So, what to do about it?
CUAPB, from what I understand, is in the middle of a lawsuit to get Olson to do his job and come to the table. But we know that the legal system is slow-moving, where political pressure may be far more effective. With regard to the peace movement, entire neighborhoods (via neighborhood orgs & other bodies) have come together to put pressure on our government. Would it not be fruitful for citizens to do the same with regard to police brutality? If communities can unite to stand against war thousands of miles away, should they not unite to pressure our Mpls government to end a war against its own citizens? While CUAPB has been doing a lot of excellent work, helping to mobilize even more grass-roots power behind those efforts may be the most powerful weapon of the people.
Similarly, putting pressure on the mainstream media to cover the issues thoroughly and without pro-police bias is terribly important. Alternative media is grand, but the mainstream doesn't read alternative media. This issue has not even come onto the radar of many Minneapolitans. I can't entirely condemn them for being blind, either - if I was getting my information on the issue from the Star Tribune or channel 4/5/9/11 news, as so many do, I'd have no idea what the heck was actually going on, who the key players are, or what the fuss is all about. I think we have a long way to go in terms of knocking back the rather effective campaign to cut this issue out of the mainstream consciousness.
Just some food for thought. Not being connected personally into the daily fight on this issue, I'd wonder if this might not be a great place for the organizers to share some updates on efforts & events, and make some suggestions to those who want to help out.
Roxana Orrell Central
On Thursday, March 27, 2003, at 09:27 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Message: 15 From: "V.L. Freeman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 07:24:59 -0800 Subject: [Mpls] Mediation Failures...The Struggle Continues....
Hello List!
Ah! spring is coming and the weather is becoming nicer and milder. People
are out enjoying themselves, saying hello to neighbors, after being cooped
up for the winter. Already, I have noticed a heavy police force, in and
around my community. Why, at three-thirty this morning, our block had the
opportunity to host criminal/criminals, along with the Minneapolis and
Brooklyn Park police officers, in what seemed like twenty police cars in
front of my home. Yesterday, I notice almost, two police cars to every
corner, except for those corners that had tons of activities, they were
police-less. In fact my husband was stopped and question, "just because he
felt like it" the officer said. There may have been a good reason for this
stop, but the tone was "master" routine. In fact, one officer wanted to go,
the other wanted to show his "master mentality." Yes, this is just the tip
of the iceberg, Yet, there has been no mediation attempts or meeting's.
We have leaders playing cat and mouse games with mediation attempts, for
whatever reason I don't know, nor do I understand; who are these leaders I
speak of? I'll put it to you this way, they all know who they are, and what
they each have done to blot out any mediation attempts in our city. I
thought the jobs of the so-called-leaders were to speak out for those
undeserved, poor and those who cannot not speak up for themselves? Do we
have to wait until something else happens before anything gets done?
Vanessa Freeman Hawthorne
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