This is important because this incident is one in a long line of incidents that continue to demonstrate that Black youth are routinely dehumanized in our society. Implicit bias and perceptions of Black youth directly impact they way that they are engaged. Because these youth were seen to not belong in the area, the officers did even attempt to engage them as residents or even guests but rather as intruders. This is evidenced by the fact that the teenager who filmed the incident was white and therefore was not engaged by the police at all - despite capturing the entire event on camera. We have seen in past, how these interactions can quickly turn deadly. The community can not begin to heal until these issues are exposed and confronted in a honest and transparent fashion.

The public deserves to know if Corporal Casebolt has any previous incidents of brutality. Demand the McKinney Police Department release his disciplinary record. This is important because this incident is one in a long line of incidents that continue to demonstrate that Black youth are routinely dehumanized in our society. Implicit bias and perceptions of Black youth directly impact they way that they are engaged. Because these youth were seen to not belong in the area, the officers did even attempt to engage them as residents or even guests but rather as intruders. This is evidenced by the fact that the teenager who filmed the incident was white and therefor was not engaged by the police at all - despite capturing the entire event on camera. We have seen in past, how these interactions can quickly turn deadly. The community can not begin to heal until these issues are exposed and confronted in a honest and transparent fashion.

This is important because this incident is one in a long line of incidents that continue to demonstrate that Black youth are routinely dehumanized in our society. Implicit bias and perceptions of Black youth directly impact they way that they are engaged. Because these youth were seen to not belong in the area, the officers did even attempt to engage them as residents or even guests but rather as intruders. This is evidenced by the fact that the teenager who filmed the incident was white and therefor was not engaged by the police at all - despite capturing the entire event on camera. We have seen in past, how these interactions can quickly turn deadly. The community can not begin to heal until these issues are exposed and confronted in a honest and transparent fashion.

This is important because this incident is one in a long line of incidents that continue to demonstrate that Black youth are routinely dehumanized in our society. Implicit bias and perceptions of Black youth directly impact they way that they are engaged. Because these youth were seen to not belong in the area, the officers did even attempt to engage them as residents or even guests but rather as intruders. This is evidenced by the fact that the teenager who filmed the incident was white and therefor was not engaged by the police at all - despite capturing the entire event on camera. We have seen in past, how these interactions can quickly turn deadly. The community can not begin to heal until these issues are exposed and confronted in a honest and transparent fashion.

As the largest private employer of Black people in the country, Walmart has the opportunity to greatly improve the lives of millions of Black people. Following actions across the country from brave associates, Walmart announced earlier this year that it was raising wages to $9/hour. That was a tremendous first step but doesn't go nearly far enough. For one of the most profitable companies in the world, working at Walmart is harder than it should be. Even with the raise, too many of my coworkers are on medicaid and food stamps. The schedule changes make it hard to raise a stable family. Some of my fellow associates even experience homelessness while working. A full time schedule and $15/hour for Walmart associates is what we need to make working at Walmart a little easier. It will allow us to take time off to attend to sick family members, purchase groceries, and cover increasingly skyrocketing housing and healthcare costs. Walmart has the means to make that a reality. And this is important not just for Walmart workers but for hourly workers in every sector. After Walmart raised wages earlier this year several other large employers followed suit. When Walmart makes changes for the better, everyone benefits. I'm a member of OUR Walmart because I know when we stand together and demand change, we can all live better. That's why I'm traveling this week from my store near Tacoma, Washington to Walmart Headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas to tell the Board of Directors that associates deserve better. I hope you'll join me by signing this petition demanding the Walmart Board announce $15 an hour wages and full time schedules. -Mary Watkines, OUR Walmart

