He cited a 2021 Washington Post Police Violence survey noting that 1200 lives were lost that year. A historic year for violence, which led to the question,“ Are we getting better or worse, and how do we measure it? What metrics determine our social condition?” This notion was originally raised by Dr. King; but as Shaun King noted, unfortunately he did not live to see the outcome of his hypothesis. He cited James Forman, Jr.’ s Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America, as a work of reference.
King made a point in stating that many people are caught in a variety of behaviors that incarcerate ourselves, including poverty, substance abuse and factors leading to homelessness. The key geographic area that King currently studies is Philadelphia. Last year, he noted, saw the highest rate of incarceration in the city. The impact is that families are being torn apart, and children’ s lives are being destroyed. By explanation, we default back to tired tropes that don’ t solve our problems, he added.
Technology is, of course, an ever-present tool. How effectively are we using such tools? Technology can be used for good or evil, policy change or to drive antagonists to their most base levels.
A skilled prodigy of technology himself, King noted that algorithms hinge on fear. Social media is a tool to entertain, inform, mobilize, but it won’ t be effective on its own merits. People are certainly accessible on social media, but our enemies are on social media, too: winning, wooing, and swaying their followers, he observed. Often, what we are asking is way too simple while our opponents are finding issues to mobilize their followers.
King said that his next big Philadelphia project will be what it means to address gun violence. Almost 95 % of gun violence victims are young Black men.
President Carlisle then moderated a discussion that included Crystal Crawford, Executive Director of the Western Center on Law and Poverty; John C. Yang, President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Shakari Byerly, Managing Partner, EVITARUS Public Opinion Research; Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund( MALDEF).
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The panelists responded to a variety of questions related to Shaun King’ s presentation. Each panelist’ s view of the issues affecting their constituencies was enlightening.
Crawford noted the importance of education in the fight for racial justice and policy advocacy. To the question of whether Asian Americans are the target of voter suppression, Yang responded yes, definitely. Proof of citizenship is a nagging issue. In some communities, 90 % of the Asian population are immigrants, or children of immigrants. Budget reductions lead to more limited ballot access, and reduced availability to receive information about voting changes in places like Georgia.
Regarding public voting access, Byerly stated that 85 % of the population is unsure and lacks knowledge about redistricting and other critically important issues at stake. Saenz discussed redistricting in the Latino community. A key issue is to determine how to create majority Latino districts in the face of racially polarized voting. To the establishment, Latino population growth is viewed as a threat and uses redistricting to dismantle Latino political power. But it also serves as an opportunity to elect new Latino legislators.
King asked which level of government impacts the legal system the most? The local district attorney has the greatest impact on who is charged and what they are charged with, including 90 % of the people incarcerated in the United States.
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The importance of education in the fight for racial justice and policy advocacy
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