The suffragettes of 1880-1890: simultaneously pursuing racial justice alongside the landmark right to vote

First Issue of The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races, November 1910. New York: NAACP, 1910.

BY: JACQUELINE QIU, 2021 WINTER COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

The years between 1880 and 1890 yielded immense progress for achieving the reality of female enfranchisement within a historically male-dominated society. Suffragettes, especially those of color, were able to challenge patriarchal institutions, such as the denial of women’s suffrage, through influential actions based on philosophies of gender, racial, and social justice. The conjoint nature of this activism not only cultivated hope in the suffrage movement for women of color, but also in the greater movement to assert rights that are denied on the basis of one's identity. These rights were traditionally marginalized in a socioeconomic and political context and held as the standard in both cultural, social, and legal norms. Advocating for suffrage, for these women of color, is synonymous with an awareness for intersectionality of identity. The enfranchisement of women would not be truly successful if it did not account for deconstructing structural inequalities that are based in an interconnected identity of race, gender, and other forms of identity. These brave suffragette women of color tackled systemic manners of oppression in American society, such as the denial of female enfranchisement and racism, by using their unique identities to their advantage.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911), as a prolific black poet, writer, and  journalist that advocated for the suffrage, and subsequent social equality, of black women. Her commitment to this conjoint gender and racial justice first began with helping slaves escape through the Underground Railroad and publishing anti-slavery journalistic works. Later, during the American Reconstruction Era, she was a prominent activist for civil rights, women’s suffrage, and equitable education opportunities for black citizens. Her advocacy was mainly done through her high status in the literary and journalism world; she is known as the “mother of African American journalism,” and one of the first black writers to popularize Africa American protest poetry. For example, her short story, The Two Offers, was the first short story published by an African American writer. Her ideals of equality and representation in literature extended into her contributions in society; Harper was a co-founder and Vice President of the National Association of Colored Women and member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Additionally, she was the superintendent of the Colored Section of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Harper, as an extremely accomplished writer and activist, leaves an indelible mark on the history of suffragettes of color. 

Harriet Purvis, Jr. , circa 1874.

Harriet (Hattie) Purvis, Jr. (1839-1904) was also an active supporter of women’s suffrage in the face of societal challenges. While her views on female enfranchisement are relatively unknown, she represented the second generation of black women suffragettes. She was active in the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association and a member of its executive committee in 1884. Furthemore, between 1883-1900, she was also a notable delegate for the National American Woman Suffrage Association due to her work in the state of Pennsylvania. She was also involved, as a superintendent of work among Colored People for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Purvis, Jr. is an important figure who fought for women’s suffrage, especially for black women, that has been hidden in the corners of history. Her contributions, especially those in Pennsylvania, are intrinsically in need of recognition.

Getrude Bustill Mossell.

Getrude Bustill Mosell (1855-1948) was an active journalist that used her platform to highlight the severity of achieving women’s suffrage, especially for women of color. As a journalist, she wrote about these issues of gender and racial justice in The New York Freedom, one of T. Thomas Fortune’s newspapers. Her first publication, titled “Women’s Suffrage,” in 1865 encouraged women to read about the history of the suffrage movement and previous articles of women’s rights. Encouraging a black, female audience, Mosell used the press as an effective way to appeal and inspire black women to contribute to the suffragist movement. In addition, due to her high journalistic status, she was able to relate to middle class views of housewives who were feminists and encourage them to advocate for female enfranchisement. Mosell, through the black press, sought to appeal to demographics that were relational to her intersectional identity of a black female journalist, in order to garner more support for the suffragist movement. 

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, 1902.

Jospehine St. Pierre Ruffin (1842-1924) was a major figure in the advancement of women’s enfranchisement in the state of Massachusetts. Also beginning as a journalist, she joined in the work of the Massachusetts Suffrage Association in 1875 and later became affiliated with the American Woman Suffrage Association. In fact, in 1895, she convened the first conference of the National Federation of Afro-American Women, which was probably the first national organization of black women, in Boston. Ruffin was an unequivocal leader in the black women’s club movement, which united black women under the cause of female enfranchisement. She wrote in her black woman’s newspaper, The Women’s Era, utilizing her previous journalistic experience for the progress of women’s rights. In Massachusetts, she urged white women to join with black women to advance the suffragist cause. However, her efforts to unite black and white women’s clubs (and thus combat racial inequalities) were not extremely successful; she experienced discrimination at the Convetion of General Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1900. Nevertheless, Ruffin persisted in her cause of combatting societal institutions such as female disenfranchisement, and realizing the deconstruction of gender and racial injustices.

Josephine Bruce.

Josephine Bruce (1853-1923), was a prominent activist for women’s rights and suffragists in the Washington, D.C. area. With her husband, Representative Blanche K. Bruce, the first U.S. Senator from Mississippi during the Reconstruction Era, Bruce’s influence in the D.C. area was extremely noticeable and impactful. She was a charter member of the Colored Women’s League of D.C. and helped organize the National Organization of Afro-American Women in 1894. Moreover, she headed over the national executive committee of the National Association of Colored Women and was the editor of its publication, Notes. Drawing on journalism as an effective medium of advocating for the necessity of obtaining the right to vote for women (especially of color), Bruce often published articles in Crisis Magazine and In the Voice of the Negro. She also served as the editor of the magazine for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, after becoming involved in the organization. Concerned by the evident inequality for women of color in American society, Bruce took action, writing for the necessity of women’s rights and suffrage, and reached a far audience due to her high status in our nation’s capital.

Anna J. Cooper, Oberlin College.

Anna J. Cooper (1858-1964), as part of a rich tradition of black writers and intellectuals in the Washington, D.C. area, was a fervent advocate for black feminism and self determination within the women’s suffrage movement. As teacher and principal at the famous M. Street High School in Washington D.C., she became an esteemed clubwoman and social activist who was greatly admired for her belief that the status of black women was central to the progress of the nation. With her influence in the nation’s capital, she also served as a mentor for other suffrage activists, such as Angelina Grimke and Nannie Helen Burroughs. Furthermore, her book, A Voice in the South in 1882, promotes the notion that black women could empower themselves, and have innate capacities for self determination, through education and social uplift. Cooper, with her high status as a writer, used her platform to highlight the necessity of guaranteeing a future in American society where black women were enfranchised and inherently valued.

Susette La Flasche Tibbles (“Bright Eyes”) Courtesy of Nebraska State Historical Society.