On Monday December 8, 2014 during a national protest demanding justice for Eric Garner and Michael Brown, 19 activists and organizers in Jacksonville, FL (The Jacksonville 19) were arrested and charged with obstruction of traffic and were threatened with an egregious restitution fine. State officials in Florida join a sickening trend that is spreading across the nation, where protesters face harsh penalties for speaking out against police violence. From the 70k restitution charge against protesters in Oakland, CA (1) to a Baltimore protester who has a 500K bail (2), it becomes all too clear that our 1st amendment rights are under attack. We won't stand for it. And we need widespread public pressure to expose and stop State Attorney Angela Corey’s discriminatory and the outrageous attempts to profit off and punish the growing movement for Black liberation. Instead of working to end the discriminatory pattern of police violence that continues without pause, Angela Corey wants monetary reimbursement from those standing up for the inviolability of their lives. There’s something terribly wrong with this picture. How is it that protesters are being criminalized for speaking out against grave injustices and killer cops continue to walk free with no consequences for the lives they have stolen? The answer is simple. The entire criminal justice system is entrenched with discriminatory practices that further perpetuate white supremacy, which couldn’t be more true for the state of Florida who has struggled with decades and decades of racism and brutal violence against Black people. The Jacksonville 19 was arrested on December 8th, handcuffed, placed in a police cars, and driven to jail where they waited for four hours while State Attorney Angela Corey decided her plan with what to do with them. Now, State Attorney Corey has decided to harshly penalize 19 peaceful protesters with misdemeanor charges and high restitution fines for exercising their first amendment rights. This is not the first of State Attorney Corey’s abuses. Angela Corey tried to convict Christian Fernandez, a 12-year-old child, to a life time in prison; Angela Corey did not support the true judgment for Zimmerman in defense of Trayvon Martin and Angela Corey unjustly tried to convict Marissa Alexander with 60 years for defending herself in her home. This is a crisis of integrity in the Florida justice system that requires your intervention. This case is also the first time that a Jacksonville social change group comprised of organizers, mothers, students, and women are being charged and asked to pay restitution for an action calling for an end to discriminatory policing that severely impacts the lives of Black residents in Florida. We cannot allow the State Attorney to repeat this treacherous, autocratic Southern narrative model anymore. Florida has a long history of deep seated racism which has produced rampant brutal violence against Black people.The history of a young man, Jordan Davis, being shot at a gas station in Jacksonville in 2012 for playing his music too loud is an echo of white racist violence from 1960 when up to 200 members of the Ku Klux Klan carried ax handles, baseball bats and other kinds of clubs, threatening to organize citywide boycotts if the stores made an agreement to serve food to Black customers in downtown Jacksonville. The police stayed away until members of a group known as the Bomerangs began assisting the demonstrators. The Jacksonville 19 reflects the courage of that group, coming together to stand up for communities under attack. Let’s start by demanding that State Attorney Angela Corey, Mayor Lenny Curry, and Governor Rick Scott dismiss the charges against the Jacksonville 19! Shut it Down! Support the Jacksonville 19 during their trial and demand that Florida officials #DropTheCharges! This petition is also supported by: Burnpile Press, Veterans for Peace, Jacksonville, Chapter 174, Strengthen Our Sisters, Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign, Black Women's Lives Matter, Project South, Mad Moms, The CHESS Foundation, The New Jim Crow Movement - Jacksonville, Malcolm X Center for Self Determination, SCLC, Free Marissa Now (FMN), Black Lives Matter, Ferguson Actions, Southern Movement Alliance, and New South Network of War Resisters. References, 1) Bart Directors: When It Comes to Ending The War On Black Communities, Which Side Are You On?, 01-2015 http://bit.ly/1AfqfUG 2) Baltimore rioter slapped with $500k bail as cops charged in Freddie Gray murder walk free, 05-03-2015 http://bit.ly/1G88tsL

