Will Minneapolis Radically Reform Its Police Department?
The 2020 murder of George Floyd catapulted the city into the global spotlight amid Black Lives Matter uprisings, and now it might advance the national effort to reimagine public safety.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Minnesota Launches a Pro-Police Charter School
The school, headed by a local sheriff, will be opening in fall 2022 in an attempt to convince young people to become cops.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Minneapolis Police Reform Efforts Falter, But Maybe Not...
On November 2, the city voted against creating a Department of Public Safety to handle non-police issues, but there still might be hope for a change on the horizon.
View ArticleGive Preventative Justice a Chance
It is not just about reacting to past misdeeds, but also preventing future damage and victimization.
View ArticleHow the FBI and Kenosha Police Received Wisconsin’s BLM Protester List
A former FBI agent wonders why the same attention wasn’t given to rightwing violence.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Celebrating Myon Burrell’s Release From Prison
After spending half his life behind bars for a crime that he did not commit, the Minneapolis native has been free for one year. But there remains a long road ahead.
View ArticleElectronic Monitoring Is Not True Reform
All that electronic monitoring changes is the location where the incarceration is taking place.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's New Clothes, Courtesy of Vogue
The magazine depicts him as a fresh face in progressive politics. But in reality, he’s been avoiding accountability since 2017 in a city where police and gun violence are running rampant.
View ArticleAmir Locke’s Killing By Minneapolis Police Is Infuriating—But So Is the...
Black Americans have seen enough; let’s take a different approach.
View ArticleTwin Cities Protesters Are Mourning and Marching for Amir Locke
Minneapolis police shot and killed the twenty-two-year-old Black man during a botched no-knock raid. Now residents are demanding action.
View ArticleThe Life and Ongoing Impact of Assata Shakur
Assata Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, was convicted in 1977 for the murder of a state trooper during a shootout in New Jersey.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Wanted in Minneapolis—An End to Bad Policing
A month after the twenty-two-year-old was killed by Minneapolis police in under nine seconds, legislators consider ending no-knock warrants.
View ArticleThe Batman’s Privilege Problem
A departure from the Caped Crusader’s elitism, the latest adaptation of the DC comic addresses class disparities in Gotham.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Minneapolis Police vs. Teachers—A Tale of Two Contracts
The city’s police department has received significant bonuses and pay increases while, after three weeks of striking, Minneapolis teachers have gotten crumbs.
View ArticleSchools Are Better Off Without Police
It should be a national scandal that 1.7 million students attend schools that have police but no counselors.
View ArticleWhat Noir Films Taught Us About Police
Before copaganda became widely televised in shows like “Law & Order,” police were more accurately portrayed as abusers of power.
View ArticleWiping Away the Stains of Racism
Though we don’t experience the same form of lynching as our ancestors, there are still “modern-day lynchings” of unarmed victims killed by purveyors of racial terror and the police.
View ArticleGun Death Carnage Reaches New Heights
There were 45,222 U.S. gun deaths in 2020, an increase of almost 14% from the year before.
View ArticleThe Thirty-Year Anniversary of the Los Angeles Uprising
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
View ArticleEnd Police Violence Against Black Americans
We still need that level of outrage directed toward the disproportionate violence Black people experience in the United States on a regular basis.
View ArticleSaying His Name, Remembering His Life
His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice is a healing book about a truly terrible moment.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Mass Shootings Are Deaths of Despair
The nation’s top gun violence researchers believe that mass shootings, including those in Buffalo and Uvalde, should be categorized with suicides and fatal overdoses. Here’s why.
View ArticleOur Vision of School Safety Must Include Mental Health
The pro-gun crowd wants to beef up school security, but we can’t shoot our way out of this crisis.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Minneapolis City Council Member Proposes Partially...
Instead of defunding or reforming the police department, the city is considering raising private funding for an increased police presence.
View ArticleA Baltimore Neighborhood Responds to Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate Crimes with Community...
Following the burning of two Pride flags, residents of the Abell neighborhood have come together to raise funds, rebuild, and establish a police-free safety plan.
View Article‘Hardening’ School Security Is the Wrong Answer
If we are serious about keeping children safe, lawmakers should heed the dozens of school districts across the country that have begun decreasing their reliance on police in schools.
View ArticleMidwest Dispatch: Minneapolis Officials Continue to Pursue Flawed Police...
Since George Floyd’s murder in 2020, there’s been little progress in stopping police killings. As Tekle Sundberg’s family prepares to bury their son, Minneapolis officials appear bent on throwing more...
View ArticleSeeing through the Copaganda
In the land of the free, law enforcement agencies depend on mass media to win hearts and minds.
View ArticleAtlanta’s Cop City Is Fundamentally Undemocratic
Police violence against anti-Cop City protesters stands as cautionary tale about the direction the country is heading in.
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