Susette La Flesche Tibbles (1854-1903), or “Bright Eyes,” was a prominent Native American activist and suffragist that advocated for Native American rights in the face of barriers created by U.S. federal policy. She is best known for embarking on a series of nationwide and international speaking tours, which were widely successful, to document the adversity faced by Native Americans in American society. Her wish to promote equality for Native Americans in society also extended to the socio-political realm, as she became a staunch advocate for women’s suffrage, especially that of Native American women. Tibbles also served as an expert witness and interpreter in court for Native Americans who wished to sue the government due to various types of grievances. In fact, she served as an interpreter for Standing Bear, who sued the federal government in 1879 and acquired a ruling that allowed Native Americans to choose where they want to live. Tibble’s testimonies about the lack of Native American rights in front of Congress eventually led to the landmark 1887 Dawes Act. “Bright Eyes” was a notable advocate for an intersectional equality of gender, in relation to female enfranchisement, and socio-political Native American rights. 

Adella Hunt Logan.

Adella Hunt Logan (1863-1915), as a professor at Tuskegee Institute, which was headed by Booker T. Washington, made philosophical contributions to rationalizing why black women deserve the right to vote. As a charter member of the Tuskegee Women’s Club and lecturer for conferences at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, she combined white suffrage rationale with black women’s suffrage to amplify its effects and overall message. This philosophy gained traction in the black women’s suffrage movement, especially as Logan published these ideas in prominent magazines such as Colored American and Crisis. Attacking anti-suffrage movements, she augmented her justification for female enfranchisement with an unequivocally potent rationale; the right to vote for black women would be a undeniable form of protection against rape and sexual abuse for them. Gaining national attention, her arguments for the enfranchisement of black women included core tenets form Mary Ann Shadd Cady, Frances E.W. Harper, and Sojourner Truth. Additionally, she staged lantern slide nights and organized suffrage parades for women’s club members at the beginning of President William McKinely’s re-election parade. Logan used her unique intellectual basis of activism to the advantage of advancing the cause of suffrage, especially for African American women. 

The movement of women’s suffrage was not solely for the purpose of obtaining the right to vote; it was a greater mission for achieving equality and recognition for their valuable character and contributions as women of color in a society that had acted often against their best interests. From the decade of 1880-1890, suffragette women persisted in their efforts to achieve this comprehensive equality for the present and future generations. 

References:

1. Rothberg, Emma.“Susette La Flesche Tibbles (“Bright Eyes”).” National Women’s History Museum. 2020. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/susette-la-flesche-tibbles-bright-eyes 

2. Mayo, Edith. “African American Women Leaders in the Suffrage Movement.” Suffragist Memorial. 2020. https://suffragistmemorial.org/african-american-women-leaders-in-the-suffrage-movement/

Jacqueline Qiu is a junior at Middlebury College, double majoring in French and Political Science. She is passionate about humanitarianism, women in politics, mental health awareness and advocacy, and French language and literature. On campus, she is the Co-President of the French club and Active Minds Middlebury.

Qualified Immunity: Why do we care so much about protecting police and so little about victims of civil rights violations?

Photograph by Lucas Jackson/ Reuters via Washington Post.

BY: PAIGE REDDINGTON, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

Have you ever wondered why police are able to get away with firing a weapon with no consequences in response to mild situations? Why these instances are rarely brought to light, or not tried in court against officers? What specifically protects police officers in these instances, and allows them to frequently abuse their power? It is more than just inherent bias and institutional racism within the justice system—there are specific rights in place protecting police officers, which allow them to frequently act in accordance with their racism and bias, without facing adequate consequences. Meet qualified immunity, a doctrine inherently defending police officers’ decisions, often regardless of what the decision is. 

Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine which protects police officers from having legal action taken against them. This doctrine responds to section 1983 of federal law which states the right to sue officials who have violated constitutional rights [1]. The purpose of qualified immunity is to balance public officials’ power so that they cannot take advantage of their power while performing their duties, but at the same time protect them from being held liable when they need to make essential decisions in order to perform their job [2]. This doctrine stands regardless of the violation of someone’s civil rights. The only exception to this protection of police officers is if their action violates “clearly established” law.  In order to decide if the action violates a “clearly established” right, courts question if a “reasonable official” would think that the defendant’s action violated the victim’s rights, applying law in effect at time of the incident, rather than current law at the time of the court’s consideration. If the action is not deemed as a violation of “clearly established” law, then the victim is unable to take the officer to court to try them [3].

The present-day ideals of qualified immunity were established in the case of Harlow v. Fitzgerald (1982). In Harlow, rather than previously examining the officer’s “subjective good faith,” they decided to use the standard of “clearly established” law, which was defined as actions that “violate[d] clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” This change did increase protection for police officers, but also, as claimed by the court, steadfastly prevented police from acting in an unruly or exploitative way.

However, this raises several issues that prevent victims from obtaining justice. Victims whose civil rights have been violated in new, unique ways that have not previously been tried in court are unable to bring the violation to court, since the court needs victims to indicate a past, similar ruling that demonstrates the current violation as “clearly established.” As a result, even if this new violation becomes a repeated issue, it remains unqualified to be tried in court. This specifically sets up the legal system so that justice can never be served in new cases of violations with public officials, and, as a result, prevents and discourages victims from attempting to defend their rights. 

In Pearson v. Callahan (2009), the court ruled that, when considering a case, only the “clearly established” qualification must apply, when previously in 2001, it was decided that first the court should consider if the conduct infringes on a constitutional right, and second if it is clearly established. Now even if conduct infringes on someone’s constitutional rights, if it has not been taken to court previously, it is not considered clearly established and cannot be tried in court. Another obstacle the “clearly established” qualification brings stems from the definition of a “reasonable officer.” In 1986, the court decided that the situation must now be judged by “any reasonable officer” in order to be “clearly established.” According to Harvard Law professor Scott Michelman, this means that the action must be so clearly wrong that any officer—even the “least reasonable officer”—must recognize it as a violation. 

Many victims do not even attempt to bring their case to court, because there likely has not been a prior court case similar to their case, since qualified immunity was established in 1982. It creates obstacles for victims attempting to achieve justice, to the point where striving to take legal action has too many steps and costs, causing excessive effort, depletion of financial resources, and overall exhaustion. These costs of just attempting to achieve justice in the legal system outweigh the benefits of actually achieving a positive outcome, especially when the odds that victims can even bring their case to court is so low. Victims may not have the legal resources to research and discover whether their case is “clearly established” or know how to defend that it is “clearly established,” since this doctrine is so specific and rooted in legal history.

Supporters of qualified immunity argue that this doctrine is essential for police officers as it allows them to make instantaneous decisions when their duty calls for it, such as in life or death situations [4]. Supporters also claim that police officers would be responsible for a large sum of legal expenses every time legal action is taken against them, and the exhaustion that these cases would bring to police officers would detract from the attention they bring to their actual duties of handling important public issues. The Supreme Court argues that few people would decide to go into positions of governmental office if they did not have protections like qualified immunity. Essentially, the Supreme Court contends that you cannot take legal action against police officers if they were not aware of the law at the time of the violation—hence, the “clearly established” law distinction.

