and politicians.
Driving While Black by Call Number: HV8141 .M39 2000ISBN: 0767905490Publication Date: 2000-05-16A practical handbook for people who want to be safe and do something. Racial profiling does happen. And while cases where victims find themselves looking down the barrel of a policeman's gun make the six o'clock news, dozens of less extreme, yet troubling, examples occur every day. Cabs that whiz by only to be seen stopping for "safer"-looking people just up the block; being asked for multiple pieces of identification when making purchases with credit cards; being followed around a department store by salespeople and security while never being asked if they need any assistance; being detained for hours and extensively searched in an airport or train station--Driving While Black clearly defines the system officially known as CARD (class, age, race, dress) and offers advice about how to handle potentially life-threatening situations with the police, as well as recourse for readers who suspect their civil rights have been denied due to racial profiling. A book written to save lives, Driving While Black is not just for people of color, but for anyone who likes to wear a baseball cap, baggy jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt and finds they are often treated like a "suspect."
- Policing: A Curated Collection of LinksSince 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. In these records you will find the most recent and the most authoritative articles on the topics, people and events that are shaping the criminal justice conversation. The Marshall Project does not endorse the viewpoints or vouch for the accuracy of reports other than its own.
- Police are Killing Fewer People in Big Cities, But More in Suburban and Rural AmericaThis analysis suggests that police killings have declined in some areas "likely due to reforms to use-of-force policies implemented in the wake of high-profile deaths."
- De-escalation Keeps Protesters And Police Safer. Departments Respond With Force AnywayDiscusses “research on violence at protests“ showing that coercive police action at protests escalates violence. Also considers successful police strategies to de escalate, such as “the Madison Model.”
Organizations and Initiatives
- Black Lives Matter"Founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, the Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supre
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund"Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans."
- Fatal ForceIn 2015, The Washington Post began to log every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer in the United States. In that time there have been more than 5,000 such shootings recorded by The Post.
- Mapping Police Violence“ Mapping Police Violence is a research collaborative collecting comprehensive data on police killings nationwide to quantify the impact of police violence in communities.”
- My Brother's KeeperResources on police violence and antiracism in America. Includes the video from the June 3, 2020 virtual presentation, "A conversation with President Obama: Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence."
- Equal Justice InitiativeThe Equal Justice Initiative "is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society."
- Campaign ZeroThis organization researches and analyzes "policing practices across the country, provides technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and develops model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide."
- Movement for Black LivesM4BL works with individuals and other organizations to "create a shared vision and policy agenda to win rights, recognition, and resources for Black people."