On 09/20/21, I looked at the Wake County Public Schools website to find information about the number of COVID Clusters in Wake County Public Schools. The site was down and read as follows: We are updating based on the State of Emergency declared by Governor Cooper. This means there is a continuous rise of cases in the state and it is showing up in the schools and hospitals. Our schools are not safe places for our children. It is a known fact, there are not enough teachers, lunchroom staff, maintenance workers, or bus drivers to keep them safe. Our front-line workers are constantly put at risk without the basic protection of unmasking in Wake County. Since this pandemic started 1 in 9 people in Wake County have been affected by COVID, we’ve had 121,290 reported cases in our community alone. We already see that sending students into schools without masks will lead to even more people getting sick. We the parents from Black and brown communities can not attend Board meetings due to the many barriers that prevent us from attending. We are showing our concern through the signing of this petition. We never want it said that we don't care about our children and all children’s safety. We must adhere to the CDC’s guidelines to socially distance and implement a mask mandate to protect everyone in Wake County. We should not be listening to the ignorance of anti-maskers who bully and threaten board members to intimidate them from supporting mask mandates. It's our right to be safe and keep our children safe without intimidation. We the members of the Wake County Community Equity Leadership Team and the community ask that the Wake County School Board consider the cost when making your decision. We must put the safety and needs of our community at the center of our decision-making when it comes to the health and our students and families. WE WANT A MASK MANDATE

I’ve owned my own construction company in North Carolina for the past 9 years. My family has been in the construction industry since the early 70s and I have always viewed my work as a way to build generational wealth and create economic mobility for Black people. However, I’ve suffered at the hands of huge contracting corporations like Archer Western who have a history of financially exploiting small Black-owned businesses. This has made it extremely difficult to support my livelihood and my family. I’ve lost a majority of my income from dealing with contracting giants like Archer Western and it is time for them to be held accountable! Archer Western refusing to pay its debt to Black subcontractors shows how systematic racism continues to impact our people. As a result of Archer Western’s debt to my small contracting business, I’ve been unable to pay important medical bills and have even delayed important medical operations. I’m also unable to reinvest in my community by providing employment opportunities to people of color. Enough is enough and big corporations like Archer Western should be held accountable in how they treat small, local minority contractors like me. Archer Western has a history of late payment and non-payment to over 20 of its Black and minority-led subcontractors that we know of. There are likely many more that have been put out of business. I’ve been fighting to stop this financial exploitation and my pleas are constantly ignored. Join me in telling Daniel Walsh that it’s time to do right by its Black subcontractors. We demand that Archer Western release all records of its late and non-payment of Black subcontractors, pay all of their outstanding contracts, and conduct an audit of their racial equity practices. This is the first step in ensuring that small contracting businesses like mine never go under due to corporations' prejudicial, unlawful, and dishonest business practices. Daniel Walsh is the president and co-chairman of Archer Western and has the power to begin rectifying the wrongs Archer Western has committed against small minority businesses. Sign this petition and tell Walsh to begin paying Black subcontractors what they are owed!

