Local Activism and Policing

Who is actually serving and protecting?

By Jemma Keleher and Sydni Rose

Activism in organization

Most can acknowledge that racism pervades every aspect of our society, even in 2020. However, there is a notable disconnect between the number of people who acknowledge the existence of discrimination and those who are actively working against it. Systemic inequality might seem like too large of an issue for a single person to combat, but movements are started by people who believe in the power of their own actions.

“I'd always been aware of social justice, but I guess I weirdly never felt it was my place to actually organize that,” said Jae Yates, an active member of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J), a group that was founded in November of 2015 after the murder of Jamar Clark by the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). Yates explained that while they had studied sociopolitical history and attended protests before the uprisings, they had never taken steps to help organize such actions until this summer.

Although millions of people participated in protests this summer, a significantly smaller group built the framework for that social justice action. Planning protests, reaching out to speakers and emcees, and getting the word out are all integral pieces of the behind-the-scenes work that enables mass participation. 

Engaging in that framework is crucial to creating change and supporting those who have prepared for collective action. Educating oneself is an important step, but it’s also essential to acknowledge that learning isn’t enough—action must be taken. 

Olivia Crull, a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Minnesota since 2017, chose to commit to this outward effort in her first semester of college. Crull was looking for “more than just a book club” and found that in SDS. “I wanted a space where people actually thought that they could move things on campus and were committed to the long haul, trying to create a movement.” 

A summer of outrage

For those new and returning to activism, the murder of George Floyd in May sparked renewed calls to action. Yates found a renewed opportunity to fight for Black rights during the pandemic. “I think that for a lot of people, myself included, that gave us permission to reprioritize things for ourselves... I don't have to go to work. I can do things that are actually important to me, and that thing was activism.”

While Floyd’s murder was undoubtedly a catalyst in creating outrage, the push against police brutality and for Black lives had been building for years, particularly in regard to the University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD). “Before George Floyd was murdered, we had already been organizing on campus. We've been calling for UMPD to be disarmed in a campaign since 2018. We've already done so much groundwork as far as research into UMPD practices,” said Crull. 

When the media and the people were focused on Black lives more than ever this summer, SDS knew it was time to create waves. “We needed to call for immediate change, because people are ready to do something about it right now,” said Crull.

“We were just trying to keep up momentum and keep people moving... It's about being consistent even when there's not the most energy. [You need to have] people who are dedicated to doing the work when it is not the most glamorous, and when it's not the most rewarding when you're not turning out hundreds of people to marches,” said Crull. ”Obviously, the issues don't go away when the protests die down.”

And a history of abuse

Of course, police brutality isn’t isolated to Minneapolis, nor are the conversations surrounding police reform. Eric Garner of New York, Michael Brown of Missouri, Breonna Taylor of Kentucky, and now George Floyd of Minnesota—these people were senselessly killed by the police, and the list continues to grow, full of names that do not receive the same degree of recognition.

Policing in the United States has inherently racist origins as a system that developed from slave patrols and Northern “town watches.” The MPD has a history of brutality dating back to the late 1800s that can be described as racist, misogynistic, and homophobic. 

For most of the twentieth century, the MPD was closely associated with the far-right group Citizens’ Alliance, known for attacking the city’s marginalized communities and fighting labor groups. By the 1970s, the MPD would also be considered one of the most homophobic police departments in country, failing to protect queer folks from violence and allowing officers to perpetrate such crimes themselves without retribution. Over the years, the brutality didn’t disappear, but evolved. 

Efforts to reform the police have proven to be nothing more than a Band-Aid on a much deeper problem. Sparked by riots in 1966 and 1967, a “Community Relations Division” was put into place to improve the MPD’s image in communities of color by engaging in outreach programs. Later, the police department created an “Internal Affairs Unit,” and the City Council made a Civil Rights Commission to investigate police misconduct. Both groups have a reputation of not holding police accountable for their actions.

While less information is available on the origins of the UMPD than those of the MPD, the two forces have always maintained close contact. Certainly, the discrimination that plagues the MPD is felt in interactions with the UMPD as well. At a protest held by SDS in mid-October, every speaker addressed the fear they felt because of the UMPD’s armed presence on the University of MInnesota campus. 