However, the reality is that very few qualified immunity cases actually involve these life or death situations where the officer was acting out of necessity. The Cato Institute reported that the Supreme Court is in the process of reviewing eight various cert petitions involving qualified immunity, yet the “overwhelming majority” of these petitions do not demonstrate any direct harm to the officer where they would need to make instantaneous decisions for their own protection. Justice Clarence Thomas, an originalist, criticized that qualified immunity has been used to exercise “free-wheeling policy choices” which the court does not have the power to actually make. Qualified immunity even stunts the ability for constitutional law to develop over time, as important cases are unable to be tried because they are not qualified as clearly established—this is particularly important as new innovations and technologies advance over time, raising new questions that remain unaddressed due to this doctrine.

The qualified immunity doctrine does not even rid police officers of the financial burden of legal expenses. UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz reports that police officers only bore 0.2% of the burden of expenses, due to police indemnification. As a result, officers’ financial costs rarely come out of their own money. Meanwhile, many victims are discouraged from even attempting to bring a case to court, because of its exhaustion of resources with a small chance of positive outcome. Even though in 1976 Congress allowed lawyers representing victims of civil rights violations to recover, this is not applicable in cases that have been denied due to qualified immunity. As a result, many victims are unable to even find lawyers to represent and fight for them in the first place.

While the elimination of this doctrine could discourage people from becoming police officers, it is more likely to discourage people who want to abuse their power from becoming police officers. Qualified immunity reinforces what Justice Sonia Sotomayer refers to as a “shoot first and think later” mentality, which involves being less concerned with the consequences of firing a weapon. The removal of qualified immunity would not ensure that victims win cases against police officers. Rather than discouraging and preventing victims from obtaining justice, the removal of qualified immunity would simply allow them a trial in court, and discourage officers from abusing their power due to the increased  likelihood of consequences. The removal of qualified immunity would eliminate just one of the many obstacles for victims of police brutality on the path to fighting injustice. 

On June 4, the Supreme Court reviewed a number of petitions involving qualified immunity, but it took a pass on resolving qualified immunity for the time being, due to less than four votes agreeing to come back to it then. This now puts the issue in Congress’s hands [5]. Recently, Representatives Justin Amash and Ayanna Pressley have proposed an Ending Qualified Immunity Act, which calls to make additions to section 1983 in order to limit the amount of immunity granted to officials, discouraging them from unfairly exercising their power [6]. Senator Cory Booker has also proposed a framework for police reform that would rectify qualified immunity [7]. If you are wondering what can be done in the meantime, you can sign a number of online petitions calling for the end of qualified immunity, spread information about qualified immunity to family and friends, or, if you have the financial means, donate to organizations working to end qualified immunity, like the Institute for Justice.

Resources:

Donate to Institute for Justice

End Qualified Immunity Petition

Qualified Immunity Needs Legislative Reform Petition

Congress: Qualified Immunity Petition

Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Justin Amash’s End Qualified Immunity Act

Chair Bass, Sen. Booker and Harris, and Chair Nadler’s Justice in Policing Act of 2020

Sen. Mike Braun’s Qualified Immunity Reform Act

References

[1] Leef, George. “Qualified Immunity -- A Rootless Doctrine The Court Should Jettison.” Forbes. Last modified March 21, 2018. Accessed June 23, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2018/03/21/qualified-immunity-a-rootless-doctrine-the-court-should-jettison/#3692c38231c7

 [2] “Qualified immunity.” Legal Information Institute. Accessed June 23, 2020. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/qualified_immunity#:~:text=Pearson%20v.%20Callahan%20.,established%E2%80%9D%20statutory%20or%20constitutional%20right.

[3] Sobel, Nathaniel. “What Is Qualified Immunity, and What Does It Have to Do With Police Reform?” Lawfare. Last modified June 6, 2020. Accessed June 23, 2020. https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-qualified-immunity-and-what-does-it-have-do-police-reform

[4] Sibilla, Nick. “New Bill Would Abolish Qualified Immunity, Make It Easier To Sue Cops Who Violate Civil Rights.” Forbes. Last modified June 3, 2020. Accessed June 23, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksibilla/2020/06/03/new-bill-would-abolish-qualified-immunity-make-it-easier-to-sue-cops-who-violate-civil-rights/#8d2cd096fbc9

[5] Dwyer, Devin. “Supreme Court won’t revisit qualified immunity for police, leaving it to Congress.” ABC News. Last modified June 22, 2020. Accessed June 23, 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-wont-revisit-qualified-immunity-police-leaving/story?id=71374240

[6] “Reps. Pressley, Amash introduce bipartisan legislation to end qualified immunity.” U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. Last modified June 4, 2020. Accessed June 23, 2020. https://pressley.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-pressley-amash-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-end-qualified-immunity

[7] Silva, Christianna. “Cory Booker Wants To End Qualified Immunity For Police Officers.” NPR. Last modified June 7, 2020. Accessed June 23, 2020. https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/06/07/871713872/cory-booker-wants-to-end-qualified-immunity-for-police-officers

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Paige Reddington is a rising senior at Amherst College majoring in English. She is an Arts and Living Writer for the campus newspaper The Amherst Student, a staff editor for the commentary magazine The Indicator, a member of the Reproductive Justice Alliance, and runs cross country and track for Amherst. Her interests include writing, social justice, and intersectionality.

Misty Copeland Pushing Ballet's Boundaries

Taken from Misty Copeland’s website.

BY: Madeline Elkes, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

Being a part of the dance community for 10 years, I believe that it is one of the more accepting industries in terms of race and gender inclusivity. People are held to the standard of their talent, not to the color of their skin or sexual orientation. To succeed in dance is to succeed in utilizing resources and connections. However, selective access to resources has left certain parts of the dance world lacking diversity. Black and white dancers have prospered in dance, but dance opportunities can be hard to find for those with limited financial and social resources. This burden of the opportunity gap is often felt by African Americans, especially in the ballet industry. Although diversity is expanding in certain styles and at the top dance companies like Alvin Ailey, American Ballet Theater, and New York City Ballet, the ballet world in particular is still predominantly white [1]. 

Misty Copeland was the first African American female to become a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater after 75 years of ABT’s existence [1]. She started her ballet career at 13 years old living in a motel room with her mom and five other siblings [2]. Copeland was pegged as a natural prodigy, and was later offered full scholarships to study at the San Francisco ballet School and the ABT summer intensive program. She soon joined the ABT ballet company, and was then promoted to principal dancer, a feat unfortunately unheard of for an African American woman before then [3].