On June 28, 2021, a 22-person Screven County Grand Jury decided not to indict former Georgia State Trooper, Jacob Gordon Thompson, 27, in the August 7, 2020 shooting death of unarmed motorist, Julian Lewis, 60. After conducting its own independent investigation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined that Thompson’s shooting of Lewis was not legally justified and charged him with murder. Thereafter, on September 28, 2020, Chief Superior Court Judge Gates Peed Shortly conducted a preliminary hearing and concurred with the GBI’s conclusion that there was sufficient evidence to charge Thompson with the murder of Julian Lewis. Crucial to the GBI’s conclusion that Thompson should face murder charges was its finding that Thompson’s purported justification for shooting Lewis, that Lewis was attempting to strike him with a motor vehicle, was false, as expert testing of Lewis’ vehicle determined that it was inoperable and incapable of causing harm to Thompson. “Notably, during the subsequent preliminary hearing, the lead GBI Agent also testified that Thompson could not have feared harm from Lewis’ inoperable vehicle as only one second in time elapsed from when Thompson took his foot off the brake of his patrol car, emerged from his vehicle, unholstered his weapon, pointed it at Lewis, and fired, fatally striking the unarmed Lewis in the forehead. Today, however, when presented with the same evidence previously considered by the GBI and Judge Peed, a Screven County Grand Jury chose not to indict Thompson on any charges,” said Attorney Francys Johnson. "I am shocked and in disbelief. What the Grand Jury did today was worse than what Jacob Gordon Thompson did when he shot my father in the head. It was murder when Thompson killed my father. But what this District Attorney and Grand Jury have killed is any belief Black people can have in this Justice System" said Brook Bacon, son of Julian Lewis. “This grand jury determined that the GBI was wrong and a superior court judge was wrong in finding that there was no probable cause to indict Thompson. This is why so many people have no faith in the criminal justice system when it comes to justice for Black people in this State and across the country. It is heartbreaking for this family, but not a surprise to us,“ Attorney Mawuli Davis. OTHER DEMANDS TO THE OGEECHEE CIRCUIT DA INCLUDE: Release Video Evidence to the Public US DOJ Investigation Re-present Case to a New Grand Jury The family of Julian Lewis is represented by attorneys Mawuli Davis and Francys Johnson of Davis Bozeman Johnson Law and supported by A Just Georgia Coalition. To watch recorded livestream of Julian Lewis teach-in and learn more about the case and his life, please visit https://fb.watch/6_HoHWZoPE/

I have been working as an athletic trainer in Atlanta for six years now. For those six years, I have rarely seen athletic trainers on the sidelines for sporting events in a majority of DeKalb County high schools. Just last week, a Black student died from heat illness and there was no athletic trainer at the school. A Dekalb County high school dancer died from heat illness in June 2019, and there was also NO athletic trainer available at her school. Black students have been injured during basketball and football practices without the proper professional there to help and prevent a death. As students begin sports training , hiring more athletic trainers should be a priority to keep them safe! Our Black student athletes deserve better and hiring athletic trainers can save Black lives. It upsets me to see a lack of sports medicine care in a predominantly Black school district. Only 5 schools in the district have athletic trainers and they house the majority of white students in the district and 12% of the student population receives the benefits of sports medicine care. Black students are being left without. To create a better world for Black children in Dekalb County Schools we must see an effort for more athletic trainers hired in the school district. Having a trained and qualified healthcare professional to provide appropriate medical care onsite, especially in emergencies, is crucial to student-athlete safety. Coaches and athletic directors in our schools are not enough. They are unable to act as health-care decision makers in emergencies. Athletic trainers can act in dangerous situations and possibly prevent death. They can protect Black students and save their lives! We demand DeKalb County Schools to hire full time athletic athletic trainers by allocating district funding that would protect the general welfare of Black children. We also demand that athletic training consultants train school staff on the right ways to act in emergency situations. Game day coverage is not enough. Antwyn Brown is the Chief of Staff to the DeKalb County Superintendent and is pivotal in supporting and advising the superintendent on decisions for the school district. Mr. Brown can help begin the processes needed to getting more athletic trainers in Dekalb County Schools. Sign this petition and ask the Chief of Staff to the DeKalb County Superintendent to protect our Black student athletes and protect the general welfare of Black children now! References: Suzuki-Yamanaka M, Huggins RA, Armstrong KJ, Coleman KA, Casa DJ, Kaneoka K. Athletic training employment in secondary schools by geographic setting and school size within the United States. J Athl Train. 2021 Jan 22. Post E, Winterstein AP, Hetzel SJ, Lutes B, McGuine TA. School and Community Socioeconomic Status and Access to Athletic Trainer Services in Wisconsin Secondary Schools. J Athl Train. 2019 Feb;54(2):177-181. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/index.asp DCSD Demographics (2018-2019 School Year) https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/documents/planning/2018/demographics-2018.pdf

