As of 2016, Norfolk police have killed twice as many people as any other agency in Virginia since 2010, according to a Virginian Pilot investigation. According to The Guardian newspaper, out of the 19 people shot and killed by police in the state of Virginia in 2016, seven of those were killed in the Hampton Roads area, with 5 of those deaths being in Norfolk alone. These issues are not "another place's problem." Members of Norfolk City Council have the ability to make concrete change and address the systematic abuse Black and Brown people experience everyday here in Norfolk.

If we want reform we need to have police that are joining for the right reasons. A chief who’s not only a black woman herself but mother to a black son and grandchildren who’s spent most of her life in Richmond in the community making a difference is the leadership we need, not just in Richmond but in every goddamn community. Can you imagine what a police force full of Carols would be like? I can. George Floyd would be alive. Tamir Rice would be 18 right now. The chief of police should be a mother who’s children have grown up in a system that is racist and cruel. Someone who wants, “police need to change their mindset from warrior to guardian; it’s not us (police) Verses them (the people), we as police are part of the community, we are one. “ Richmond, tell Mayor Stoney we don’t need another macho man. We need a WOMAN who truly cares about the community as she’s part of it. We need a chief with a career like Carols. If we can’t truly abolish police then let’s change what sort of people become police. There should be no greater honor then serving your community, we’ve had enough of police ENFORCING their power, we need to flip that to truly serving and working for the people. We need kindness. We need selflessness. We need love. Tell Stoney Richmond should have a say in who is in charge of the folks who SERVE the community. And in my opinion it’s time for a woman to do the job men can’t.

This is important because People that don't have a Support System in Prison go without Justice This man needs to be released he has done his time and more than that .. please sign the petition

In January of 2019, H.R. 40 was introduced to members of Congress. The bill states its purpose is "to establish a commission to study and develop Reparations proposals for African-Americans" and "submit to Congress the results of such examinations." The Committee found that “as a result of the historic and continued discrimination, African-Americans continue to suffer debilitating economic, educational, and health hardships including but not limited to having nearly 1 million black people incarcerated; an employment rate more than twice the current white unemployment rate; and an average of less than 1/16 of the wealth of white families, a disparity which has worsened, not improved over time.” Now, in the wake of a national health crisis that disproportionately affects the Black Community and the continued public slaughter of Black bodies at the hands of law enforcement despite international condemnation, African Americans continue to be left behind economically. The time is now for this country to pay back the Black community for this economic chokehold. Join me in urging members of Congress to move forward with the findings of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s Committee to Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans and encourage Congress to demand Reparations for African Americans. Read H.R. 40 here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/40

Ninian Edwards was a founding political leader and governor of Illinois in the 1800s. He was also a slave owner who actively encouraged the continuation of slavery in Illinois when the North West Ordinance of Illinois outlawed it. Edwards also participated and encouraged the removal and genocide of Native Americans in Illinois. In 2007, a statue of Edwards was erected and a plaza was named after him, right in downtown Edwardsville. Our downtown public spaces should celebrate our community's values and identity. The statue and plaza perpetuate negative messages about who is and is not welcome in our city, about who we revere and who we value. On November 17, 2020, the city took a first step by renaming the plaza. Edwardsville should demonstrate its commitment to equality and its opposition to racism by taking the next straightforward action - removing the statue. We believe this is the right action because of our history. We must learn about Edwards - who he was and what we did - but we should be doing so in a way that is appropriate for learning history, rather than revering him in the heart of our city. The statue can be rehomed to an educational/historical setting. Please join us as we work to achieve the following: 1) The removal of the statue of Ninian Edwards from the downtown Ninian Edwards Plaza. 2) The relocation of the statue to a museum or less public city space, to be displayed alongside information that describes the harmful historical actions of Ninian Edwards against Black Americans and Native Americans.

The current state flag bill prevents the Confederate battle flag from being used in the new state flag. On the eve that the bill was voted on, Senator Melanie Sojourner asked if the bill prevented all Confederate imagery and emblems from being used on the new state flag. Senator Briggs Hopson then stated that it did not. Senator Sojourner then mentioned that Georgia’s state flag is based on another flag from the Confederacy (the “Stars and Bars”). Details on the Flag Bill Process: The nine-member commission must adopt a new flag by September 14th. It will then be voted on by people in November of 2020. In the 2021 session, the lawmakers still must ratify a final flag design that voters vote on in the November election. If voters reject the design, the nine-member commission gets back to work, and voters would weigh in on another design in November 2021. On the nine-member commission, there will be at least one member from the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Arts Commission and the Mississippi Economic Council.Contact your state representative, state senator, the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, or the Mississippi Economic Council to express your views on what imagery the new flag should and shouldn’t include. Sources: Bill: http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2020/pdf/history/HB/HB1796.xml Article: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/28/live-mississippi-lawmakers-take-up-state-flag-bill/3275024001/