Copeland has not only made history for her role as a principal dancer, but she has influenced the modern ballet world to push for diversity. Her proven success as an African American female ballet dancer, who proudly identified as black, has defied the traditional stereotypes of a white, stick-figure ballerina. Most importantly, she has been outspoken about her race.There were successful African American ballerinas who performed with major companies in the past, like Raven Wilkenson, Virginia Johnson, Janet Collins, etc.. However, they were asked to hide their blackness as much as possible to please the white audiences [3]. In the 1950s, Raven Wilkenson was not allowed to tell people that she was black since she was lighter skinned. She was also required to “white-up” before going on stage with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo [3]. This was not enough to claim the dance world as equal, and Misty Copeland filled in many of the gaps that Raven and other black ballerinas had experienced. “They [audience members] want to see something beautiful but they also want to see themselves up there,” said Misty Copeland as she discussed the importance of a diverse audience in TIME video [4]. 

Misty Copeland has paved the way for ballet dancers and choreographers to pay attention to opportunities and minority representation in ballet companies. Training a dancer can take around 10 years, so recruiting black dancers must come at an early age, to offer them the dance education they need. Of course, we run into the issue that so many ballets are “white ballets,” such as  Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, and Giselle, where the main ballerina has a pale glow to her [3]. The ballet industry, and the dance industry, have come a long way in improving accessibility and race equality, but the industry still has to work to ensure that the dance community is free of racial biases. 

References

[1] Kourlas, Gia. "Push for Diversity in Ballet Turns to Training the Next Generation." The New York Times. October 30, 2015. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/arts/dance/push-for-diversity-in-ballet-turns-to-training-the-next-generation.html.

[2]"The Official Website of Misty Copeland." Misty Copeland. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://mistycopeland.com/. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/opinion/black-dancers-white-ballets.html.

[4] TIME. "Misty Copeland On Changing the Face of Ballet | TIME 100 | TIME." YouTube. April 16, 2015. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddarrb8u7p8&feature=youtu.be.

[3] Woodard, Laurie A. "Black Dancers, White Ballets." The New York Times. July 15, 2015. Accessed June 18, 2020. 

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Madeline is a junior at Middlebury College majoring in Economics with a minor in Math. She is involved in Debate club, a dance club, and Middlebury Women on Wallstreet on campus. She was a dancer for many years, and is passionate about career equality, especially for female ballerinas.

The 2020 Abolitionist Movement: A New Road to Liberation

BY: SAHER AL KHAMASH, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

Cardboard cutouts have been an essential tenet to the BLM protests. Handmade, elaborate or simple, these cutouts capture some of the most powerful messages. Among those I’ve seen, the one that has left the biggest impression on me was a very little sign casually held by one hand at Stonewall in Lower Manhattan. Written in black ink it read “Abolish Police”. A sign so sweet and simple had opened my mind to a whole new world ~cue Aladdin theme music~. A world without prisons had been something I'd only been allowed to theorize about. At best it was an academic fantasy and at worst a delusion. Somehow seeing this concept actualized in such a concrete form sparked something within me. It wasn’t just the concept that struck me so powerfully however, but also the particular word “abolish”. 

To abolish means to formally put an end to a system, practice or institution. I feel as though abolition is a strong word for Americans because of its deep meaning in our history. The Civil War, the bloodiest war fought on this land, was fought over the idea of abolitionism. In a sort of a poetic way, I find that the use of “abolition” at this present moment in the United States of America, calls us to reckon with the parallels between slavery and mass incarceration, between slave patrols and police officers. In her book, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander argues that slavery never really escaped American society, but rather has been rebranded time and time again. The Prison Industrial Complex and police function to relegate Black people to a second-class status by means of social control, economic repression, and political disenfranchisement. When our justice system criminalizes blackness, poverty and addiction, it denies support to Black communities. These actions justify the exploitation of Black people’s labor in prison and their murder at the hands of cops. Abolitionists seek to end these structures which subjugate Black lives and to replace them with systems that remedy community afflictions with dignity, respect and humanity. I find myself wondering now “what are we waiting for?” Abolishing police and prisons should be realistic goals in 2020. 

NYC protesters express their frustration with Mayor De Blasio and police department, calling to defund and abolish the NYPD. Photograph taken on June 10, 2020 at Washington Square Park, NY by Saher Al Khamash.

We currently live under a legal system that criminalizes blackness, poverty and addiction in various ways. The fact that hundreds of thousands are in jail right now because they simply cannot afford to pay bail is indicative of a “justice” system better suited to protect the wealthy and guilty rather than the poor and innocent [1]. Unjust criminalization of poverty and blackness are embedded in all aspects of the system. Take, for example, the sentence disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Although essentially the same drug, possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine, a cheaper drug used mostly by Black people, receives a 5-year minimum sentencing whereas possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine, a more expensive drug mostly used by White people, gets the same 5-year minimum [2]. Black people are also nearly 4 times more likely to get arrested for marijuana even though usage is relatively equal between white and Black people [3]. People who are economically driven into certain trades due to a lack of resources and opportunities, such as drug dealing and sex work, also face criminalization. Rather than restoring balance to those afflicted by poverty, addiction and discrimination, our justice system is based in stigmatizing and penalizing them. What happens is that the most vulnerable and targeted members of society go to prisons that then exploit their labor, paying them low-to-no wages [4]. There is no hope in reforming an inherently racist and exploitative penal system. Instead, we ought to look at the programs of restorative justice that exist in our society and invest in this method of uplifting struggling community members.

Spokesperson for Revolutionary Communist Party (also known as Revcom) holds up sign advocating for revolution. Photograph taken at Union Square, NY on June 2nd, 2020 by Saher Al Khamash.

In place of punitive systems, abolitionists seek a system of restorative justice. Abolition is not only about ending the police, jails and prisons. It is dedicated to ending the conditions which lead people to them. It acknowledges that there are ways to deal with crime and imbalances in our society instead of locking people up. When discussing abolition, people often ask “well how do we respond to crises without police or prisons?” The answer is by reallocating funds. Divesting from the police and reinvesting in social sectors will not only reduce the incentive for conflict or “bad choices” but also communities will be better equipped to resolve them. Currently police are tasked with addressing a wide range of community conflicts from noise complaints to domestic violence to mental health crises. These are tasks that can be fulfilled by other members of the social sector. We have social workers specialized in domestic violence who could respond to domestic violence issues. Mental health is a medical issue and not a criminal one. There are professionals who are certified to respond to someone experiencing a mental health crisis. Police are responding to calls that aren’t exactly crimes. As of right now, many state police are heavily funded, while social services scramble for money. Between the fiscal years of 2014 and 2019, New York spent 44.1 billion dollars on the police department and corrections and only 9.9 billion in homelessness services and 6.8 billion in housing preservation and development [5]. After much protesting and noise in New York City this past month, Mayor De Blasio has promised to cut $1 billion dollars from N.Y.P.D. funding in the 2021 fiscal year. You have probably heard or seen the demand to defund police among activists. Essential to the process of abolition is the incremental budget cuts on the police force (until funding ultimately reaches $0) and reallocation of those funds to communities’ social sectors such as healthcare, education, and housing. Abolition is not merely a question of abandoning structural racism, but of wanting to create genuine change in our afflicted communities.