The Final 5 Campaign is dedicated to the closure of the final five youth prisons in Illinois. Should it be constructed, the Illinois Youth Center at Lincoln (IYC-Lincoln) would be one of six fully functioning youth prisons in Illinois for a current population of just 130 youth. The failure of these youth prisons - or “Illinois Youth Centers" as they are officially called - to provide care and respect to young people is unacceptable. IYC-Lincoln is scheduled to be constructed at a state facility called Lincoln Development Center (LDC) - a facility that closed in 2002 after abuse and neglect, including preventable deaths, were reported. Despite the appalling history of LDC, and the fact that this is planned to be a locked-door, "secure" youth prison, advocates of its construction insist that it will be a "restorative" and "community-based" facility. To claim that this prison would be community-based is misleading and appropriative of real community-based solutions. With so few youth currently incarcerated, we have an opportunity to build something uniquely transformative. Young people and families deserve resources in their own communities and an investment in non-carceral approaches to harm rooted in healing and restoration. Young people need space to make mistakes and grow without the threat of carceral violence, and resources the state invests in should be grounded in that understanding. Help us hold the state of Illinois to a higher standard of care for young people. Sign our petition to #StopLDC and support us in pushing for the closure of the other 5 youth prisons in Illinois.

Just eight days before the verdict that convicted Derek Chauvin, unidentified police officer(s) killed my brother, Matthew “Zadok” Williams in his own home moments after he asked the officers to identify themselves as he kneeled behind a piece of furniture. Like so many others, my brother was killed in broad daylight in his home. On April 12th, 2021, DeKalb County, Georgia police officers approached my brother and asked him to leave his own property. According to the police department, officers assumed that Zadok was a trespasser based on two 911 calls from a woman living in the condo behind Zadok’s condo. These calls have yet to be released. The police department has released some body camera footage and the media is only showing excerpts of the incident. We are calling on Chief Ramos to set an example by ending the secrecy that is rampant behind the blue line and promoting transparency. In the footage available, Zadok has a mental health crisis outside in an incident involving a knife after walking down his steps and being asked to leave his property. Zadok subsequently retreats into his home through an upstairs window. The police began to kick his door open. Once the door is breached, Zadok immediately kneels behind a cushioned piece of furniture to protect himself from gunshots as he tells the officers that he is defending his property and asks the officers to back up and speak to him through the doorway. Zadok is not a threat, and police begin talking to him telling him that he doesn’t have to die. The absurdity of the comment by officers at the scene reveals the culture of dehumanization that is deeply embedded in departments across the nation. A 911 call should not be synonymous with death for Black people. Instead of backing up and talking to Zadok from the doorway as he requested and helping him, police officers shot into his home and killed him while he was kneeling behind furniture. The officers and supervisor at the scene left him there for nearly an hour and a half to die. No medical aid was rendered and when SWAT teams and EMS arrived more than an hour after the shooting, my brother was subsequently pronounced dead. My family was notified nearly 24 hours after his death. Such an egregious disregard for my brother’s life speaks to the culture of policing in DeKalb County and across the country. Police officers are rarely held accountable for killing, harassing and assaulting Black people and my family is committed to doing everything in our power to ensure that these officers are held accountable and that other families in DeKalb County don’t have to endure what we have had to go through. It’s been a month since police officer(s) murdered my brother Matthew Zadok Williams, and the police officer(s) responsible still have not been held accountable. We don’t even know their full names. Zadok was a remarkable brother, uncle, and son, and he meant the world to our entire family. I strongly urge Police Chief Mirtha V. Ramos and Chief Executive Officer, Michael L Thurmond to hold the officers responsible for this ruthless action accountable and to provide my family with answers. Both Police Chief Ramos and CEO Thurmond have the authority to release all media related to Zadok’s murder, identify the officers to the public, and terminate the officers employment. We want these police officers to be held accountable. This is the first step towards true criminal justice reform here in DeKalb County. Sign the petition: Tell Police Chief Ramos and CEO Thurmond to terminate the employment of the officer(s) who killed my brother Zadok now! Update as of August 10th, 2021 The family of Matthew Zadok Williams has been made aware that the GBI has completed their investigation of the April 12, 2021 killing of Matthew Zadok Williams by DeKalb County police Sergeant Devon Perry. On what would have been Matthew Zadok Williams’ 36th birthday on August 3rd, the family instead prepared for their weekly “Wednesday Rally for Justice." The family and community rally at Dekalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston's office every Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. to bring awareness about Matthew Zadok Williams being shot by police in his own home. The bodycam footage shows that after Sgt. Devon Perry fired shots into Zadok's home, Sgt. Perry orders the police officers to back off. In the hour and a half that follows, Sgt. Devon Perry can be heard admitting that Zadok did not lunge at him with a knife before he fired shots into Zadok’s home. In fact, the bodycam footage shows that Zadok did nothing to justify shots to be fired into his home. After firing those unlawful shots into Zadok's home, Sgt. Devon Perry walked off and left Zadok to die a slow painful death. Sgt. Devon Perry's superior can be heard instructing Sgt. Perry on the phone that he has a duty to render medical aid to Zadok; no medical aid was rendered. In fact, DCFR EMTs were already on the scene responding to a separate incident and inquired about rendering aid to Zadok. EMTs were denied entry into the home! Police officers are heard laughing about Zadok bleeding out in the condo. Dekalb has released statements indicating that their policy does not allow aid to be rendered until the scene is deemed safe. They say that bunkers were needed to enter Zadok’s condo after he was shot. However, no bunkers were needed when the police kicked his door open and and shot him. The family’s independent preliminary autopsy has revealed that Zadok would have survived if aid would have been rendered. SWAT and EMS arrived nearly an hour and a half later after Zadok was shot, and Zadok was pronounced dead. The family was notified 24 hours later. Zadok’s family is heartbroken! The family now demands that Dekalb District Attorney Sherry Boston indict and prosecute Sgt. Devon Perry immediately and all the police officers involved in Zadok's senseless murder.

