Recent Posts
Deadly Exchange: What Does Israel Have To Do With MPD?
As of March 2024 there have been 140 Black people killed by D.C. police since 2013. The department has been accused of using other racially biased tactics such as stop and frisk, and jump out units. Jump-Out squads aren’t the only police units committing brutal acts against Washingtonians. A mandated MPD report revealed that Black people made up the majority of people who were stopped, frisked, arrested, and violated by special units in 2019 and 2020. These units are a part of the Narcotics and Specialized Investigations Division; officers usually wear plain clothes, and their duties are to remove illegal guns from the streets and handle investigations dealing with narcotics.
After the launch of the Law Enforcement Exchange programs, U.S. Law enforcement continues to intensify the militarization of its agencies, most notably through the 1033 Program. This program was created to supply U.S. police departments with surplus military equipment ranging from weapons to uniform gear. In the last decade, protestors have been met with local police agencies dressed in riot gear. MPD is among the many U.S. police departments that have had to settle large sum civil lawsuits against its officers for misconduct, excessive force, unlawful arrests, and unjust murders. In 2021, D.C. chose to settle two lawsuits in the amount $1.6 million dollars for police misconduct during the infamous 2017 Inaugural protests aka J-20. Wards 7 & 8 are often referred to as police “occupied territories”, similar to Gaza and the West Bank being occupied by IDF soldiers and Israel Border Patrol agents.
The IDF (Israel Defense Force) is a military style unit within the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza. The atrocities committed by the IDF against Palestinians have been well documented since its inception. This same unit is one of the security entities responsible for training U.S. Law Enforcement agencies. The IDF is also referred to as “IOF: Israel Occupying Forces” by its critics, Palestinians, and activists. The INP (Israel National Police), is the police force that was established the same year as the beginning of the Nakaba.
In the beginning half of 2023, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Black Lives Matter D.C. hosted several hybrid “Cop Watch'' trainings, one was held at the Black Worker Wellness Center located in Southeast, D.C. Impacted communities are becoming more experimental with creating alternatives to policing that are grounded in love, community self-defense, and autonomy. Providing a glimmer of hope in a world of doom.
Don’t Throw DC Under the Crimnibus
On Feb 6, the DC Council had their first vote on the Crimnibus aka Councilmember Pinto and Mayor Bowser’s “Secure DC” Omnibus in their legislative meeting. While this hyper-racist crime bill passed the first vote, HUNDREDS of you called & emailed and PACKED the Council meeting, resulting in some critical harmful provisions being removed from the bill!
These harm reduction amendments are an important win. Unfortunately, many dangerous provisions still remain and the second and FINAL vote is coming up on March 5th. But we know the community pressure is working!
So, please join us and take action to stop the crimnibus!
Police Reforms: What went wrong? Part 3
The logic often applied to Body Worn Cameras when people call for this reform is that the threat of having misconduct recorded will prevent police from carrying out said misconduct. Unfortunately, this has not been the case…
Police Reforms: What went wrong? Part 2
Following the murder of George Floyd and the mass protests that he inspired, DC passed the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2020. The act includes the following provisions…
Police Reforms: What went wrong? Part 1
For years now, police reform has been a mainstay in public discourse... In the almost 10 years since the inception of BLM, what reforms have been happening here in DC? And have those reforms been effective in reducing, if not ending, police brutality?…
DC Evictions: Fact vs Fiction
The Best, Most Researched, COVID-19 Self-Care Guide for Black and Brown Communities
Not surprisingly, [Covid-19 has] hit communities of color particularly hard. This article was written to help individuals in African-American and Latinx communities deal with the Rona in the event that it enters their homes…
Stop Police Terror DC And Black Lives Matter DC Condemn The Murder Of Deon Kay
The same false, racist narrative that stole Deon’s boyhood and turned him into a full grown man out for blood is the same narrative we have seen from Mayor Bowser and MPD over and over again…
COVID-19 Remains a Problem within Black and Brown Communities
The coronavirus pandemic has a greater impact on Black and Brown communities. Here’s why Black, Indigenous and People of Color need to take greater precautions…
Black Lives Matter DC Demands Change in the Name of Those Killed by Police in the District of Columbia
Black people are allowed to be joyful or feel seen with DC renaming a street after Black Lives Matter. It’s also our responsibility to let you know what we are fighting for, who has the power to change things and that power concedes nothing without demand…
Martin Luther King Explains the Three Evils of Society
By focusing only on the speeches and actions that do not criticize Capitalism or US Imperialism, most Americans have no real understanding of the depth of King’s critique of the United States and its policies. Sure, overt bigotry is bad, and it’s kinda crazy to think of not sitting next to a Black person at a lunch counter or on the bus, but all that talk about poverty, his support for unions and the anti-war movement–do we really need to go there?…