It has been more than a year and Kwesi Amuzu is still unjustly locked up! Kwesi was detained by immigration authorities at the U.S./Mexico border in August 2013. He spent six months in immigration detention while his asylum case was adjudicated. Although he was denied asylum in March 2014 and received a final order of removal, it cannot be carried out because there is no documentation of his birth in Ghana. In effect, Kwesi remains imprisoned because he is stateless. Most recently, he was transferred from West County Detention Facility in Richmond, CA to a for profit prison in Bakersfield, CA that is run by one of the world's most abusive private prison companies. In effect, Kwesi remains imprisoned for profit because he is stateless. ICE’s ongoing imprisonment of Kwesi is deeply inhumane and unjust. If enough people take action, we can pressure ICE to do what is right and release Kwesi immediately. Will you join us? Instead of releasing Kwesi to his support network in the Bay Area who has been following his case and advocating for his release, ICE has chosen to hold him indefinitely with no end in sight. Kwesi’s case highlights a disturbing and systemic problem; low income immigrant and Black people are being incarcerated in wildly inhumane prisons to meet the 34,000 detention bed quota. This disturbing and discriminatory practice sends a chilling effect to communities of color in the U.S. who are disproportionately impacted by mass criminalization. (1) Every year, over 400,000 people disappear and are bought and sold into the U.S. immigration detention system. Private Prison corporations lobby Congress to ensure themselves a steady stream of profit, at taxpayer expense. The immigration detention bed quota requires that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain 34,000 people every day. No other law enforcement agency operates under a quota that is mandated by Congress. Kwesi’s case reminds us that Black Lives Matter in the Migrant Rights Movement. Black Immigrant populations have been made invisible while being targeted and terrorized by ICE, police, and other law enforcement agencies at significantly high rates given their population size within the larger Immigrant community in the U.S. Black Immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America are overrepresented in immigration detention and deportation proceedings at a rate 5 times their actual presence in the undocumented community. (2) African Americans are also impacted by ICE terror and violence which was made evident in the recent killing of Terrence Kellor who was murdered in his home by an ICE agent part of an inter-agency enforcement team in Detroit. (3) We are not for sale! Our bodies should not be used to boost the profits of the prison industry and meet an unjust bed quota! Fighting for Kwesi’s release is about centering the struggle of Black Immigrants in the Migrant Rights Movement in order to strengthen the fight against the criminal-immigration system and special interests, both public and private, who profit and sustain power by criminalizing our communities. References: 1. The Drug War, Mass Incarceration and Race: http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/drug-war-mass-incarceration-and-race 2. BAJI, The Real Crime: http://www.blackalliance.org/therealcrime/ 3. Terrence Kellor killed in his own home by ICE agent: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/29/terrance-kellom-shot-dead-in-detroit-by-ice-agent.html?utm_content=main&utm_campaign=ajam&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow

http://youtu.be/YBCfIs3YoGg On December 9th, 2014 our two plus year fight for civilian oversight erupted in an enormous victory for the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence, a project of Dignity and Power Now. On that day the supervisors voted 3-2 in support a civilian oversight commission. That was the first step. The next step is making sure that this commission is effective and not simply another department rubber stamp. Your support is necessary if we are going to push the county to create the most powerful model of oversight possible for Los Angeles. Spread across Los Angeles County are 8 facilities that make up the largest jail system in the world, run by the largest sheriff's department in the country. That very system has been the site of a long history of brutality against our loved ones being held in these facilities. In a county that is 9% Black, Black prisoners make up 30% of the county jail population, and almost 50% of the county jail population with a "serious mental health condition." The history has come to a head in Los Angeles where in the past three years the county has been shaped by three significant events. 1) Deep reaching exposure of patterns of "hyper violence" against our loved ones and a corrupt culture inside the department that has covered up these abuses. Story after story has revealed patterns of prisoners being beaten while restrained, physical attacks that continue after prisoners have lost consciousness, fractured bones, denial of medical care, and retaliation for filing complaints. Exposure of these widespread abuses took the form an ACLU class action lawsuit, a thorough and scathing year long investigation initiated by the county's Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence, a Department of Justice civil rights probe into the jails, an FBI investigation that has resulted in 18 indictments for corruption and abuse, and the courage of countless survivors of sheriff violence who have continued to come forward with their stories and have become leaders in this growing movement. This movement includes the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence which has brought together over 20 organizations across Los Angeles County with the leadership of formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones at the forefront. At the height of the exposure, it was found that 57% of use of force incidents in the jails were initiated be sheriff's deputies. The persistent exposure of the departments "force first" approach and the corruption that kept it hidden resulted in the formal resignation of Sheriff Baca. His resignation paved the way for a highly contested election where Jim McDonnell, one of the commissioners on the Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence, claimed the position as sheriff. While he has publicly stated that he is invested in reform, our communities cannot lay our faith, nor the fate, of our families solely in the hands of the department that for decades built a culture of unchecked abuse in the jails. 2) A groundswell of organizations and community members has built a movement to hold law enforcement in Los Angeles accountable. This heightened momentum comes at a time where communities around the country are pushing back against law enforcement misconduct, excessive and lethal force, and national trends in anti-Black state violence are being challenged. 3) The countywide demand for civilian oversight is a demand to break from the long history of unchecked law enforcement brutality hidden behind the walls of the county jails and taking place in our communities. For years, the sheriff's department denied the need for civilian oversight and even went so far as to claim that effective independent oversight "already existed." While the last few years have produced important reforms in the sheriff's department, including a new sheriff, the community has endured violence long enough. Without independent civilian oversight, there is no effective county body that is rooted in the voices of our families inside the jails. That voice, given the legal authority that independent oversight provides, is the only thing that will ensure that recent reforms become lasting deterrence against one of the most brutal jail operations in the country. Nationwide, from St. Louis and Newark to Salinas and Los Angeles, communities are moving their local governments to create independent civilian oversight bodies. Los Angeles is one of many county's where Black people are targets of law enforcement violence at alarming rates. Winning civilian oversight alone won't stop these abuses. However, a legally empowered oversight commission is a powerful means of securing the power and dignity of Black people across Los Angeles.

On March 21, 2012, Detective Dante Servin fired shots into a group of unarmed young Black people, killing then 22-year-old Rekia Boyd. Though he was off-duty, witnesses have testified to him announcing himself as a police officer, and he should be scrutinized for his misconduct as such. It is a police officer's sworn duty to serve and protect, and Servin violated that oath in this murderous act. Servin has yet to be held accountable for his actions. The courts failed to deliver justice, as Judge Dennis Porter publicly acknowledged that Servin was intent in his actions and thus guilty of a more serious charge, but ultimately opted to not convict on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. It is now up to the Police Board to hold Servin accountable and show they are not complicit in vigilantism by continuing to employ a murderer. This petition is supported by Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100). BYP100 is a national organization of 18-35 year old Black activists and organizers dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. We do this through building a collective focused on direct action organizing, advocacy, education, and transformative leadership development. This petition is also supported by We Charge Genocide, Project Nia, Chicago Light Brigade, International Socialist Organization, Assata's Daughters, National Lawyers Guild, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Love and Protect, and Chicago Task Force on Violence Against Girls and Young Women.

We have calculated that with $100 million in many of these priority areas, we could accomplish the following: - $100 Million could be invested to employ 310,000 youth this summer. - $100 Million could be invested to hire 2,000 social workers or special education teachers. - $100 Million could be invested to provide 62,500 people in low-income households with free transportation. - $100 Million could be invested to increase resident association budgets by $281,437 in all 334 NYCHA buildings. Our communities are defining safety beyond policing. New York’s elected officials have the opportunity and duty to do the same. Communities of color are being systematically over-policed while also being displaced by rising rent and gentrification. Mayor de Blasio, Council Speaker Mark-Viverito and City Council -- We demand that you serve the best interests of the people and redirect the $100 million currently in the proposed budget for additional police, to programs that will make our communities stronger. For more information go to www.safetybeyondpolicing.com