Large crowds of people gather at the historic site of Stonewall to mourn the lives Black Trans people who were killed by law enforcement. Photograph taken June 2nd, 2020 at Stonewall, Manhattan by Saher Al Khamash.

I can imagine that for some this sounds extreme. You might even be asking yourself “what about police reform?” Abolitionists argue against reform because as the mainstream response to police brutality, reform has failed to reduce brutality and crime for decades. The fact of the matter is that systems which function to preserve white supremacy cannot reform themselves out of racism; they can only be deconstructed and replaced. Reform may have provoked real change if the issue really was just “a few bad apples;” the reality however, as Ava DuVernay puts it, is that, “the whole damn tree is rotten”. Most studies show that increasing diversity or “cultural sensitivity” training among police does not reduce crime nor brutality [6]. And while Joe Biden continues to propose to enhance “community police,” we have to acknowledge that these officers brutalize and kill Black people too. After all, Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer. Reform often leads to increased funding of the police force for more training and equipment that could otherwise be put into the social sectors of communities. These misguided attempts at reform have only prolonged real change all under the illusion of gradual progress. The inability to address the fundamental racism in our police, prison and criminal justice system has only led to greater repression of Black communities. After centuries of systemic oppression - slavery, indentured servitude, Jim Crow, redlining, overpolicing, mass incarceration, housing discrimination, job discrimination, disenfranchisement and much more - the last thing Black communities need is more punishment. Black communities deserve a system that serves and protects them- a restorative justice. 

You may not have imagined a world without police or prisons before, but you also probably didn’t imagine a year like 2020. In some kind of a perfect storm, COVID 19, mass unemployment, and social distancing measures exposed our country’s rampant racism to a larger audience than ever before. Social media in particular has played a significant role in spreading awareness and news, mobilizing agents of change, and organizing peaceful protests. There have been Black Lives Matter’s protests in over 1,600 places, in every state of the U.S., all across the globe and the numbers are still growing [7]. The present moment has lent us unprecedented leverage to finally uproot our nation’s racism and plant new seeds for the world we want to live in. The time has come when we have to decide between recycling systems of oppression or reconstructing systems of liberation. Frankly, I believe the universe is acting too well in our favor for us to do anything but dream big and shoot for the stars we once didn’t imagine.

References

[1] Wing, Nick. "Our Bail System Is Leaving Innocent People To Die In Jail Because They're Poor." Prison Legal News. Last modified February 24, 2017. Accessed June 17, 2020. https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2017/feb/24/our-bail-system-leaving-innocent-people-die-jail-because-theyre-poor/.

[2] Vagin, Deborah J., and Jesselyn McCurdy. "CRACKS IN THE SYSTEM: 20 YEARS OF THE UNJUST FEDERAL CRACK COCAINE LAW." ACLU. Last modified October 2006. Accessed June 17, 2020. https://www.aclu.org/other/cracks-system-20-years-unjust-federal-crack-cocaine-law.

[3] "THE WAR ON MARIJUANA IN BLACK AND WHITE." ACLU. Accessed June 17, 2020. https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/sentencing-reform/war-marijuana-black-and-white.

[4] Sawyer, Wendy. "How much do incarcerated people earn in each state?" Prison Policy Initiative. Last modified April 10, 2017. Accessed June 17, 2020. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04/10/wages/.

[5] Ricciulli, Valeria, and Caroline Spivack. "What NYC could do with its $6 billion police budget." New York Curbed. Last modified June 5, 2020. Accessed June 16, 2020. https://ny.curbed.com/2020/6/5/21279214/nyc-defund-nypd-police-budget-affordable-housing-homelessness.

[6] Vitale, Alex S. "The Limits of Police Reform." Chapter 1 to The End of Policing. Brooklyn, NY: Verso, 2017.

[7] Haseman, Janie, Karina Zaiets, Mitchell Thorson, Carlie Procell, George Petras, and Shawn J. Sullivan. "Tracking protests across the USA in the wake of George Floyd's death." USA Today. Last modified June 12, 2020. Accessed June 16, 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2020/06/03/map-protests-wake-george-floyds-death/5310149002/.

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Saher Al Khamash is a rising senior at Middlebury College, where she majors in Global Security Studies. She also loves studying Spanish, Arabic, Religion and Art History and has a passion for yoga, tea and cats!

Read The Signs

“Black Lives Matter” protesters in front of Borough Hall on June 8, 2020 in New York City. Photograph by Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images.

BY: HALEY GLOVER, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

Getty Images VIA Cosmopolitan.

We have asked for change in Ferguson, Baltimore, and Minneapolis. We have protested the systemic injustices of the government we live our lives by. Yet every new wave of protests highlights the American system’s cyclicality that repeatedly condemns rage, specifically Black rage, and instead legislates complicity. Politicians routinely disqualify protests and instead call for votes for change. However, today’s revival of the Black Lives Matter movement demonstrates the failure of traditional modes of legislation, such as voting, for Black citizens. One of the founders of the BLM movement, Alicia Garza, identified similar systemic flaws in the beginning of the movement stating, “What we’ve seen is an attempt by mainstream politics and politicians to co-opt movements that galvanize people in order for them to move closer to their own goals and objectives. . . . We don’t think that playing a corrupt game is going to bring change and make Black lives matter” [1]. Every protest shut down, condemned as a riot, or transformed into the political campaign of a politician is the “corrupt game” in action. It is systemic silencing of Black voices and is an attempt to dilute the energy of the BLM movement. 

Since 2013, when the movement began, legislative flaws have survived numerous reforms and are reflected today in calls for “law & order” [2] and the dismantling of organized protests across the U.S. through state National Guard deployment. In response to these efforts by elected officials to turn peaceful protests violent, the BLM movement's resilience and determination to protest will be vital in beginning to make the institutional changes necessary until the Black political voice is heard on Capitol Hill. While voting is a start, it is not a guarantee for change when the very system of voter registration is flawed across America. In commenting on past BLM protests in Ferguson, historian Dr. Barbara Ransby speaks on the “dead-end” results of traditional modes of legislation stating, “Organizers have already experienced the dead-end political results when social movements working in marginalized communities forfeit their agency and simply deliver votes to politicians without a strategy or a plan for ensuring accountability” [1]. Such results have silenced the black voice in the past and will continue to mute the marginalized if the momentum of protests slow. Such momentum makes headlines and amasses followers who are essential in making the grassroots initiatives necessary to work toward change from the inside out. Protest is the starting point because political participation relies on feelings of political efficacy within citizens, particularly Black citizens. Through cultural restrictions and institutional hindrances in education, law enforcement, and voter registration, the Black American’s participation in politics has been seriously limited [3]. In the face of these restrictions, protest has emerged as one of the Black American’s few means of political participation that in its purest form is not tied to the system; a system that has actively worked to decrease the Black individual’s sense of effectiveness in not only politics but everyday life [3].

