I agree wholeheartedly. He took a knee in silent protest and was blacklisted for it. Now everyone from the NFL and all his haters have remorse. His bravery, courage and activism is what has lead to where this country and other countries worldwide are at. For context he started sitting down and then was asked to take a knee, as it was felt to be so called more respectful, of which he did and still. So yes he should get it as a sign to the rest of the world that racism and police brutality is no longer acceptable in this country. https://www.npr.org/2018/09/09/646115651/the-veteran-and-nfl-player-who-advised-kaepernick-to-take-a-knee

To Posse National, Posse Alumni, Current Posse Scholars, and all friends/supporters of Posse, Pain. Grief. Hopelessness. Fury. Exhaustion. For many of us we are experiencing the full range of these heavy but familiar emotions, yet again. Even in the middle of a global pandemic, our Black family is being hunted down like animals. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Justin Howell, Sean Monterrosa, Jamel Floyd, Freddie Gray, Korryn Gaines, Sandra Bland, Botham Jean, Jamar Clark, Dreasjon Reed, Ezell Ford, Michael Brown, Michelle Shirley, Redel Jones, Kenney Watkins, Stephon Clark, Laquan McDonald, Eric Garner, Eleanor Bumpers, Alberta Spruill, the list goes on. We Posse alumni and scholars are reaching out to rise in solidarity as “one Posse” against racial injustice. Based on the 2019 Posse Alumni Report, the Black community makes up the greatest percentage by race of our reported alumni and together with the Latinx community represents the majority. Therefore, the majority of our Posse community is facing racial injustices head-on and deserves to be supported by the organization, which quite frankly benefits from the systemic injustices that exist in this nation - specifically educational inequity. There would be no Posse without the Black community. As Debbie Bial explained in her June 2nd email, we too believe that this is precisely the time to tap into our collective capacity as an organization. But words like “leverage” and “network”, we are afraid, are performative at best, and complicit at worst. It has become evident that moral support and statements are not what drive progress. Action does. We request that The Posse Foundation publicly support, advance and adopt the three efforts below in a much needed attempt to combat racial injustice: A) NAACP’s 10 Demands We request that The Posse Foundation publicly support the NAACP’s 10 demands for all police departments. These 10 demands also align with the #wearedonedying social justice movement campaign. We believe this is a key step towards lessening police brutality nationwide and elevating the importance of Black and brown lives. B) #8toAbolition We request that The Posse Foundation publicly support the #8toAbolition campaign whose chief priorities are to “focus on concrete actions such as reducing police budgets, rather than introducing abstract procedural rules that are easily undercut by police”. Conversely, the 8cantwait campaign has already been adopted in a variety of states, yet continues to prove ineffective at curtailing the gestapo-like tactics that continually claim Black lives for sport. The #8toAbolition mission forces us to reimagine this country without police. A country that heals and nourishes communities of color rather than criminalizing and crippling them. C) Create a “Posse Peace Program” at Each Posse City Site We have seen organizations use their gifts/resources/power to put weight behind their words. Ben & Jerry’s issued a powerful statement calling for action to “Dismantle White Supremacy”. Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey donated $3 million dollars to Colin Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights Campaign.” LA Mayor Eric Garcetti cut $150 million from LAPD and is planning to reinvest in communities of color. Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian resigned from its board and is asking for his seat to be filled with a Black candidate. Even beauty companies are stepping up to the plate. Everlane is donating $75,000 to the ACLU and EJI, respectively. Anastasia pledged $1 million dollars and several others followed suit. Below are the ideas and on how The Posse Foundation can go about creating a “Posse Peace Program”: 1) Similar to PNAAC representatives, Posse city sites will work with appointed peace representatives in each city to fully support our scholars who risk their safety at protests. The representative will help disseminate protest information. They will remain peaceful at protests via adhering to a set of guidelines that scholars, alumni, and the Posse Leadership Team will have agreed upon.. 2) Allocate funding to gather/provide materials for protesters: face masks, gas masks, heat resistant gloves, protective eyewear, protective headgear, earplugs, elbow/knee pads, and water. While it pains us that protection is necessary, it is necessary nonetheless. In many states across the U.S. peaceful protesters have been met with violence, so we must take a “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst” stance. If you do not fear for your life the way we do, then your privilege allows you to do so. 3) If adopted, The Posse Foundation should publicly announce the start of the Posse Peace Program initiative to scholars, alumni, donors, employees, etc. 4) The Posse Foundation should also encourage members of its sites’ staff to be present at these peaceful protests and demonstrations. To our Posse family, we are certain we are not alone in feeling the urgency of this moment. Therefore, we have created a petition to solicit signatures from Posse scholars and alumni across the national network. Click here to sign the petition. To Posse National, we expect you to take these requests to heart & we look forward to collaborating in the very near future. #WeAreDoneDying and we are done asking. Lastly, if you would like to to share thoughts and opinions on the petition, the role of Posse in ending racial injustice, etc., click here. ---> https://forms.gle/4L2no82tDiDwcSNq5 Sincerely, and with Posse Love, Shaquille Anderson (Boston Bucknell Posse 5 and NAACP 2020 Next Gen Member) Gia Ciccolo (Boston Bucknell Posse 4) Nigel Henry Robinson (Boston Bucknell Posse 4) Alvaro J. Peters (Boston Union Posse 5)

