More than 1000 are killed in america and black people arm our three times will likely to be killed. Together, we can work to refine Public Safety so that it recognizes the dignity of every person. Of atown hall is part brothers Keeper Alliance town hall series. It was launched in 2014 after the tragic killing of trayvon martin. The president launched it, calling on america and everybody to do whatever they could in their power to make sure men of color new that they matter and to reduce the systemic barriers that stand in their way to make sure every young person has every opportunity to reach their dreams. Today, the work of my brothers keeper continues at the Obama Foundation where we lead a network of more than 250 communities and a massive call to action to businesses, mayors, and other folks across the country. Where young boys and men of color are valued and have opportunity. We are excited to have president obama sharing his viewpoints today and gathering a panel of local and National Experts that are fighting on the ground and fighting this fight for many years. Before we start our program today, i want to acknowledge the lives of george, atatiana, ahmaud, and others by taking a 32nd moment of silence to remember those lives and reflect. Please join me in a moment of silence. Thank you. We speak their names and hold them in our hearts. It is with their memory that we move ahead in action. It is my pleasure to start where we should always start. Brothers the my keeper ohio conference. There is a statewide network of my brothers keeper in ohio. This young man blew us away with his incredible words. He graduated from Fort Hays High School in may, class of 2020. He was a straight a student and member of the National Honors society. Patrick will attend the Ohio State University in the fall and plans to major in criminal justice and criminology. It is my pleasure to introduce this brilliant, bright young man. Hello, ladies and showman. I am 18 years old and plan to attend the Ohio State University. And this is 2020 quarantine killings. Ask, how do black boys write about their city . How do we know streets if we dont know uncracked sidewalks. They ask, how do these black boys know anything about their city . The buildings are sitting on corners where brothers bodies are still learning how to rot. There are small crosses placed in the grass where families lovedafford to bury ones. It reminds us that we are anything else. We call those corners playgrounds. We call those corners the killing fields. We call our bodies bullets even if we were never aimed in the right direction. We call the remnants of our mothers family. We are a catalog of prayers of broken hands. It we pray for our family tree to make its way back home. We use our hands to dig the graves we cannot afford. We are farmers of broken, black bodies. We have never known cities. Never known comfort. Streetsur feet to walk paved by sunlight. And if they could choose this skin. We make a catalyst of bodies with our dinner menu and we eat with our eyes closed. We are always conflicted between being black and being peaceful. I wish god could have given us a choice. Years, we were told there was something we need to scrub off this body as if this dirt could go away. For ag on each other little slice of the pie. We dont know this city. Gotten auldnt have house or a bed when it was first built. We dont know home. Could use these miles into the night. It is bedazzled with remnants of the stars. Home. t know we know this plan has never been hours. We know how to vote ourselves into nothing. We know our sweat and tears. Make these hands be useful. We are the farmers a revolution. No country was built without the piling up of dead bodies. America, the land of the free and home of the brave. We fought and died for that slogan white right beside our white brothers. Doesnt that make us worth something . Riot is the language of the unheard. I want to take a second for thinking the Obama Foundation for giving me an opportunity to communicate and spread the message. It is my honor to introduce a man that needs no introduction. He is the founder of the my brothers keepers program. He is a father, lawyer, lecturer, community organizer, and so much more. Born and raised in honolulu, to americacame forever and is the 44th president of the United States of america, president barack obama. President obama that was unbelievable. And we could not be prouder. You are a hard act to follow. I cant wait to see all the things that you will be doing in the future. Good afternoon, everybody. All the participants, the panelists. Let me start by just seen,ledging that we have in the last several weeks, the kind of months, the epic changes and events in our country are as profound as anything we have seen in our lifetime. I am now a lot older. I will be 59 soon. Acknowledgingy havealthough all of us been feeling pain, uncertainty, some folks have been feeling it more than others. Most of all, the pain experienced by families. Breonna,ihanna weaud, and so many that thought about during that moment of silence. Families affected by tragedy. I,ase know that michelle and and the nation, we agree with you. We are committed to the fight of making a more just nation. And we cant forget that even as there confronting particular act of violence that , our nationslosses are in the midst of a Global Pandemic that has exposed the vulnerability of the health care disparate the and as a consequence, the disparate impact that exists in the health care system. The unequal investment and the biases that have led to infections and lossoflife in communities of color. In a lot of ways, what has happened over the last several s challenges, structural in the United States, it has been thrown into high relief. They are the outcomes, not just of the immediate moment in time, but the result of a long history ,f slavery, jim crow institutionalized