Trayvon Martin. Mike Brown. Aiyana Jones. Eric Garner. Tanisha Anderson. John Crawford. Tarika Wilson. Tamir Rice. And now Tony Robinson. Law enforcement and racist vigilantes are killing unarmed Black youth at an alarming rate--one every 28 hours (1)--and are getting away with it. Not only are officials in cities such as Ferguson, New York, Cleveland, and Beavercreek refusing to hold discriminatory and violent police accountable, the United States Department of Justice has failed to issue indictments for killer cops who take innocent lives (2). With nowhere else to turn, it is now up to us to take matters to the next level in order to stop the brutal killings of our families and loved ones. On March 6, 2015, 19-year-old Tony Robinson was shot five times and killed by Officer Matt Kenny in a stairwell at a friend’s apartment. Tony’s friend called the police seeking help for his friend, who was allegedly jumping in and out of traffic. However, instead of helping him, Officer Kenny broke into the apartment and fatally shot him five times (3). It was not the first time Kenny had killed (4). This was not just the fault of a single ‘bad apple,’ it is part of a systemic problem in the greater Madison area, where Black people confront some of the highest rates of structural racism and inequity in the United States. According to the ground breaking Race to Equity report, the Black unemployment rate in Dane County, Wisconsin is 25.2%, compared to 4.8% for Whites and the median income for Blacks is less than ⅓ that of Whites (5). Most alarming is the excessive policing of Black youth in the area, which fuels racially motivated incarceration in jails and prison. Black youth are 10% of the youth in Dane county, but almost 80% of all imprisoned adolescents. In addition, Black people are just 4.8% of adults in the County, but 44% of new jail inmates, the greatest racial incarceration disparity in the entire country (6). Madison is America. Over the last year, a series of police killings of unarmed Black youth has been met by a series of non-indictments by local officials (7). And while some are calling for a federal investigation, the harsh reality is that we cannot rely on the feds to deliver justice. Justice Department investigations are led by the FBI, an organization with it’s own deep history of racial profiling and abuses of power that virtually never result in murder indictments(8). Law enforcement kill Black Americans at nearly the same rate as Jim Crow Era lynchings and the justice system is unable to keep our communities safe from state-sanctioned violence(9). That’s why we are calling on the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) to launch an independent investigation into the murder of Tony Robinson and racial disparities in Madison, WI, particularly the way police are used as an occupying force in Black communities. However, because they only go where they are wanted, the UN and OAS will only investigate if there is significant support for their intervention. We need your help to show the UN and OAS that we want and need an independent investigation into the death of Tony Robinson and the gross racial disparities in Madison, WI. In the final campaign of his life, Malcolm X argued that “we need to expand the civil-rights struggle to a higher level — to the level of human rights,” and urged people to take the issue of oppression, exploitation, discrimination and police brutality to the United Nations. The Young, Gifted and Black Coalition, Freedom, Inc. and want to pick up where Malcolm X left off. Join the fight for human rights by calling for an independent UN investigation. REFERENCES 1. “Operation Ghetto Storm” report by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, 11-2014, http://www.operationghettostorm.org/uploads/1/9/1/1/19110795/new_all_14_11_04.pdf 2. “Why it's Impossible to Indict a Cop,” The Nation magazine, 11-24-2014, http://www.thenation.com/article/190937/why-its-impossible-indict-cop# 3- 4. “Will Wisc. stay peaceful after cop kills unarmed teen?” CBS News 03-08-2015, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tony-robinson-shooting-protests-unarmed-black-teen-wisconsin/ 5-6. “Race to Equity Plenary Report,” Race to Equity 02-06-2015, http://racetoequity.net/dev/wp-content/uploads/Race-to-Equity-Plenary-Session-PDF.pdf 7. “Garner, Brown Decision Spark Calls for Grand Jury Reform,” U.S. News & World Report 12-12-2014, http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/12/12/after-eric-garner-michael-brown-decisions-calls-for-grand-jury-reform 8. “The FBI COINTELPRO Program and The Fred Hampton Assassination,” The Huffington Post 12-03-2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/g-flint-taylor/the-fbi-cointelpro-progra_b_4375527.html 9. “Mike Brown’s shooting and Jim Crow lynchings have too much in common. It’s time for America to own up” The Guardian 08-25-2014, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/25/mike-brown-shooting-jim-crow-lynchings-in-common