The murders of George Floyd, Sean Monterrosa, Stephon Clark, Oscar Grant and many, many other instances of racism, brutality and murder by police, highlight the need for major reforms in law enforcement, including enhanced training, transparency, and accountability. We can no longer allow police departments to self-regulate. Too often, police misconduct gets swept under the rug, and officers are able to continue working or transfer to another department after documented instances of misconduct. Police are granted extraordinary power and authority over the rest of us and carry around dangerous weapons, yet they have less training, experience, or oversight than many others who perform valuable services to our community.

View full letter here for more details on the policies we are demanding: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r46kOyh3c27hz0412kWD9eeMHCO7TW0CXt9ucVad2r4/edit?usp=sharing We need a new normal and that requires a new strategy. It is not enough to say you’ll do better. It is time that Philadelphia acknowledges its past and actively engages and commits to change. In light of recent police brutality throughout the country, American citizens are protesting racist police departments, and the generations of pain and suffering they have inflicted on Black Americans. Please do not be mistaken, this is an issue in the city of Philadelphia, as well. There is a long history of police terror and murder of Black Philadelphians. Police have brutalized Black Philadelphians and displaced Black neighborhoods since the institution began. The protests will not stop until Philadelphia accounts for its racist and unjust history and commits to real change. In 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department (the “PPD”) dropped a bomb, one typically used in war combat, on its West Philadelphia residents in an attempt to rid the city of a Black liberation group called MOVE. Eleven people, including five children, died and a Philadelphia neighborhood burned down. The actions of the PPD destroyed more than 60 homes — leaving 250 Philly residents homeless. To this day, many of those homes remain vacant and the PPD’s insidious racism and overt violence continues to loom over the city of Philadelphia. Last summer, the PPD was involved in yet another racist incident when it was revealed that several officers made racist posts on Facebook. The PPD responded by: (1) suspending 15 officers with an intent to dismiss and (2) removing 72 officers from the streets. An additional seven officers resigned. Shortly thereafter, in September of 2019, a Philadelphia police officer shot a man who was holding a box cutter. This racism and injustice only continues as Philadelphians raise their voices to promote change. On June 1, 2020, the PPD allowed a group of protestors to gather and protest onto the I-676 highway. Then, the PPD tear gassed the protestors from above via helicopters and from the ground by throwing gas canisters, to the point that bodies were rolling down the hill adjacent to the highway on live television. Tear-gas is a chemical compound so dangerous that it is not even allowed as a war tactic, yet it was used to thwart unarmed protestors. Philly sanctioned the use of this chemical against its own residents, knowing that this tactic could further exacerbate symptoms of COVID-19 and put Philadelphians at risk for asphyxiation. In response to protests against police brutality, as of June 1, 2020, military tanks were seen riding through the neighborhoods of Philadelphia—the biggest show of force yet. Where reasonable force, impartiality, health and safety is a concern, the PPD has failed in serving its citizens. The entire law enforcement system needs to be reformed to better suit the needs of citizens. Officers are public servants and police departments are funded by the tax dollars of all Philadelphia residents, yet, the PPD continuously fails to serve all members of the Philadelphia community. Police are supposed to be trained to handle difficult and intense situations without resorting to deadly force, yet time and again, deadly force is used. Philadelphia police officers are six times more likely to kill suspects than NYPD police officers. Furthermore, Philadelphia police officers used deadly force nearly 400 times between 2007 and 2013. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, including the use of unreasonable force by police officers. However, the Philadelphia Police Department has continuously used unreasonable force, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

We are in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. This is not something the community should take lightly. With community members now enjoying the warmer weather, dog feces has created an enormous issue regarding the safety of our people. The HOA fees of $180 should be put to better use this summer, as the members of the community cannot use the public pool or parks due to COVID19. This should not even be questioned as community members must be heard to make our community safer. Homeowner's needs are not met by the excessive fees we are currently paying since public amenities are closed.