racism that have too often been the plague of the original sin of our society. And in some ways, as tragic as these last few weeks have been, as difficult, scary, and uncertain as they have been, they have been an Incredible Opportunity for people to be awakened. We can Work Together to tackle changeake them on, and america to make it live up to the highest ideals. Sot of what has made me hopeful is that people have galvanized, activated, and mobilized. Because historically, so much of hasprogress we have made been because of young people. When he was a young man got involved. Cesar chavez was a young man. Movement were the young people. The leaders of the union were young people. The leaders of the environmental of thet and the movement Lgbt Community finally had a voice and was represented for young people. Sometimes i feel despair and i see what is happening with young people across the country. With talent, voice, and sophistication that they are displaying. It makes me feel optimistic. As if this feel country is going to get better. I want to speak directly to the young men and women of color in witnessedry who have too much violence and too much death. And too often, some of that comes from folks that are supposed to be serving and protecting you. I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your lives matter. If you look at my nephews and nieces, i see limitless potential. You should be able to learn and toe mistakes without having worry about what will happen. Looking at some birds in the park. You have the power to make things better and you have helped to make the entire country feel as if this is something that has to change. I want to acknowledge the folks in Law Enforcement that share the goals of reimagining policing. There are folks out there that took their oath to serve your communities and your countries, they have a tough job, and i know you are just as outraged as are many of the protesters. And so we are grateful for the vast majority of you that protect and serve. I have been heartened to see those in Law Enforcement that recognize let me march along with these protesters. Let me stand sidebyside and recognize i want to be part of the solution. ,nd you show restraint volunteered, engaged, and listened. You are a vital part of the conversation. And change is going to require everybodys participation. An office,ice i created a task force on 21st Century Policing in the wake of the tragic killing of michael brown. Law task force included enforcement, community leaders, and activists. They were charged to develop a very specific set of recommendations to foster better working relationships than they are supposed to protect. Even as they are continuing to promote effective crime reduction. A rangereport showcases of solutions and strategies that were proven and based on data and research to improve Community Policing and collect better data. Howrting and identifying police were trained. And using force in ways that increase safety rather than sit the tate tragedy. Precipitate tragedy. Most of the reforms that are needed to prevent of the type of violence and injustices take place at the local level. Reform has to take place in more than 19,000 american municipalities. Local law18,000 enforcement jurisdictions. Be clear about where change is going to happen. And how we can bring about that change. Mayors and county executives appoint most Police Chiefs. Policet determines practices in local communities. They decide whether or not to investigate or charge those. And there are Police Community review boards. Oftentimes may be elected as well. The bottom line is i have been hearing a little bit of chatter on the internet about voting versus protest. Participation versus civil disobedience and direct action. This is not either or. This is both and to bring about real change. We have to highlight a problem and make people empower uncomfortable. And we also have to translate that into Practical Solutions and law that kimberly and be implement it and we can monitor to major we are following our heart. Very quickly. Couplejust close with a of specific things. What can we do . Number one, there are specific evidencebased reforms that if we put in place today, would build trust, save lives, would not show an increase in crime. Those were included in the task force report. You can find it on obama. Org. A lot of mayors and local officials read and supported the task force. Mayor in thisery your use ofeview force policies with members of your community and commit to report on planned reforms. What are the specific steps you can take. Force was donesk several years ago. Since then, we have implemented some of these reform ideas. We have more data as to what works. Others are out there highlighting what the data shows. What works and what doesnt in terms of reducing incidents of Police Misconduct and violence. Lets go ahead and start implementing those. We need those in positions of power to say that this is a priority. Number three, every city in this country should be in my brothers keeper communities. Up for boys and young men of color, programs and policy reforms. Go to our website. It can make a difference. This. Close by saying i have heard some people say that you have a pandemic, then you have these protests. 60sreminds people of the and the chaos, the discord, the mistrust throughout the country. I have to tell you, although i was very young when you had riots and protests, assassinations and discord back in the 60s. I know enough about the history to say that there is something different. Look at those protests. It was a far more representative crosssection of america out on the streets peacefully protesting. And who felt moved to do something because of the injustices they have seen. The did not exist back in 1960s. That broad coalition. That recent surveys have shown that despite some protests having been marred by the actions of some, a tiny minority that engaged in violence. As usual, it got a lot of attention and focus. A majority of Americans Still think the protests were justified. 