Tulare County is a prime region for Asian Hate Crimes, especially blatant racism shown at Tulare County Supreme Court. Yerin's biological father requested to move to Alabama, where he will find a community of pedophiles, where he will objectify his own daughter with his Asian fetishization and well-noticeable pedophilia. The Court will let this happen, as the judge never held the father accountable for breaking court orders or letting him make his own court orders with his attorney. Yerin needs her mother, her Asian heritage, and her sister. Her father was not there when she was born when she was named when she was fed. He popped in the middle when he needed her for his reputation, to gain credibility around young children. He has a serious mental issue and with his records of sexually abusing and molesting his 3 sisters throughout his adolescence, and others throughout his life, he should not have been awarded custody. Yerin is in serious danger and she does not deserve this. Please help the Lim family. The next hearing is May 10th, which will likely allow Yerin's father to move to Alabama with Yerin and his deranged and racist wife. They will raise Yerin to be a white nationalist, racist (1% Asian in AB), abuse her in many ways, find solidarity with other pedophiliacs and incests in Alabama, and make sure she despises her mother. Yerin's mother is a US citizen, same as her father and stepmother. She deserves equal treatment in court, which was not granted due to her race and gender. This is not acceptable.

For the past five weeks, I have endured the water crisis. Jackson is over 80% Black and we went without vital water access for weeks. While white folks in other counties had running water in their homes, I watched the direct impact that neglect has had on my community. Jackson’s water crisis is not only a health problem and an environmental problem -- it’s undeniably a race problem. Thousands of Black people have caught rain to flush the toilet and stacked cases of water to wash their hands and brush their teeth, while simultaneously trying to survive a global pandemic that disproportionately affects Black people. I’m starting this petition to ensure that my community gets the help they desperately need and deserve. The city of Jackson has a history of being disenfranchised in Mississippi. This isn’t the first time that we’ve been overlooked, and we need action. Join me in telling Stephen McCraney to do right by Jackson. My community demands continuous water testing to assess whether it is safe for consumption, proper damage assessments, and a long term plan in ensuring that water consumption is safe without the threat of a state takeover of the Jackson community. Stephen McCraney is the Executive Director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and he has the power to speed up the process of assessing the damage to Jackson’s water system. Speeding up the process will secure important federal funding for our water systems recovery and help my community heal together. Sign this petition and tell McCraney to prioritize damage assessments in Jackson while providing resources that restore trust for Black Mississippians now!