The days since

As the topic of police brutality slipped from the media’s attention, participation also faded. It soon became clear that for many, participating in activism was more of a performance than a sustained change in lifestyle. Drawn in by the energy of protests—or afraid to be the only one staying home—fake allies left the fight as soon as silence and inaction became more convenient.

Kyla Rust, a student who took leadership beside Winston at the UMN student protests in Dinkytown, reiterated the importance of the protests, however, and said, “It was important to us who spoke, who shared, who sang, who did poetry. Even if there was not one action item that we did together in that moment other than be there, people were still heard and I think at that time, that was super important.”

Even after the protests died down, the Black Student Union (BSU) continues to see engagement from its members. Camille Winston, who does Marketing and PR for the BSU, said, “Performative activism is an issue, but I don’t think that it is an issue for the Black community.” The BSU continues to be a space for Black students to find community, academic support, opportunities to engage with the Twin Cities, and a platform to push for change on campus. The BSU raised more than $12,000 for community mutual support funds this summer and organized community clean-up events following protests, according to Samiat Ajibola, the Vice President. Ajibola also described the BSU’s partnership with academic resources such as the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence and the Office of Equity and Diversity, as well as a dedication to “creating a space for Black students to be able to succeed.”

Similarly, Alex Kincaid, a member of SDS, finds every reason to continue their momentum. “The police, who are supposed to be the people intervening when laws are broken, are the ones breaking the laws,” they said. “We need to be doing something because people in power aren't going to make change unless there's an enormous amount of public pressure on them.” 

Looking forward

Violence and discrimination perpetrated by police departments have led people all over the country to question their efficacy. Folks across the United States are demanding the abolition of police departments as systemically racist institutions. While abolition may be a progressive ideal, the process would need to be gradual in order to be effective. “It’s very difficult to go from having this system to not... you can’t just cancel it all,” Winston said. Instead of focusing solely on the abolition of police departments, many local organizations are focusing on transitional reform. Body cameras and racial bias training, the extent of many police departments’ recent “improvements,” aren’t working if the brutality continues to happen.

Part of translating a summer of activism and protests into real change meant having conversations with the University administration. “I first want to say there was no tension, Joan was very receptive to what we had to say,” said Ajibola. The review of the UMPD that Gabel initiated shows that the administration is listening to students’ fears. But, as Ajibola affirmed, “We need to be more than just heard, change needs to actually happen from being heard.” 

Crull asserted that “Joan Gabel has the power to implement our demands, whether or not she wants to admit it.” And, apparently, she might not want to. “We get a lot of emails or Zoom meetings where people are trying to run us in circles and say that it’s not under their jurisdiction to [respond to] our demands,” Crull said. By continually pushing responsibility onto other parties, the University's administration has put on a show of “listening” to student demands without taking meaningful action to meet them. 

Among SDS’s goals are the disarmament and defunding of UMPD, which had a budget of more $9.5 million in 2018. SDS also demands more community control of UMPD, joining other local organizations in pushing for the decentralization of power and authority currently held solely by police departments themselves. 

Like SDS, Yates and TCC4J see a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) as one change that would provide community control of the MPD. “The community has self determining power to have control over the police—what they do, how they operate, what their budget is, and also discipline of the police,” they said. “Rather than our current model of police investigating and disciplining themselves, which means that they never get investigated or disciplined.”

“This is different from community policing, which is more of a concept of the community being officer-friendly. Police departments try to do this whole, ‘We care about the community and we are going to have this community barbeque.’ But then it’s basically just them ingratiating themselves with certain members of the community in order to survey the community.”

When faced with tragedy this summer, Minneapolis came together to mourn the death of George Floyd and demand change in the systemically oppressive forces of the MPD and the UMPD. Student groups and local activist organizations played a key role in organizing social justice actions such as protests and mutual aid fundraisers, but millions of others across the globe played a pivotal role just by showing up. Now, even as media attention fades, the racist violence continues. We must continue to educate ourselves, show up for the community, and organize sustained action.