On December 20th, 2014, over 3,000 people gathered in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, to protest the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and the thousands of other Black Americans brutally killed by police. Chanting “Black Lives Matter!” and reaffirming the value of Black humanity, the protestors challenged our law enforcement and legal system to own up to and stop their racist attacks on Black lives. Unfortunately, what protestors got in response was a declaration of war. The police showed up in full riot gear, shut down parts of the mall and arrested 25 protestors. Since then, the mall owners, Canada-based Triple Five Group, have been working with the Bloomington city prosecutor to “make an example” of 11 “ringleaders” of the protest (1). This is a clear example of why protestors were in the mall in the first place: discriminatory, militarized policing and the criminalization of people of color by both law enforcement and the justice system. Bloomington city authorities have a chance to continue in this racist tradition or reverse these practices going forward. 70,000 educators, 170,000 Amalgamated Traffic Union members, 100+ clergy members, and the Minnesota AFL-CIO have urged for change, asking the city prosecutor, Sandra Johnson, to drop the charges against the protestors (2). They point out that peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and the precedent that this prosecution sets is both shameful and dangerous for the future of dissent in this country. When private property is legally valued over Black lives, we know our country has a problem. Instead of wasting public funds quashing this critical voice, Johnson could be engaging in an effort to make the justice system work for those who do not receive fair and equal treatment. Despite all of these calls from the public to stop heavy-handed tactics used against these protestors, Sandra Johnson has maintained that she will prosecute the defendants no matter what (3). Indeed, eleven of the purported organizers were arraigned on March 10th and charged with six misdemeanors, including trespassing and disorderly conduct. Perhaps most disturbing is that Johnson is demanding $40,000 in restitution for police overtime and lost revenue (4). This is dangerous to our democracy and our first amendment right to protest. When public protest, shown throughout history to be one of the most effective forces for social change, is criminalized and monetized, how can we hope to address major inequities in our society? This is why we are hoping you will join in asking the mall owners, the Triple Five Group, to tell the prosecutor to drop the charges against the Black Lives Matter protestors. If the Group tells the attorney to discontinue this aggressive, unjust pursuit, she will be forced to stay true to her word or listen to the overwhelming voice of the people and back down. Yes, Johnson has said that she must do her job without paying attention to public opinion; she must uphold justice and the law, immune to outside influence. But what about when our laws are unjust? When “justice” consistently, negatively, and disproportionately affects people of color? This is a crucial moment in our nation’s movement for racial justice, and the justice system is a crucial site of struggle. That is why we all must collectively put pressure on the system. It is time for change. Join me in urging the Mall of America owners to demand that Sandra Johnson drop the charges against the protestors so that she is forced to listen to the call for racial justice. (1) https://www.minnpost.com/glean/2014/12/bloomington-city-attorney-wants-make-example-out-moa-protesters-filing-charges (2) http://educationminnesota.org/news/education-headlines/black-lives-matter-resolution https://www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatterMinneapolis/photos/pcb.891246207585840/891244177586043/?type=1&theater http://theuptake.org/2015/03/02/city-of-bloomington-100-faith-leaders-want-a-word-with-you/ http://www.mnaflcio.org/press/minnesota-afl-cio-calls-bloomington-city-attorney-not-prosecute-blacklivesmatter-activists (3) http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_27682265/11-mall-america-black-lives-matter-protesters-plead (4) http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2015/03/10/black-lives-matter-calls-boycott-mall-america-following-first-hearing