Kyle Robertson/ The Columbus Dispatch via AP.

White supremacy in modern day America is reflected in the systemic silencing of Black citizens. Whether it is the criminalization of Black political participation or the interpretation of protests and rallies as violent riots, America’s collective imagination has been conditioned to flinch at shouts for justice and resist any disruption to the foundations of the country. A country that Congresswoman Joyce Beatty reminds us is rooted in the oppression of Black Americans. Beatty tweeted late last month: “The history & trauma of racism and Jim Crow is not a memory of the past, but is a reality still today, reinforced by the fact that Black Americans are disproportionately the targets of injustices ranging from mass incarceration & police brutality, to the War on Drugs & COVID-19” [4]. Shortly after tweeting this, U.S. Representative Beatty took her words from Twitter to protests in downtown Columbus where she was maced by police officers after attempting to subdue an altercation [5].

Kyle Robertson/The Columbus Dispatch via Twitter.

In choosing to participate in protests, Congresswoman Beatty removed the veil between a government and its people. Actively protesting the system she operates within, Beatty’s action is one of the first steps towards increasing black political engagement in America. Scholars John Pierce and Addison Carey describe the degree of black political efficacy stating, “The degree to which the black citizen feels he can influence political decisions is linked to… the response he receives when he attempts to gain access to the participation channels of the system” [3]. Beatty is actively opening up these channels using the route of protest. As a black woman first and politician second, Beatty protests the racist institutional arrangement she is involved in. In response to the system’s failure in the wrongful death of George Floyd, Beatty tweeted: “America is watching. Where is the justice? How do we heal from the past memories of racial terror and lynchings when they are still alive today? I support peaceful protests for change, action and a path to restorative justice because now more than ever is a time of urgency” [6]. Beatty reminds us that the moment is here. It is time for the restoration of a system that devalues black voice and life. In protest, voices are amplified over the noise of the system and can be instrumental in increasing Black political efficacy. I ask everyone to read the signs of racial injustice in America and continue to march until the slogan “Black Lives Matter” is reflected not only in the actions of politicians, but in the American political system as a whole. Rep. Beatty pursues this constructive form of political engagement through protest as she marches toward justice and fundamental change. I’m following her.

References

[1] Ransby, Barbara. "Black Rage and Blacks in Power: Baltimore and Electoral Politics." In Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century, 81-95. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2018. Accessed June 18, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/2783927.

[2] Trump, Donald. Twitter post. June 15, 2020, 10:19 a.m. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1272534307303755776?s=20 

[3] Pierce, John C., and Addison Carey. "Efficacy and Participation: A Study of Black Political Behavior." Journal of Black Studies 2, no. 2 (1971): 201-23. www.jstor.org/stable/2783927.

[4] Beatty, Joyce. Twitter post. May 29, 2020, 12:31 a.m. https://twitter.com/RepBeatty/status/1266225506803945472?s=20 

[5] Mena, Kelly. “African-American congresswoman gets pepper sprayed during George Floyd protest in Columbus.” CNN, May 31, 2020. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/30/politics/joyce-beatty-ohio-pepper-sprayed-columbus-protest/index.html

[6] Beatty, Joyce. Twitter post. May 29, 2020, 12:32 a.m. https://twitter.com/RepBeatty/status/1266225969628667904?s=20 

Godfrey, Elaine. “The Congresswoman Pepper-Sprayed by Police.” The Atlantic, May 31, 2020. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/05/congresswoman-pepper-sprayed-joyce-beatty/612436/

Note from author: Haley is always listening to other voices and acknowledging her whiteness when writing on the Black Lives Matter movement and is always open to further discussions or edits on any of the material discussed above. Thank you. 

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Haley is a senior at Middlebury College. She is majoring in English and Political Science. On campus she works as the president of the MiddLaw club where she helps students gather resources for careers in law. Haley is from Ohio and is particularly interested in the political climate of the Midwest and legislative reform.

No Environmental Justice, No Peace

BY: LYDIA WIENER, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

Millions across the globe have taken to the streets and opened their minds (and wallets) to combat the systemic racism that has historically plagued Black and Brown communities. Outraged, and rightfully so, over the wrongful deaths of George Floyd and the many before him while in police custody, protestors have championed the phrase “No Justice, No Peace,” indicating that unrest will not cease until Floyd’s killers are convicted and major police reform is made. The Black Lives Matter organization has spearheaded this movement by demanding police budgets be cut, demilitarized, and the resulting money be invested into marginalized communities. But police brutality is merely one symptom of foundational racism. The meta mantra “No Justice, No Peace” calls for environmental justice, education justice, economic justice, and everything in between.

The Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulation, and policies,” calling into question the blatant environmental inequities faced by Black and Brown communities in the US and around the world since the colonial era [1]. Colonial discourse, canonized by Edward Said’s book Orientalism, framed white men and the Western world as the picture of progress, civility, and rationality, while people of color and the global East were framed as the barbaric, savage, primitive, “other” [2]. This mentality, paired with lingering sentiment from the 1800s movement to preserve American wilderness (which was largely a response to immigration and the emancipation of slaves), culminated in the Wilderness Act of 1964—a racially charged foundation to the “golden era” of environmental legislation. Section 2c of the Wilderness Act prescribed “a wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain,” turning wilderness into a racialized “purification machine” where Native American and Black communities were evicted from their residential lands [3].

These Black and Brown communities were relocated to vulnerable, degraded, and largely unwanted lands. Whether it be lands geographically predisposed to bear the forefront of climate burdens (think the Lower Ninth Ward during Hurricane Katrina), or lands that are riddled with calculated placements of locally unwanted land-uses such as landfills, superfund sites, and highways (think the Warren County PCB Landfill circa 1982), these Black and Brown communities face intensified health, economic, and development vulnerabilities not experienced by their white counterparts, reinforcing the historical cycle of disenfranchisement and oppression. 

It’s no wonder why the collective memories of Black communities hold ambivalent connections to wildlands. Prior to the civil rights movement, wildlands provided spaces for escaped slaves to develop medicinal practices with plants, perform spiritual practices, form resistance movements, and feed families, while also serving as grounds for rapes and beatings. Over time, this relationship only became more convoluted as imposed restrictions on historical and cultural lands encouraged an influx of wealthy, white visitors, skewing local understandings of sense of place associated with those spaces and causing many Blacks to feel alienated and unsafe. Just this past Memorial Day, white New York City resident Amy Cooper highlighted the manufactured doubts surrounding the place of the Black body in the natural space when she reported and threatened Christian Cooper, a Black birdwatcher and board member of the New York City Audubon Society, to the police. 

Carolyn Finney, an environmental justice scholar, author, and activist who has been targeted by unsettling racial perceptions herself, calls on predominantly white-led environmental organizations and academic institutions to “recognize that systemic racism exists on both the streets of our cities and inside our national parks” [4]. According to Finney, there needs to be “full representation at every level in the environmental sector,” including reparations for disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities, to induce “fundamental, consequential, and absolute change.”