Elementary educators are charged with enriching the minds of those at their most impressionable juncture, adolescence. Students and parents invest their trust in the school system, believing in the best outcomes for their children. One teacher betrayed such trust and used her platform to belittle, harass, and directly discriminate against a black male student, Latrell. Latrell was repeatedly berated for wearing his “Black King” shirt by Ms. Brainard who called him racist and insisted that there should be a “white history month”. Latrell’s classroom of peers soon joined his teacher in labeling him a racist and echoing the sentiment of “white history month”.

On January 13th, the Illinois legislature passed a landmark omnibus bill on justice reform. This momentous policy package, which was championed by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus (ILBC), would take crucial steps in advancing racial equity in Illinois by enacting sweeping reforms to anti-Black systems of police brutality and mass incarceration. The legislation includes provisions to standardize police use of force, eliminate key mechanisms of officer impunity, abolish prison gerrymandering, and end systems of wealth based pretrial incarceration. We are now mobilizing community members to demand that Governor Pritzker sign the ILBC’s bill on justice reform (HB 3653) in its entirety, without delay. Timely implementation of this omnibus package is vital to the safety, justice, and liberation of the nearly two million Black residents throughout the state. In September of 2020, when the ILBC released its preliminary racial justice policy agenda, Governor Pritzker pledged to support Black leadership in the Illinois General Assembly. Since that time, the ILBC has received an outpouring of public input, held a series of subject matter hearings, heard hours of expert testimony, and rigorously deliberated on a sweeping array of policy proposals to address racialized systems of police abuse and anti-Black sentencing practices. The ambition and strength of this historic racial justice legislation attests to the unequivocal imperative that public policy be led by the constituents and elected officials most impacted by the issues at hand. We now call upon Governor Pritzker to honor his commitment to stand with the ILBC and the millions of constituents its members represent, by signing HB 3653 in its entirety. We also urge the Governor to leverage the platform of his office to counter the dangerous narratives unleashed by White Supremacist groups that seek to undermine the ILBC’s racial equity legislation through divisive dog whistling and fear mongering tactics. As the nation looks on, it is incumbent upon the Pritzker administration to renounce toxic misinformation that equates racial justice with rampant crime and a Trumpian vision of “American carnage.” Join us as we call upon Governor Pritzker to help set a new tone for the nation by promoting an inclusive message of universal safety, justice, and liberation in Illinois, and enacting HB 3653 in its entirety.

