Date of Announcement: June 19, 2020
Dear CUNY Law Community,
On May 31, 2020, BLSA expressed our solidarity with our national Black family as we demand justice for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade.
Since we first addressed the CUNY Law Community, our hearts have grown heavier as the war waged on our communities under white supremacy continues.
We extend our solidarity to Indianapolis, where protesters persist in their demand for justice in the name of Sean Reed, who was killed by local police on May 6.
We extend our solidarity to Omaha, where justice is demanded for James Scurlock, who was killed by a local bar owner during a protest for George Floyd.
We extend our solidarity to West Louisville, where justice is demanded in the name of David “Yaya” McAtee, the late owner of community-favorite Yaya’s BBQ Shack.
We extend our solidarity to Vallejo, where justice is demanded for Sean Moterrosa, who was killed by a Vallejo police officer with three other shootings on his record.
We extend our solidarity to Victorville and Palmdale in California, as these communities remind local police that Black people do not hang ourselves in trees – that these are lynchings.
We extend our solidarity to all communities comprised of Black trans and cis women, as they demand justice for Dominique Fells, Riah Milton, and Oluwatoyin Salau from the margins.
We extend our solidarity internationally to Red Bank in Canada, where Rodney Levi has joined the more than five Indigenous people killed by RCMP officers since April.
However, naming victims of white supremacist and (trans)misogynoiristic violence is not enough. Solidarity requires our policy priorities as an organization to reflect a commitment to racial and social justice.
BLSA continues to support many of the policing reforms advanced by the Senate Majority on June 8, 2020 and have received the signature of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, including:
- Senate Bill S.8496, which will repeal section 50-a of the Civil Rights Law and make police disciplinary records viewable by the public;
- Senate Bill S.3253A,which clarifies the right of an individual not under arrest or in police custody has the right to record police activity and maintain custody of that recording as well as the recording instruments; and
- Senate Bill S.6670B, or the “Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act”, which establishes the crime of aggravated strangulation as a Class-C felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
BLSA continues to support Assembly Bill A3566, which would make the act of filing a false, bias-motivated 911 report a hate crime.
Recognizing the limits of reform, BLSA supports immediate, continued cuts to the NYPD’s budget, beginning with Fiscal Year 2021, and redirection of those funds to accessible healthcare, affordable housing, free public transportation, and public education. We call on our allies in the CUNY Law community to join in our efforts to demand that our council members commit to voting “no” on the current budget and to significantly defunding the NYPD. Phone and email scripts, as well as information on who to contact, is available in the toolkit linked here. The deadline to make our dissent heard is June 25, 2020. The new fiscal year begins July 1st.
BLSA also supports efforts to disempower police unions, which is why we echo demands that candidates running for office in 2021 not accept campaign funds from law enforcement unions. Thus far, thirty-three candidates have made this commitment. A running list of incumbents who have pledged to return their campaign funds from law enforcement unions is being kept here. We call on our allies within the CUNY Law community to call on incumbents and their opposing candidates to refuse campaign funds from law enforcement unions.
Finally, BLSA thanks our allies for your continued support and we hope to continue pooling our resources and our time to advance anti-racist organizing.
In Solidarity,
The BLSA Executive Board
Danielle McCoy, President
Barbara Vega, Vice-President
Kieshorne Dennie, Secretary
Dan-Obed Henry, Treasurer
Kenya M. Lee, Fundraising Chair
Joshua Davis, Outreach Coordinator
Bobbie A. Brown, Academic Chair
Ja Loni Owens, Social Action Chair