The Black Lives Matter movement and activists like Finney are forcing whitewashed America to grapple with its place in building this racist and oppressive system, and pushing the environmental movement to reassess its mission as well. Within the last month, paramount climate change activism and advocacy groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, 350.org, and the Sierra Club have publicly pledged to support Black-led justice initiatives, build inclusive, multiracial climate coalitions, and divest from systems of white supremacy. During a Black-led 350.org webinar on dismantling racism in the climate movement, Executive Director of Minnesota 350, Sam Grant, implores listeners to “live at the intersection of abolition and ending climate apartheid” [5].

References

[1] OP US EPA, “Environmental Justice,” Collections and Lists, US EPA, November 3, 2014, https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice.

[2] Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 1st Vintage Books ed (New York: Vintage Books, 1979).

[3] Janae Davis, “Black Faces, Black Spaces: Rethinking African American Underrepresentation in Wildland Spaces and Outdoor Recreation:,” Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, December 14, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848618817480.

[4] Carolyn Finney, “The Perils of Being Black in Public: We Are All Christian Cooper and George Floyd | Race | The Guardian,” accessed June 15, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/03/being-black-public-spaces-outdoors-perils-christian-cooper.

[5] “Pledge to Act in Defense of Black Lives,” 350.org, accessed June 15, 2020, https://350.org/in-defense-of-black-lives/.

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Lydia Wiener is a recent graduate of Middlebury College , where she majored in Environmental Policy and minored in Geography and African Studies. She is fascinated with the social, economic, and political nexus that underscores environmental issues, and is committed to creating equitable environmental change.

Deserae Kill Eagle and How to Contribute to a Movement

Deserae Kill Eagle with her two daughters.

BY: Eliza King Freedman, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

On May 25, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer, making him one of too many victims of police brutality. However, unlike countless other victims, Floyd’s murder was recorded and went viral. Since then, the country has been consumed by protests and calls to action regarding police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, and people who have never listened before are beginning to pay attention to what needs to change in this country and what role they play in that change. Many of us, myself included, are wondering what we can do as citizens. How much of a difference can we really make with an Instagram post, a sign at a protest, a conversation with a friend? Wouldn’t we do better by simply supporting those already in power and letting them use their influence to encourage change? No, I don’t think we would. I believe that it is the conversations between friends and the protests and the posts that are bringing about the legislative change that our nation is finally seeing. And it was the words of Deserae Kill Eagle, granddaughter of Little Shell Chippewa Tribe Vice-Chairman Leona Kienenberger, that affirmed this perspective and motivated me to continue forth in this manner:

I had someone tell me once, “Des, you don’t have to be on the front line. You can help by holding an office position or by helping in an office position and connecting your people and networking.” And I thought, “No, but we need more of the grass-root people who are helping show and model for their people.”

In addition to her thoughts regarding how to support a movement and how to participate in something much bigger than oneself, Kill Eagle also discussed what an education can do to supplement one’s cause and one’s ability to participate in society:

Systemic racism is finally being forced into the light in this country in a new, all-consuming way, as people finally realize the ways that the government and the American institutions have been intentionally holding back and holding down BIPOC. Kill Eagle’s words struck me specifically because she has known for so long what many of us are only just learning. She knows how to fight, she knows to learn about what she's fighting for before she speaks on it, and she knows how to participate. As we navigate these protests and this rocky political climate, I believe that it is people like Kill Eagle that will guide us through, for she has been fighting for this cause longer than many of us were even aware of it.

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Eliza King Freedman is a rising sophomore at Middlebury College. She intends to major in International Politics and Economics with a minor in Architectural Studies. In addition to Power in Place, she also works for a horse therapy organization that specializes in the rehabilitation of veterans. She is most passionate about the study of nonproliferation and prison reform.

The Importance of Community: Reflecting on an Interview with City Councilwoman Yvonne Flowers

BY: KARA JENSEN, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

A few months ago, on a chilly February morning, I drove down to a small park on the banks of the Hudson River in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York. The photoshoot was taking place in Waryas Park at the John M. Flowers Circle, and we were there that day with John Flowers’ daughter, Poughkeepsie City Councilwoman Yvonne Flowers. I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Councilwoman Flowers—my first time ever interviewing someone—and the experience utterly transformed the way that I thought of local government and community power. In our current political climate, I feel as though it is more important than ever to recognize the importance of local officials in building safe and inclusive communities. 

Councilwoman Flowers’ father, John, was the one who initially inspired and pushed her to get into politics in the first place. Renowned and beloved throughout Poughkeepsie and the larger Dutchess County area, John Flowers lived his life with the conviction that just one person can make a huge difference in someone’s life, and it brought him immense joy to help others in the community. He passed this conviction on to his children, as he actively involved them in his annual Easter Egg Hunts in Waryas Park, Father’s Day Parades, gift giving to veterans, and countless other community strengthening efforts. 

During her time as a City Councilwoman, Yvonne Flowers has put her community first; emphasizing the importance of community spaces and sports programs for kids, all while carrying on her father’s legacy and expanding the number of eggs involved in the annual Easter Egg Hunts to the tens of thousands. Last summer she set up a free basketball program for the kids of Poughkeepsie, who loved it so much that they begged her to continue the program into the school year. Councilwoman Flowers is so passionate about her job and uses her position and energy to build up her community and invest in the well-being and futures of the children. Her passion really shone through in the interview and it was such a privilege to be able to meet and talk with her. 

I interviewed Councilwoman Flowers in February, at a time when COVID-19 was not yet ravaging the United States and the murder of George Floyd had not yet sparked national outrage and protests across the country and world. Thus, we were not able to discuss many of the issues that people have been actively considering in recent weeks. However, as so much of my conversation with Councilwoman Flowers was about her and her family’s commitment to their community, I can’t help but connect her efforts to lift up her community to the larger conversation that is now taking place. As the Black Lives Matter movement has resurged at the forefront of national attention, many protestors and BLM supporters are calling to “Defund the Police.” In essence, this a call to divest the exorbitant amount of money that goes to police departments and invest instead directly into communities and essential services that have been largely neglected such as mental health care, housing, and education [1]. Many proponents of defunding the police want to dismantle law enforcement as we know it and instead invest in community approaches to create safer and more unified communities. I know that this is a huge issue and cannot be encompassed in just a few sentences, but I think the focus on investing resources into communities and ensuring that children have the freedom to join a basketball program and grow up safely is immensely important. 

Reference

[1] Andrew, Scottie. “There's a Growing Call to Defund the Police. Here's What It Means.” CNN. Cable News Network, June 16, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/us/what-is-defund-police-trnd/index.html.