30, would not have existed 40, 50 years ago. There is a change in mindset that is taking place. A greater recognition that we can do better. Not as a consequence of speeches by politicians. Ofis not the result spotlights and news articles. It is a direct result of the activities, organizing, and mobilization and engagement of so many young people across the country that put themselves on the line to make a difference. So i just have to say thank you to them for helping bring about , making sure that we now follow through. Point, attention moves away. Starts toint, protest dwindle in size. It is important for us to take the momentum that has been created as a society and as a thisry to say, lets use to finally have an impact. Thank you, everybody. Im proud of you guys. Will beow that we hearing from a bunch of people that have been on the frontlines of this that know a lot more than i do about it. Thank you, mr. President. The president decided he wanted to stay and be part of the conversation led by Brittany Cunningham with the attorney general and other leaders. Before we go to that section, i want to reiterate the pledge the president mentioned. If you are a mayor, go to obama. Org and take this pledge. Several mayors have said, sign me up. They have already taken a pledge. Mayor de blasio of new york mama mayor lightfoot of chicago, the mayors of minneapolis, d. C. , san francisco, and atlanta. They are all my brothers keeper communities. We will be posting all the cities and the mayors that take the pledge. And in 90 days, we will see who has taken the pledge and the work happening to create lasting change in communities. A is my pleasure to introduce friend, activist, educator, writer from nbc and msnbc news. A lifelong activist after the ferguson uprising. A policy platform to end Police Violence. And president obama there is an Advocacy Campaign to adopt a use of that can reduce Police Violence by upwards of 70 . Thank you for gathering this conversation with this moment of intense grief. Your experiencing that grief and you need a community in which to do that. Like me, you are girded in the strength of your ancestor ancestry. Itd far more with far less. However you have come here, we are glad you are here. Were are here to get honest, to get clear, and to get to work. Even the moments of seeing people raise their voices and in the moments where a Police Officer might take a knee, that momentary action might turn into true, systemic, and lasting change. So many brilliant voices have been gathered. We better understand how we got to this moment. I want to make sure to lift up the names of the people that brought us here. It was george floyd, a father in minneapolis. It was breonna taylor, a lifesaving emt. It was shawn reed, friend and brother in indianapolis. It was a black trans man that love life in tallahassee, florida. And we are having this in the , and two Ahmaud Arbery other black trans men that were killed. Frankly, there are too many names to list because as the president has said, we have in attorney general holder, i want to start with you. I was raised to be an activist. If you asked my mom, this is the only life i have ever known. As it relates to relate. Ully as you know, there were literally thousands of brave protesters like the ones we are seeing right now. I want to know what you learn from those grassroots activists. What have you carried from those conversations and ferguson with . Ou holder i remember back in 2014, meeting with the president i did not know how people would react to my presence. But we made the determination that i would go. The thing that struck me the most, a few things really got me. There were young people that were there and unbelievably waysssed and in a lot of directing the action that you saw. The things that they were concerned about. It was a general a genuine desire to make things better. There was a genuine desire to work. People were extremely respectful. Time, if weed some invested some federal resources, we would be in a position, using the great leaders. It was the young people that we met there, making life and ferguson better. And an example of what was possible in the rest of the country. As the president reminded us, this is not an either or question. One of my favorite things to remind people is that it is not about policy or protest, this is about policy and protest. And so that dr. King many others taught us that protest is what creates pressure so that policy can get past. Similarly, we are in a longterm game and a shortterm game. We are dealing with radical imagination and figuring out what Public Safety can look like. Role, you have engaged in pattern and practice investigations. Like this, when we saw the uprisings that we did all over the country when you were still in office . The keyer one of things that people need to understand is that there is not a tension between having justice , fair treatment, and Public Safety. You can keep people safe and also have a better, more equitable criminal Justice System. Im not going to get too boastful here but for the first time in 40 years during the obama administration, we reduced the number of people incarcerated in the federal system and also lower the crime rate. In can make things better terms of community and Police Relations and keep people safe at the same time. We tried to come up with ways in which we could look at what we thought were the problems. We address those to engage Law Enforcement and bring them together so that they can get to know each other and understand how difficult it is to be a Police Officer. Understand how communities of color have had to deal with unfair Law Enforcement practices over the years. We bring people together. It