The DAS extends police power to surveil nearly all New Yorkers 24/7. The system uses cameras, license plate readers, MTA trip data, and radiological sensors to create a real-time surveillance map of New York City. It also taps into private data feeds ranging from Wall Street banks’ security systems to private data brokers. Once the data is funneled into the DAS, it can be stored indefinitely. Even worse, NYC gets a sweet kickback commission from Microsoft any time another city or town buys the DAS technology. The DAS heightens the NYPD’s racist policing practice against BIPOC and immigrants. Not only can the DAS technology allow unconstitutional warrantless location tracking, it can also provide information for ICE to help deport people, too. We shouldn’t have to wait years for the Supreme Court to strike down the DAS. Microsoft should ditch it today. We’re calling on Microsoft to immediately end its partnership with the NYPD on the Domain Awareness System.

This is important because now is the time for change and monuments made to preserve nothing but white supremacy and its violent dominance over non-white culture from suppression to genocide need to be removed. The exploitation of Native American culture also needs to come to an end.

San Francisco's Prayer Book Cross is a symbol that continues to glorify white supremacy. It whitewashes the narrative of colonizers, slave traders, rapists, and looters. It must be removed immediately. The maintenance of this religious symbol in a public park is a governmental endorsement of religion, which is illegal.

As long-standing members of the Triangle and Richmond climbing communities, we have been dismayed by the lack of action taken both recently and historically to elevate Black voices and experiences, as well as other marginalized groups. There have been small actions taken by Triangle Rock Club; however, these steps have been nowhere near strong nor vocal enough to truly create an inclusive and diverse climbing community. We are demanding immediate steps to be taken by both organizations to radically alter service provisions so that they can better serve our community. We are requesting Triangle Rock Club to do the work to reflect on the privilege of rock climbing and how rock climbing has historically been an elitist sport centering white men climbing on Indigenous land. Events prior to developing this petition: Concerned climbers protested in front of Triangle Rock Club - RVA on June 21, 2020. We received no engagement from staff at the protest. We posted about our action on Instagram, and tagged both @trianglerockclub and @trianglerockclub_rva. The next day, we noticed that the tags on our posts have been removed. We received no comment, direct message, or any kind of response to our action. We are reaching out to TRC publicly and directly to explain our list of demands. On the morning of June 23, 2020, Triangle Rock Club uploaded a post on their Instagram accounts in response to the concerns of the climbing community. They stated, “Black Lives Matter” and committed to taking steps to align themselves with the BLM movement. The climbing community commented on the posts concerned with Andrew Kratz’s donations to Donald Trump under TRC. Teresa Baker, founder of the Outdoor CEO Pledge, commented and said that she just found out about the donations and that she would look into it. A few hours later, the post was deleted/archived, and a new post was posted that had the same wording but without the Outdoor CEO Pledge. All of the comments were consequently deleted /archived as well. We are seeking long lasting and sustainable changes from Triangle Rock Club to help elevate BIPOC, LGBTQIA2+, and Disabled Climbers at all times.

Reddit has been called the home to "the most violently racist" content on the internet by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The popular social network has long been a haven for sexist, racist, homophobic, and transphobic content--and the company has done little to address it. In fact, Reddit's former CEO recently called out the company saying it "nurtures and monetizes white supremacy" and hate. Reddit has been linked to the alt-right, the manosphere, white nationalists, and other hate groups that promote violence and harass other users, particularly women, people of color and LGBTQ people. Reddit is home to appallingly racist forums dedicated to promoting violence and unspeakable slurs against Black people. Meanwhile, forums created as safe spaces for Black women and LGBTQ people have called on Reddit to protect them from being inundated with harassment and attacks, and the company hasn't done much to help. Reddit forums have also served as an organizing platform for extreme men's rights groups that promote violence against women, including the belief that women want to be raped. The reputations of U.S. Reddit users are so bad that Reddit Ireland resorted to shutting down its site entirely every night to stop racist posts coming from the U.S. Reddit has also been linked to deadly shootings and attacks. Reddit was used to organize the Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Va that killed activist Heather Heyer, and at least three recent mass killers in North America were inspired by Reddit chatrooms fostering misogyny and racism. In 2015, Reddit refused to ban "open racism and slurs," claiming it needed to allow people with so-called "different beliefs" to express themselves. But Reddit can't hide from this moment of national reckoning on systemic racism. Sign the petition supporting the demands made by more than 800 Reddit moderators representing Black, feminist, and LGBTQ Reddit forums and millions of Reddit users.

This is important because racism and discrimination should be eliminated and the only way to do that is to allow Americans to be equally represented by someone who can relate to their struggles and advocate change for the better. This is important because it will allow the opportunity for non whites to be in highest position in the government. It will break the repetitive cycle of a white male always being elected for President. It is importance because it will solidify change and give equality to black and brown Americans.