The Four Mile March, a coalition of civic groups, marched in over 30 major cities on Martin Luther King Day across the Nation to demand change in police department policies. They published ten main demands for changing police forces across the country and vowed to work within their communities to make those changes happen. www.4milemarch.org
In Washington, D.C., the No F.EA.R. and Hands Up Coalitions, The Coalition Against Police Violence (TheCapV), and National Association Against Police Brutality (NAAPB) rallied with several hundred at the White House. They built on momentum gained from the ongoing BlackLivesMatter movement in cities such as Ferguson Missouri, New York and Los Angeles, where prominent cases of unarmed Blacks killed by police are galvanizing civic change.
After speakers decried police at the White House, the marched to Chinatown, shutting major intersections. They held a die-in at the Chinatown arch and then marched to the Department of Justice, holding another die-in. Both die-ins lasted 4 1/2 minutes, mimicing the time in minutes Mike Brown’s body was left in the street (4 1/2 hours) by Ferguson police.
Johnathan Newton, co-founder of NAABP said, “What Dr. Martin Luther King was doing in the 1960s during the civil rights movement is very similar to what we are doing today.” Newton spoke in detail of the demands his group has set forth for change to police departments. “We’re advocates for those who cannot advocate for themselves,” he said. The demands include independent citizen oversight committees, investigations of police shootings of the unarmed, and a moratorium on racial profiling.
The NAABP is also setting up a free service website to connect victims of police violence with service providers which can help them. The site will help victims find access to legal, medical, psychological and spiritual counseling once it is functional.Www.naapb.org
“There is an epidemic of police violence against Black and Brown bodies in this country,” said Ebony Washington, founder of Coalition Against Police Violence. http://www.thecapv.org/ Washington lead the rally and march to Chinatown. “Today we’re taking action,” she said. “This is a matter of urgency.”
Comfort Oludipe, a resident of Maryland, whose unarmed son, Emmanuel was killed by Montgomery County police in 2011, was among those at the rally. “Nothing can bring my son back but I can help some other mothers,” she said. She spoke of the pain her family has endured in the years since he was shot by a police officer who was not indicted. “I’m out here to lend my support and to let the world know Black lives Matter,” she said.
Www.justiceforemmanuel.com
Oludipe has led protests against police violence at the Department of Justice on Mondays for the last six weeks. Her organization has worked to raise awareness for mentally challenged individuals and has requested the DOJ investigate police departments who kill the unarmed.
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