Summary
Highlights
The speaker shares that the FBI has contacted them twice about threats to their life, emphasizing the vulnerability of Black civil rights leaders who face threats not only from police but also from vigilantes. They highlight the emotional toll of these threats and how it motivates their fight for a different, more just world where they feel truly protected.
Growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles, the speaker and their community experienced egregious acts of violence from the police, including raids when they were children. They describe how 'tough on crime' legislation and welfare reform, supported by both Republicans and Democrats, systematically attacked Black families, leading them to become their own protectors and organizers.
Patrice shares her experience of starting to organize at a young age, driven by a desire for people to understand the shared experiences of poor Black individuals. Richard recounts how a presentation by Mark Anthony and Patrice about the higher chance of Black youth going to prison than college resonated with him, especially given his own arrests by age 14. This highlights the systemic criminalization of students of color by the Los Angeles School Police Department.
The Community Rights Campaign (CRC) was formed to address the criminalization of tardiness in LAUSD schools. They discovered that thousands of students received truancy tickets, leading to ruined credit and dropped out of school. The six-year fight to amend the daytime curfew law was not just about legal change but also about shifting public perception of young Black and brown people, reminding society that they are children who deserve education, not policing.
The amendment of the daytime curfew law was a significant victory, described as a shift in consciousness. The speaker emphasizes that organizing victories, while not an end in themselves, create more opportunities and demonstrate the possibility of winning and achieving an abolitionist world.