Take action by SIGNING ONTO the BREATHE Act right now.
[ [link removed] ]Take Action Now
[ [link removed] ]SIGN NOW
Dear Friend,
We are two months into a new year, about three weeks into a new
administration, an economic recession, and over a year into what has
become one of the most devastating global pandemics of our lifetime. What
the past year has shown us is our infrastructures (or lack thereof) in the
worst of ways perpetuates inequalities against BIPOC communities (Black,
Indigenous, People of Color) and people living in low-income areas in
every category. This past year has also exposed the harsh realities of
another public health crisis that Black, brown, and low income communities
have been grappling with for generations, rampant over policing, and
police violence that too often goes without recourse.
[ [link removed] ]It’s time to reimagine safety! Tell your legislator to support the
BREATHE Act Now!
According to an investigation conducted by NPR and Mapping Police
Violence, since 2015, police officers have fatally shot at least 135
unarmed Black men and women nationwide. Many of the officers exhibited a
pattern, specifically for some 2-5 shootings, often deadly and with no
accountability. At least 75% of the officers were white and there were
only 18 days in 2020 where police did not kill someone. EIGHTEEN DAYS! Let
that sink in.
Why do officers get a pass when they kill unarmed people? Who holds the
police accountable, when they harm communities. These questions are
haunting, but force us to reimagine what it means to keep communities, ALL
communities safe.
[ [link removed] ]THE BREATHE ACT WAS OUR ANSWER IN 2020 AND STILL IS in 2021: SIGN ON
WITH US.
MomsRising stands with the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over
150 Black-led organizations that have come together to move the [ [link removed] ]BREATHE
Act [1] forward in 2021. This visionary bill divests our taxpayer dollars
from mass incarceration and discriminatory policing and invests in a new
vision of public safety—[ [link removed] ]a vision that answers the call to defund the
police and allows all communities to finally BREATHE free.
Our list of demands to end the reign of police terror among people of
color in this country remain the same.
We demand:
* An end to the criminalization, incarceration, and killing of Black
people and people of color -- not just individual accountability of
officers after a murder, but entire police departments.
* Instead imagine: 911 operators dispatching unarmed mental-health
experts instead of police in situations involving behavioral
health crises, and callers being allowed to request responders
that connect to the gender identity of the person in crisis.
* Divestment from the police and investment in our communities. This
means, we are counting on our elected officials across the country to
divest away from policing in local budgets and reallocate those
resources into healthcare, housing, and education.
* Instead imagine: Easy access to trained, trauma-informed
interventionists who can be called on in domestic-violence
situations and who are equipped to facilitate long-term safety,
healing, and prevention.
* Police-free schools across the country and an end to the use of police
officers in public universities.
* Instead imagine: Schools free of police and full of trained
counselors and restorative-justice programs, where all our
children are kept safe and their needs are met. Additionally,
easy access to trained, trauma-informed interventionists who can
be called on in domestic-violence situations and who are equipped
to facilitate long-term safety, healing, and prevention.
Placing police officers in public schools and our communities doesn’t make
them any safer. Oftentimes, as we’ve seen in the cases mentioned above and
those not named who fell victim to state police department violent and
terroristic practices, when police officers abuse their authority in our
communities, we are left to feel vulnerable, unsafe, and/or deceased.
[ [link removed] ]Take action: Sign on and support the BREATHE Act!
All of us at MomsRising believe in the BREATHE Act. It is designed to
ensure our political leaders invest in our communities through education,
housing, healthcare, mental health services, and continued immediate
COVID-19 relief for our communities. This includes the provision of direct
cash payments, rent and mortgage cancellation, and cancellation of student
and/or medical loans, and other forms of debt and addressing the needs of
the people living in low-income communities including but not limited to:
youth, elders, immigrants, healthcare workers and other essential workers,
people living without shelter, public housing residents, people with
disabilities, LGBTQ+ and gender nonconforming people, women, informal
economy workers (including street vendors, sex workers, canners and
others), and the many Americans who have or may become newly unemployed or
homeless as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic period.
When our communities needed medical assistance, we were sent police
officers. When we needed resources for food, we were sent police officers.
When people could no longer afford to pay rent, they were policed instead.
Our communities need easily accessible resources and services, not
over-policing during a health pandemic. [ [link removed] ]We need YOU to sign onto the
BREATHE Act right now.
Here’s what our letter reads:
Dear member of Congress,
We have already imagined what liberated, well-funded, safe, and protected
Black and Brown communities look like. Now, it’s time that we take action.
COVID-19 exposed our infrastructures (or lack thereof) in the worst of
ways. When our communities needed medical assistance, we were sent police
officers. When we needed resources for food, we were sent police officers.
When people could no longer afford to pay rent, they were policed instead.
Our communities need easily accessible resources and services, not
over-policing during a health pandemic.
The BREATHE Act will ensure that our political leaders invests in our
communities through education, housing, healthcare, mental health
services, and address the needs of the people living in low-income
communities including but not limited to: youth, elders, immigrants,
healthcare workers and other essential workers, people living without
shelter, public housing residents, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ and
gender nonconforming people, women, informal economy workers, and the many
Americans who have or may become newly unemployed or homeless as a result
of the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Too many Black lives have been lost and finally, we have a federal bill
that reflects OUR beliefs, OUR needs, and the future we want to see for
OUR communities. We are proud to partner with the Movement for Black Lives
to amplify and support the BREATHE Act. We need you to fully support this
historic legislation by signing on with us and passing the BREATHE Act!
Finally, we have a federal bill that reflects OUR beliefs, OUR needs, and
the future we want to see for OUR communities. We are proud to partner
with the Movement for Black Lives to amplify and support the BREATHE Act.
[ [link removed] ]This isn’t just for some of us, this is for all of us -- sign on and
support right now.
With gratitude,
- Diarra, Monifa, Beatriz, Kristin, and the whole
MomsRising.org/MamásConPoder Team
References:
[1] "[ [link removed] ]Fatal Police Shootings Of Unarmed Black People Reveal Troubling
Patterns"
[2] "[ [link removed] ]990 people have been shot and killed by police in the past year"
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