Leadership magazine Sept/Oct 2015 V45 No 1 | Page 38
Encounters with police
Continued from page 28
enforcement? The implications of the above
activities and exercises are far-reaching regarding the reduction of violence and helping
stop the heartbreaking and untimely deaths
of youths that are being reported in the news.
I am sharing them with you because I believe
you can make a difference.
Additionally, I believe that carrying out
these tasks as school-sponsored assignments
will help improve the communities in which
we live, because these actions will engage
police departments and let them know we
are paying attention and are asking them to
be accountable to us.
I also believe that the police in our communities will welcome these activities. They
are a way for them to reverse the suspicion
and the bad press they have been getting
lately, and will fit in with their initiatives
to positively interact with youth and utilize
community-policing protocols.
Students should undertake these activities with an understanding of why they are
important; that what they learn has the potential to keep them out of trouble, to keep
people of color safe, and to help everyone
stay out of harm’s way in encounters they
have with the police.
It is equally significant that the information obtained about how policing is happening in your town or school district will
enhance a young person’s education about
municipal matters, and contribute to the life
skills that are critical to their success.
Students from every race, culture and
economic strata deserve our support in California; that’s why there is a concerted move
toward educational equity. However, equity
in education is not only about academics. It’s
also about supporting youth in their life circumstances. It is an imperative that schools
respond to this challenge.
Finally, I would like to share a vision –
a vision of hope, possibility and promise.
What if this work really catches on, and
becomes a model that can be taken everywhere? What would be the result of these
timely efforts to bring about the change that
is desperately needed?
I believe the result would not only be to
reduce the occurrences of violence involving
youth and people of color that have inspired
us to take action, but also that we would see
a new level of healing that would help groom
our youth to expect and live real justice and
equality. That is my vision, my hope and the
promise that I invite you all to step up to help
realize.
The future is in our hands. The young people you and I work with every day, preparing
them to be good citizens, productive adults
and genuine leaders, are the key to that future. Let’s not forget how much power we all
have to accomplish this – together. n
Aliah K. MaJon is an educational consultant
and founder of the Next 50 Years Project for
Racial Equity.
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Leadership