Investments. Additional support has been provided by and by thE Corporation for public broadcasting, a privatE Corporation funded b t american people. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewans like you. You. Good evening, thank you for joining us. It was not quite four years ago that we y brought a newshour weekend special called america in black and blue. At the time the country was reeling from the death of an africanamerican man in minneapolis, Philando Castille, whose killing be a pol officer was caught by his girlfriend on video and a Police Dashboard camera. [ shots ] you just killed my boyfriend that was after another black man, jamar kclark, wasled by the minneapolis p. D. Local and National Protests ensued. Everybody wne philando knew that he was a good man. Hands up, dont oot hands up, dont shoot now a minneapol Police Officer has been charged with murder for killing anotherer africanan man, george floyd. Floyds life was taken just miles from where Philando Castille was. A few weeks ago, George Floyds killint like a tragic repeat of history. But america and the world seems to have said, enough. Theres a growing at least a hope that this time its different. Im ined now by a minnesotan whos been working on issues of race and policing for years. Ct in she was featured in our america in black and blue special back in 16 speaking out against the overenforcement of very minor crimes such as aggressive pan handling. It does not actually benefit Public Safety to have such petty lowlevel oenses on the books. And its a huge waste of d taxpaylars and resources. Nekima levy armstro is a lawyer, professor, ordained minister, f themer head of the minneapolis naacp, and former candidate for mayor of that city. Shes also a o veteranf many black lives matter protests. What feels different to you this time, if anything . Well, one of the things that feels different is the lev o awareness in the twin cities and around the nation and even arouhe world. Welready see departmts that are nowliminating the use of chokeholds, that are pushing forward in terms of reforms. It has never happened this but the c are not happening in a vacuum. And they are the result of the power of the people, continuing to take to the streets and advocate for tjustice. Minneapolis city council says it wants to disband the Current Police department. What would youike to see in its place . A different system. An athat should be system that includes having Mental Health responders to 911 calls instead of Law Enforcement. That should be a system that includes social services and other resources that our Community Needs and notin cong to spend so much of our budget on Law Enforcement. So i w llde to see that, but i would also like to see a collaborative process and not, you know, a handful of people speaking on behalf of all of minneapolis when they havent ne the boots on the ground work to gain us as a coreunity. Wo you stand on reform . Some people say, take the small wins henow, make changes you can make in the moment, that thats worthwhile, itead of waiting for how long it might take to defund the police or abolish police. Absolutely. Changes take tone years, assuming theres enough for Something Like defunding the police or dismantling the police to take place. In the meantime, we cant wait for those things to happen to be able to institute reforms that areeasy. For local departments to do. So for example, wha know there are killer cops on our police force, we kre there cops with a history of excessive forces. Those cops should be removed from t. Force immediate those cops have been a liability for the city, theyve been a liability for residents who live here, they have made us feel unsafe, and they have traditionally been protected by the city ofminneapolis. So we want to see new standardsf in pla Police Officers who are currently on the force. We want to see a removal of militarized weapons and a ban of the use of chemical weapons against civilians who are out there protesting. Weve been shot with tear gan rubber bullets since the protesting began in the wake of George Floydsde h, and that was an Excessive Police response when the root ong us gut there and protesting is Police Violence. And we want to see radical shifts begin to happen immediately. Nekima, whats your response soto the governor of min saying he endorses sweeping Police Reforms . I would say, its about time thathe governor is stepping up to the ate. What we have proposed is a completely independent body to investigate deaths at the hands ofaw enforcementofficers. The establishment of an office that include independent special prosecutors, that includes civilian oversight, that includes credible investigative teams who will rigorously investigate these types of issues, and wil report ck to the public on their findings. Nekima levy armstrong, thank you for joining us. Hank you for having me. Black lives matter the protest movement has been massive, taking place not only across america, but across europe and africa, south america, australia, and other parts of the pacic. We want change we want change enough is enough black lives tter i cant breathe i cant breathe hands up, dont shoot what do we nt . Justice when do we want it . Now b some measures, it has been successful. California legislatoe proposed a measure to ban the use of chokeholds by police. On friday, new York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a series of bills banning chokeholds and repealing a law that kept police rsonnel records, including disciplinary measures, secret. And minneapolis is attempting