On Tuesday, June 23, in Los Angeles, the
decade’s long struggle for No Police in the Schools had a major
breakthrough. Los Angeles School Board member Monica Garcia
introduced the most structural and hopeful motion to make “defund
the police” a reality. Her motion, expressing gratitude to the
national Black uprising, called for cutting the $70 million budget of
the Los Angeles School Police Department - with 350 armed officers -
by 50% in 2021, 75% in 2022, and 90% in 2023 - essentially phasing
out the entire department. We think “50%, 75%, 90%” is a
model for the “Defund the Police” movement nationally.
Any movement that gets to 100% first wins. Her Civil Rights motion
did not pass but neither did any of the toxic compromises. That
“50/75/90%” motion is still the centerpiece of our
movement going forward and we have every intention of bringing it
into reality.
Outside
the LAUSD building it was the Black-led movement that was the driving
force in history. There were more than 3,000 of us encircling the
entire block. There was a great sound truck led by Black Lives Matter
Los Angeles and Students Deserve - a Black led student organization
in the LAUSD schools. The program was a celebration of rage,
creativity, rap, music, and the spoken word. Dr. Melina Abdullah,
co-chair of Black Lives Matter L.A. spoke of how all three of her
children suffered police abuse in the schools while her son’s
first incident of anti-Black police brutality was at the age of six.
She described in painful detail how every aspect of a Black child’s
life is criminalized and why the demand for No Police in the Schools
was a life and death issue for the Black community.
Niyah
Henry from Westchester High School Students Deserve brought the crowd
to their feet and me to tears when she read her poem that made it
clear that for Black students, going to a school filled with police
is not just a blow to student achievement, it makes you not want to
go to school at all.
Channing
Martinez of the Strategy Center said that from when he went to
Crenshaw High School 15 years ago to the present we have fought
against racist truancy tickets, anti-Black racial profiling, and even
tanks in the school. The only way to end the school to prison
pipeline is to get the police out of the schools altogether.
David
Turner of Brothers Son Selves roused the already fired up crowd with
his forceful oratory in the traditions of Freedom Now! No Police in
the LAUSD Schools Now! Now! Now! Every speaker and every group made
it clear. “The only motion we support is the Garcia motion for
50, 75, and 90%.”
The
machinations and gyrations inside the board room.
Inside
the board room that was under strict social distancing rules, only 50
people were allowed and many seats were filled with LASPD members who
showed their true colors. Only Ms. Garcia showed up in person while
all other board members deliberated and voted “remotely”
in all senses of the word. Community organizers including Maria
Brenes from Inner City Struggle stayed inside the board room for 14
hours from the time it opened to the final vote to offer support for
Ms. Garcia and our movement’s motion.
Anyone
who has attended the meetings of elected officials knows that the gap
between life in the streets and their life of delusion, illusion, and
self-importance is as clear as Black and white. Thankfully, Ms.
Garcia was the exception that proved the rule.
The
board entertained 3 motions on the school police. The first by Board
Member, George McKenna, proposed to do virtually nothing. For
context, when the Strategy Center was demanding that the LAUSD return
one tank, 3 grenade launchers, and 61 M-16s back to the Department of
Defense, Mr. McKenna said, “I would get a drone if I could get
one.” In spite of him, and with the courageous leadership of
Monica Garcia, the Strategy Center won that historic campaign. (See
my article “How We Got the Tanks and M-16s Out of the LA
Schools” in counterpunch.org May 20, 2016). Mr. McKenna is a
revered figure in some segments of the Black community but in our
view, does not grasp the urgency of the time. His motion did not
pass.
The
next motion was introduced by board member Jackie Goldberg, who had
served on the board many years ago but came back to be elected again
in 2017. Ms. Goldberg, once a civil and human rights movement person
has for decades been a member of the Democratic Party liberal
establishment.
Her
motion said, as I paraphrase it - The LASPD should temporarily
suspend pepper spray, K-9 dogs, but let’s set up a committee to
discuss it. I will not cut police spending but let’s study it
and maybe I will or perhaps not. So when you say, No Police in
the Schools I have a great idea. Let’s station them outside
the schools. Oh, you say they harass and attack you even worse out
there. So let’s have them wear khakis, like the British did
when they occupied India and Africa. But do not vote for Monica
Garcia’s motion. She actually wants to do something for Black
students, for Latinx students, god, she wants to cut the LASPD by 50%
then 75% then 90% As I have said many times, I believe in the LASPD
but maybe I don’t but you know…
If
her motion was deceptive and reprehensible her maneuvers at the board
meeting were even worse. Ms. Goldberg’s motion made no cuts in
the LAPD budget. But, with the Black movement and the Garcia motion
shaping the debate Ms. Goldberg realized she could not get four votes
for her motion. So, she was forced to accept amendments by board
members Nick Melvoin and Kelley Gonez to cut the LASPD budget by $20
million this fiscal year. While this was well meaning, the forces
supporting Ms. Garcia, and of course Ms. Garcia herself, would not
vote for it. For if this lesser measure passed that would end the
debate and Ms. Garcia’s more far reaching motion would not even
be voted upon. Worse, for so many young people, so many Black youth,
so angry at the system but still wanting to believe change was
possible, this would have been a devastating blow. There was no way
Ms. Garcia would vote for anything less than what they demanded. Yes,
some people asked her to consider dropping her motion. But no,
absolutely no, she stood firm as did her friends who had her back.