This is important to me because I lived a complete near death experience at the hands of a police officer, he tried to kill me. This was so hurtful and traumatizing, I literally begged for my life. Hello, my name is Terry Williams and I have a story that should be told to the public I was shot on December,15th at the motel 6th on Victorian Avenue in Sparks, NV.  I tracked my lost Iwatch to that location. As I approached room (114) I noticed the door was slightly ajar but decided to knock on it anyway as I knocked  the door swung open and I saw several people in the room and one pointed a gun at me and shot me within 30 seconds of me arriving at the motel. I was in shock but my wife was in the car so I didn't want to return to the car for her safety. I looked up, saw surveillance cameras and walked around the building staying under the cameras. As I got to the end of the motel, limping and holding my fingers (I was shot in the stomach and hand) I turned and saw the same people coming in a car, they shot at me four more times. Just as they shoot I look across the street and see a Reno Police Officer.  When I see the officer I am relieved because I know he saw them shoot and would go after them but he did not. That confused me but I see him pull into the metro car wash where I am still relieved because I am going to get help quickly.  When I walk into the car wash the officer looks at me and pulls his truck to the ticket window, so I ask an employee am I hallucinating or dying or is that a police officer? The employee then told the officer, hey he is shot and needs help.  The officer got out of his truck and I sat on the curb now relieved because I could put my life in the officers hands and work on my breathing trying to stay calm because I have severe injuries. The officer asked me my name, date of birth, social security number which I gave to  him.  He returned to his truck and I assume entered my info into his computer (but maybe not) he then shut his truck door and got on his cell phone.  I yelled over to him my wife is still at the motel 6 across the street and the suspects left shooting at me four more times, please send someone over there because she could need medical or worse dead.  He got out of his truck and turned his back to me never saying a word or sending help for my wife.  I was so worried about her at the same time begging this officer to call the paramedics for me, at this point I have lost a lot of blood and realize I won't be able to hold on much longer.  I am now quite aware this officer is racist and going to let me bleed to death.  I ask one of the employees at the carwash do these surveillance cameras that are directly above me work? He said yes, and the officer smacked his lips. I was like omg he is going to let me die and has no intentions on helping me. I then asked one of the kids to call the paramedics but that agitated the officer and he demanded the kids to get against the wall.  Remember, I have no clue if my wife is dead or alive and he isn't sending help for either one of us.  My wife has been waiting for me for enough time that she starts to question where I am and why I haven't returned to the car. She doesn't see me so drives around the motel and spots me at the carwash. When she pulls in she jumps out of the car and asks what is going on because I am sitting on the curb and a police officer is standing over me.  First, I am relieved to see her alive and now I know I will get help because I am sure I am going to die.  I yell, I've been shot in the hand and stomach! Call the paramedics. She went crazy asking where's the ambulance? The officer tells her not to call saying he would.(admitting he hasn't called for help in over 30 minutes). I explain no you call. I've been sitting here with this officer this entire time begging him and asking him to call for help.So about 30 minutes later my wife called 911 after her call 5 minutes later the Sparks police, fire and ambulance arrived. The paramedics rushed over to me, cut my clothes off and transported me to Renown Medical Center. I was rushed to surgery with severe trauma to my hand and stomach.  The bullet shot my middle finger off as well as penetrated my stomach going through my urethra, bladder and prostate.  I woke up from surgery with a colostomy bag, and two urine bags. Two days later I had surgery on my hand. The doctor advised me there was a 90 percent chance he would need to amputate. The surgery went better than expected and they attached my finger with wires and poles but the outcome of the surgery is still unknown. This was a true life nightmare. First I am shot by complete strangers in the middle of the afternoon, then the person I think will help my wife and I tries to kill me. I have tried to obtain the police report, surveillance videos from the motel 6 and car wash to no avail. I was told the police report can't be released to me because the crime is still under investigation. I am the victim and question why I can't get a copy of my own case file.  They say because it's under investigation but if that is the case I will never get a copy because the detectives aren't even trying to solve the case.  I have only heard from them one time since the shooting.  My wife has texted them on many occasions asking the status of the case, she has yet to get a reply.  The car wash and motel 6 both say law enforcement has the video and I need to obtain a copy from them.  I called Reno Police Department and asked for the report number from their department (after all the Reno Officer was first on the scene). I was told that they didn't have a case number because Sparks Police took over.  I was like ok what is the Reno Officers name he said he didn't have that info either but hopefully it is in the Sparks report. So now 30 days after the crime I am unable to get the officer's name, my police report, any video's or help exposing this brutal officer.  He needs to be made accountable for his actions.

The child welfare system traumatizes children and rips families apart. Far from helping, law enforcement only makes things worse. Their partnership must end now. Los Angeles County is home to the largest locally-run foster care system in the country, run by the Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS). The system disproportionately targets Black, Brown, and Indigenous children for surveillance and removal, actions that, even when well-intentioned, terrorize and traumatize families of color. While Black children are 10% of LA County’s population, they represent 40% of the young people in the child welfare system. DCFS works in direct partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and LA Sheriff’s Department (LASD). Approximately 25% of DCFS referrals come from law enforcement. DCFS and law enforcement agencies work together to enter homes and remove children. Police presence during DCFS investigations further traumatizes children and escalates the situation. Removing law enforcement from the child welfare system is the first step to curb the racist practices that break up families of color. We must demand an end to systems that separate families instead of supporting them. The REIMAGINE CHILD SAFETY campaign is supported by: Black Lives Matter LA; ACLU of Southern California; Alliance for Children’s Rights; Black Los Angeles Young Democrats; Dignity & Power Now; JusticeLA; La Defensa; Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers; Movement for Family Power; National Coalition for Child Protection Reform; Public Counsel; The RightWay Foundation; Trans Lifeline; and White People 4 Black Lives.