to move funds away from the Police Department and dramatically redesign the citys police force. The protesters a asking for far more. Not simply reform, but wholesale change to Police Practices and the end of systemic racism in america. Skat are the prospects of that . I that question of author and cultural critic roxane gay, who wroteer this month in the New York Times, quote, eventually doctors will find coronavirus vaccine, but black people will continue to wait despite thef futility hope for a cure for racism. We will live with the knowledge that a h is not a vaccine for white supremacy. We live with the knowledge that still no one is coming to save ha. Roxanne,s for being with us. So what do you think it is about the call for equity and equality this time that is different . A lot of people are saying its different. Yes. Actually i just wrote a piece haying to think through is happening in this moment . And i dont know. I really cant say. Because ts previ murders of black people by Police Officers werequly asbrutal. And so i dont know why this one pushed pple over theedge, but i think its the timing. We dont have the distraction o. Spor we dont have the distraction of movies. We dont have work. So we have a lot of time to sit and contemplate the world. I thinkhren the cooper veo is left out of this the video of the birder in central park that happened yes. Hours before George Floyds video, his death, his murder. Crystallized for p how it can happen. Sir, im asking you to stop. Please dont come close to me i sir, asking you to stop recording me. Please dont come close to me. Please stop taking pictures. Please call the cops. Io going t tell tm theres an africanamerican Man Threatening my life. Please tell them whatever you like. There is an africanamerican man, i am in cenal park, he is recording me, threatening myself and my dog. Youknow, i think that video was haunting because we understood how Weaponized Police have become. And how w willing whiteen are to weaponize the police when they are mildly inconvenienced. And to know that that phone call that she made was potentially lethal alsoum iates just how extensive this problem is. Like ery blackerson immediately knew what was at stake with that phone call. You held a q a,me new york q a recently, where people wer asking you all kinds of questions for about an hour and a half. Whats on peoples minds as theyre trying toth process . The main question on peoples minds is, how do make sure that this moment is more than a moment . How do we maket sure t this is ge last time that we wonder, is thisng to be what it takes . How do we sustain t energy . Unfortunately, people fatigue very easily when it comeso doing the right thing. Because were already starting to see white people who are saying that, you know, its been a tot to haveo think about fcism for three weeks. And theyre rea the conversation to move on. But the conversation is just beginning. One of the things that people have been heartened by is the outpouring of support from members of the whitecommunity. And people acknowledging their privilege or recognizing it for the firstime in some cases. But theres this issuearound performative antiracism. Congressmen should we call it out or should we just applaud people for even tryinnk i t its a step in the right direction, however, a lot of the people who are performing antiracism have not cleaned up their houses first. And so i think we should call those peopleout. When your company puts out a really highlyrafted antiracism message and you make a 100 million donation to antiracist efforts, thats well and good. But when you dont have a single black execive, you dont have many blackboard members, your black employees are miserable . Then that statement trulys a performance and youre doing it because you recognize that your brandtntegrity will be suppted by making this statement. And right now were seeing a lot of corporations fall in line. They have not said a single word about black lirt mattering this titire. And so they realize this is the moment where they have to at least acknowledge that black lives matter. Sometimes the media gets in a certain groove or narrative and will not shift o of it. What is a narrativehat you thin needs to be abandoned and what is a narrative that you think needs to be explored . The key narrative i think needs to b abandoned is this abscess with pa bsession with protests versus riots. We see a lot of work bein on the word eaceful for protestshat are happening. Where if we walk calmly a quietly, like good black people that racism will suddenly end. Looting is wrong, we all know it. But its such a fraction of whats going on, but its getting a rodirtionate amount of media coverage. I would love to see that chan. Roxane gay, thank you so much for spending time with us. Absolutely, thank you, urison. In 2016 special, we brought you a story from newark, new jersey. A city with policing problems so dire that it was and still is under a federalConsent Decree. It was repord b new jersey public televisions michael hill, who grew up in newark. No justice, no peace no justice, no peace a protest in newark against Police Brutality is nothing new. 49 years ago this week, ney jers most populated city burned i rebellion. Martial law was imposed and indelibly stained the city and those who lived through it, a i did in new yorks northward as an 8yearold boy. I remembered during that time my mother repeatedly warning us not to look out the window for fear of being shot. But i managed to sneak a peek or two from the second floor window. By looking out, i