Ted Wheeler has failed time, and time again to listen to the people of Portland. He has failed to be transparent with his texts and connections with any White Nationalist groups. Furthermore, he is the Police Commissioner, and he is responsible for unethically ordering the Portland Police Bureau to turn off their body cams, and in addition block out their badge numbers. His Police have fired on a crowd of over 4,000 with CS gas, shot people unprovoked with rubber bullets, in addition they are targeting the PRESS clearly holding their passes, his Police are inciting violence through aggressive intimidation, and assault on innocent people. We are in the middle of a global pandemic, and meanwhile he failed to meet his promise to listen to Portlanders' many pleas to stop firing gas at the crowd. In addition, it is very dangerous, and could further cause complications with folks suffering from respiratory ailments. Not only this, but the Police have fired into residential neighborhoods with people's windows wide open. He is not fit to be Mayor, we demand his resignation effective immediately! Last but most important, we need a thorough investigation into the PPB, their broken systemic, and racist Police system that needs to be met with immediate addressing. We need serious reform, and we need you to listen to the city of Portland.

For decades, African-American women have always been expected to play the role of the mammy to the rest of the country if not the world. What is a mammy? An African-American woman who is expected to care for everyone and their children, with a smile, no matter how tired she is. The mammy puts everyone and everything first, until she cannot — until she dies. Remove the cover or issue a revised one. It’s “time” to destroy the myth that we as African-American women are expected to be your on-the-ground savior.

Nationwide protesting has occurred for the unjust death of George Floyd, police brutality, and Black Lives Matter movement. There have been numerous occurrences where peaceful protesters advocating for the victims of fatal unjustified racial bias have been shot with these lethal weapons by officers. Citizens protesting police brutality are becoming victims of the cause they are fighting to end. These bullets cause serious injuries including blindness, permanent disability, broken bones, and death. Rubber bullets kill 3% of people they injure, and cause serious complications in far more victims. These weapons are not non-lethal. To say so is false. It is the use of these weapons that turned the protests violent. As seen in Austin, Texas recently in a protest against racism and police brutality was turned violent because of officers at the protest, presumably defending the safety of those present. Rubber bullets are banned in wartime use due to serious injuries. There's no justification for using these lethal weapons on civilians. We will continue to advocate for the ban of rubber bullets and calling for peaceful crowd control measures on the peaceful protesters.

Our elected leaders need to be held accountable for their words and actions. Senator Cotton is encouraging violence against civilians and improperly using his office as a senator to pressure the military to commit war crimes. The social media that he used to post this comment clearly identified him as a US Senator implying this was policy and not opinion. We cannot have federal leaders advocating for the mass murder of American citizens. The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics must take swift and appropriate action to address Senator Cotton’s abuse of public office and prevent him from advocating for the unconstitutional use of US military forces against American civilians.

“More than 1,000 people are killed by police every year in America, and Black people are three times more likely to be killed than White people. We can take steps and make reforms to combat police violence and systemic racism within law enforcement. Together, we can work to redefine public safety so that it recognizes the humanity and dignity of every person. Mayors and other City Council officials“ (county executives) “are uniquely positioned to introduce common-sense limits on police use of force.” As it states on this webpage, https://www.obama.org/mayor-pledge/ This is the link to the 8 things that need to change!!: https://8cantwait.org/

In 1939, when Eleanor Roosevelt realized that the DAR was not allowing the esteemed Black opera singer, Marian Anderson, to perform for them on the racist rule that they only wanted white performers for their events at Constitutional Hall in D.C., Eleanor not only resigned from the DAR but also invited Marian to sing at the White House. As alumni from Roosevelt University, we stand for every person’s life mattering. We believe that we can make a difference in our brothers’ and sisters’ lives moving forward, with the understanding that education changes the world. With students learning about America’s racial history, we can help grow a greater connection to the principles of social justice that our university was built on. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/09/23/black-history-white-privilege-course-graduation-requirement-column/2389375001/ https://www.fdrlibrary.org/anderson

To bring AWARENESS on Rape/Sexual Assault surrounding women across the world her story is heartbreaking! she deserves justice & her story to be HEARD.