Ms.
Goldberg, who had not introduced any cuts, accepted the amendments on
the grounds that she had always wanted to help Black students. But
then, as thousands of us watched remotely, Ms. Goldberg, seeing she
could not get a fourth vote, dropped the proposal for a $20 million
cut altogether. She rejected the good faith efforts of Melvoin and
Gonez as fast as she had accepted them. That exposed her
protestations of deep caring about Black students as cynical and
hollow.
She
then turned on a dime and reached out to those who supported no cuts
in the police. But then she failed again to get four votes. By
contrast, as Mr. Melvoin spoke with great passion about trying to
better understand his white privilege, and proposed to cut $20
million from the LASPD budget (and eventually voted in favor of the
“50/75/90 motion”), it was with a sense of tragedy to
watch Ms. Goldberg, as a white board member, act in objective
opposition to the interests of Black students, parents, and community
members.
So,
now the pendulum finally moved to Ms. Garcia. There she was, wearing
a mask to be there in person with the people. She spoke about how the
Black movement had moved her to take the most resolute action. This
was a time to fight for what history and the community truly
deserved. Here was a Black/Latinx/human rights movement in action.
And then the vote.
Mr.
Melvoin said that Monica had said it all and voted for her motion. I
felt he should have spoken out in support of her after having seen
such cynical manipulation. Still, his vote was a critical second vote
for the motion. Ms. Gonez abstained. Obviously that was not what we
had hoped, but in the context, I took it as a sign of respect for
Monica’s leadership. While she could not vote for it, she did
not want to vote against it. All other board members voted “No!”
- so it did not pass. The final vote was 2 in favor, four against,
with one abstention. In a moving development, Frances Suavillo, a
student member of the LAUSD who had a vote that would be recorded but
would not impact the decision (classic LAUSD theory) courageously
voted for Ms. Garcia’s motion in solidarity with Black
students.
The
day before the vote, we were so happy that the United Teachers of Los
Angeles responded to the cries of the Black community and their own
students. Their public statement was bold and forceful.
“Monica Garcia’s motion to
remove 90% of school police by 2024 most closely aligns with what the
UTLA Board of Directors overwhelmingly supported - 100% elimination
of the budget for school police. Garcia’s motion should be the
motion of the day on Tuesday - and all other motions regarding public
safety and police reform should be withdrawn. We want to have more
conversations about how the money divested from policing would be
transparently re-allocated – but, it must unambiguously go
towards supporting Black students. We are encouraged by Monica
Garcia’s motion, and we urge all LAUSD school board members to
vote for it.”
And yet on the day of the vote, all four
Board members endorsed by the UTLA - George McKenna, Scott
Schmerelson, Richard Vladovic, and Jackie Goldberg - voted against
Ms. Garcia’s motion. Not only that, they voted against ANY cuts
in the LASPD budget. The profound gap between the union’s
statements and the results on the ground has to be deeply
interrogated by the UTLA leadership and membership. They must find a
way to align their statements with actual votes. We need the UTLA to
aggressively fight to get 2, 3, and 4 more votes to support the only
No Police in the Schools motion.
We
also look to School Superintendent Austin Beutner to provide
leadership to make “defund the police” the best and only
policy for the district.
The
anger, pain, and determination of the Black community, the Latinx
community, and all people of goodwill cannot be denied. There will be
other votes and our movement is on the case. Victory is closer every
day. No Police in the LAUSD Schools Now.
I
end with a poem I saw reprinted in my friend Sam Anderson’s ED
News You Can Use. It says “Anonymous Black Person” but if
anyone knows their name please give us a shout out. This endless
heartbreak of police murder is driving the national and international
Black liberation struggle and gives us the rage and strength to win
No Police in the LAUSD Schools, Now!
By:
Anonymous Black Person
We
can’t go jogging (#AmaudArbery).
We
can’t relax in the comfort of our own homes (#BothemJean and
#AtatianaJefferson).
We
can’t ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell
and #RenishaMcBride).
We
can’t have a cellphone (#StephonClark).
We
can’t leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards).
We
can’t play loud music (#JordanDavis).
We
can’t sell CD’s (#AltonSterling).
We
can’t sleep (#AiyanaJones)
We
can’t walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown).
We
can’t play cops and robbers (#TamirRice).
We
can’t go to church (#Charleston9).
We
can’t walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin).
We
can’t hold a hair brush while leaving our own bachelor party
(#SeanBell).
We
can’t party on New Years (#OscarGrant).
We
can’t get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland).
We
can’t lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile).
We
can’t break down on a public road with car problems
(#CoreyJones).
We
can’t shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford).
We
can’t have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher).
We
can’t read a book in our own car (#KeithScott).
We
can’t be a 10yr old walking with our grandfather
(#CliffordGlover).
We
can’t decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese).
We
can’t ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans).
We
can’t cash our check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).
We
can’t take out our wallet (#AmadouDiallo).
We
can’t run (#WalterScott).
We
can’t live (#FreddieGray).
We
can’t breathe (#EricGarner,George Floyd).
We’re
tired
Tired
of making hashtags.
Tired
of trying to convince you that our #BlackLivesMatter too.
Tired
of dying.
Tired.
Tired.
Tired.
So
very tired.
“We
are Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired” - FreedomFighter
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977). Live Like Her. Fight Like Her!
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