couldee military vehicles androops with big guns rolling down fourth street. Broderic king remembers the fear she had during the riots. She says little has ch sged. Well dying. But thank god people are stillr ling. Four years later, people are still struggling as michael hill reports. In 2014, a u. S. Department of justice investigation revealed a pattern of Newark PoliceDivision Officers engaging in it deemed the internal affairs unit unable to hold them accountable. The npd has been under federal supervision since 2016. Today the npd is in t midst of some success. Rt that can boast so it was surprising to some in may of this year when ts video was posted to facebook. Your back. Eep ] behind oh stop doing that in the video a m comes facetoface with officers. A friend pulls him away. Officers follow. One pushes the man. The man shouts profanities as he and the officers come facetoface again. Nohe deescalation as new Police Training encourages. Watch this. Ol hd on, pro [ bleep ]. Straight up. Oh the Police Union President blamed the man for escalating the confrontation. And he defends the punch. Theres nothing in any use of forcecontinuum, anybodys Department Policy on use oha force says you cant punch a person in a certain place. Tiamal, eve director of the state lu, says t officer crossed the line. People have a constitutional right to curse at police. The solution there shouldnt be to use force against them. The essex county prosecutor investigati the encounter. Meanwhile, accountabily advocates such as larry hamm say theyre glad incidents like this one arent so common anymore. Wetill have some Police Brutality cases, but nowhere at the level it was before the Justice Department came in. T mayor of newark is r baraca, son of civil rights advocate amir ra. Before he was reacted raz was himself a protester, demanding tter policing. Now hes a big part of that effort. We have come a long way, fighting those things in our city. Newark ridents say they notice a change. This is d26year chiron simmons. I know police, you got to respect them right now. He says interactions with police are better. He credits city leadership. Like raz ebaraca, making a big difference. Former attorney general peter harvey leads theederal courts Team Monitoring the overhaul of the division, from use of force training to use of body cameras. This Department Today is miles ahead of whe it was when we began this Consent Decree process. Ankly, its milesahead of where it was when the Department Police s citizen complaints and civil judgment payouts have plummeted. They post comaint descriptions and disciplinary actions online. Now officers and supervisors file excessive forceomplaints against other officers, something almost unheard of in most Police Departments. We have a number o complaints that are initiated by theen depar by the departmenti department itself. Then officers are disciplined today for those types of complaints, which w not ppening at all back then. Exemplifies how the force ark changed, says the independent federal monitor peter harvey. It is very difficult, given the strength of many Police Unions, to muster that kind of political will among City Councils and a mayor. Its very difficult. But a Consent Decree, a court order, can require it. The Consent Decree mandates civilihe oversight of Newark Police division. The city came up with a civilian Complaint Review ard, but in four years it has not heard a sing caseecause the local police union is challenging it in court. As and the has gone all the way to thestates supreme cour among the unios claims in its virtual state Supreme Court hearing, newark illegally gave the boardubpoena power. Id submit the ordinance as written is quite simply unlawful and unenforceable. The state Supreme Court is expected to rule anyday. Mayor baraca hopes George Floydsilling and coasttocoast calls for change will influence the new jersey Supreme Courts decision. At this rally he urged protesters to send the court the george floyd video. Send the george floyd, saying i cant breathe, theyre going to kill me,end that video, to hopefully have ace consci the police Complaint Review board, because the police cant police umemselves. Sr of 1967, newark residents rebelled against the racism, the poverty, the unaccountable policing they ha experienced for years. It began when two white Police Officers beat up cabbie john smh and took him to the 17th avenue precinct. Witness say police in riot gear charged a peaceful reform andeaccountability hing manding residents and protesters over the edge. What followed, cries for accountable policing. Thnu is springfield atoday in the central ward. This threestory house is the only structure on this block at 16th street and springfield avenue in. Newa it and the abandoned field around it serve as symbols of just how challenging it is to attract investment to rebuild in laceace like newark, a that burned 53 years ago in the 67 rebellion. M there arey more like this. And because of those facts, for the generation that lived rithrough that , this is a stark reminder. When the rebellion exploded, my family, we literally watched floor porch. From my second larry hamm took us to another neighborhood, back to h old neighborhood, with just one building left on the block. The dryre cleaners whe his mother had worked is now a church. Hamm began organizing protests at 17, as the chairman of the Peoples Organization for progress. T organizeds years may 30th protest while other cities were burning. His march placed the mayor behind the lead banner and delivered a message to the rld. I dont th