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Kara Jensen is a rising junior at Vassar College majoring in International Studies and minoring in Hispanic Studies and English. She is involved in the Vassar Alliance of Women in Foreign Affairs, Project Period, and is the Social Coordinator for her Disney-themed a cappella group. She is interested in international development, foreign policy, and human rights.

Why We Riot

BY: SOPHIA CASTEN, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

As we move, sit, protest, and isolate through the 51st anniversary of Pride Month, it is imperative to call upon white and non-Black members of the LGBTQ+ community, like myself, to recognize the roots of our celebratory month and its relevance given the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. The recent riots that took place across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis and many more people like him, have gained copious amounts of criticism across political parties and social identities including from members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Though the criticism is widespread, it is imperative to remember that Pride month was created from a series of riots. Specifically, the Cooper Do-Nuts Riot, The Black Cat Tavern riot, Gene Compton’s Café Riot, and most famously, The Stonewall Riots. The culmination of these riots, which were often led by trans people of color, were in direct response to homophobic and transphobic police violence that plagued the LGBTQ+ community for decades prior to the rioting. It is really easy to forget about the beginnings of Pride when it is now a celebration trademarked with rainbows, sexual liberation, and nation-wide parades and not violence, criminalization, and blatant police brutality. 

I urge members of the LGBTQ+ community, including allies, to see the Black Lives Matter riots and protests happening now as a sign of a revolution that could turn into a celebration. Just as Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman, is hailed for throwing the first brick at Stonewall, we must hail the young leaders, mainly women of color, who continue to organize and fight back against racist police brutality. Many women politicians who have been outspoken about social justice issues from the beginning are urging all supporters and members of the LGBTQ+ community to support the Black Lives Matter movement in its entirety. 

New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (affectionately known as AOC), shared in a June 1st 2020 tweet that she, along with a few other politicians, introduced a resolution “calling on the FDA to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood without discrimination.” During a global pandemic where blood donation is necessary and where Black people are disproportionately impacted by the virus, prohibiting members of the LGBTQ+ community from donating is “especially cruel.” Continuously, we are seeing Black and non-Black members of the LGBTQ+ community speak out against racial injustice while remembering the beginnings of Pride over 50 years ago. 

Activists have been diligent in sharing resources that folks can donate to/support, if able. Below is a list of organizations and groups that support Black LGBTQ+ rights. 

https://www.glitsinc.org/

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/support

https://marshap.org/donate/

https://my.truecolorsunited.org/give/118989/#!/donation/checkout

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Sophia Casten is a rising junior at Smith College majoring in Government with a certificate in Reproductive Health Rights and Justice. She is a Yoga teacher and a Community Health Organizer at the Smith Wellness Center and is passionate about spreading inclusive wellness practices. Sophia is interested in reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ rights advocacy, and public policy reform.

Drug Laws, Racism, and Women

Illustration by Vidushi Yadav for the Association for Women’s Rights in Development.

BY: SOPHIE LOVERING, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE

Black Americans account for 30 percent of all drug-related arrests, even though only 12.5 percent of substance users are black [1]. Black and white Americans use substances at equal rates; however, black Americans are about six times more likely to be incarcerated for drug-related offenses than their white peers [1]. In court, prosecutors are twice as likely to pursue mandatory minimum sentences for black defendants than white defendants, and black defendants are less likely to evade these mandatory minimums [1]. 

In 1971, President Richard Nixon established the war on drugs, which in turn increased sentencing and enforcement actions for low-level drug offenses [1]. 15 years after Nixon’s presidency, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, establishing mandatory minimum sentencing for drug-related offenses [2]. The increased criminalization of substance use tied with increased drug law enforcement led to the American phenomenon of mass incarceration. Since 1980, the number of American arrests for drug possession has tripled and today one-fifth of the prison population is serving time for a drug-related offense [1]. 

This mass incarceration has differentially impacted black Americans. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 included sentences for offenses involving crack cocaine, used more commonly by black Americans, that were one hundred times more severe than sentences for offenses involving the equally dangerous powder cocaine, used more often by white Americans [2]. As aforementioned, prosecutors are more likely to seek the mandatory minimum sentence for a black defendant than a white defendant even when the defendants are charged with the same crime [3]. 

Often, the criminal justice reform narrative has centered on men. It is also important to recognize how the war on drugs has affected women, and specifically women of color. Since the war on drugs and subsequent tough on crime initiatives, the number of female inmates in the United States has increased by 646 percent, which is nearly double the rate for men [4]. In 1988, Congress amended the Anti-Drug Abuse Act and applied mandatory minimum sentences to any member of a drug trafficking conspiracy; this includes activities such as “living where drugs are sold, being present during a drug sale, or counting money” [4]. Considering not only that women are expected to contribute to the household but also that women often remain in relationships with men involved with drugs because of fear of assault, women are frequently at a heightened and unfair risk of incarceration [4]. 

Black women are almost twice as likely as white women to be incarcerated for drug-related offenses, even though drug use occurs at similar rates across racial groups [5]. In addition to these continued racial disparities in sentencing, black women were unjustly labeled “welfare queens” in the 1980s [6]. Policymakers and the media depicted black women as unfeminine cheats who gave birth to “crack babies,” wrongly blaming them for the cause of the social and economic decline of the late 20th century [6]. 

Prejudiced people and laws have impacted not only how many people get arrested, but also who gets arrested. Drug law enforcement initiatives have targeted black Americans. Often, women who are in fact victims are incarcerated on conspiracy charges, and this disproportionately impacts black women. Unfair arrest practices and sentencing create cycles of not only poverty, but also racism, and perpetuate long-standing ills of American society. To address these wrongs, we must fundamentally amend drug laws and their enforcement practices and examine our own prejudices.

References

[1] Pearl, Betsy. “Ending the War on Drugs: By the Numbers.” Center for American Progress. June 27, 2018. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice /reports/2018/06/27/452819/ending-war-drugs-numbers/.

[2] HISTORY.COM Editors. “War on Drugs.” May 31, 2017. https://www.history.com/topics/crime/the-war-on-drugs#section_6.

[3] Drug Policy Alliance. “The Drug War, Mass Incarceration and Race.” January 25, 2018. http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/drug-war-mass-incarceration-and-race-englishspanish.

[4] Mesic, Aldina. “Women and the War on Drugs.” Public Health Post. May 16, 2017. https://www.publichealthpost.org/research/women-and-the-war-on-drugs/.

[5] Drug Policy Alliance. “Women and the Drug War.” https://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/women-drug-war.

[6] Harris-Perry, Melissa. “The rest of the story: Black women and the War on Drugs.” The Undefeated. September 15, 2016. https://theundefeated.com/features/the-rest-of-story-black-women-and-the-her-story-of-the-war-on-drugs-jay-z-melissa-harris-perry-nyt/.

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Sophie Lovering is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and minoring in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies. She has a passion for criminal justice reform and is involved in Beyond Arrests: Re-Thinking Systematic Oppression.