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Anti-Racism Update 5.27.26

Updated on

AR QUIZ

  • This week marks six years since what significant event in racial justice history in the U.S.?

ACTION

  • Tell Congress to support citizenship for all immigrants. Join American Friends Service Committee in this call to action urging Congress to project short-term solutions such as Temporary Protected Status and call for a longer-term solution of citizenship for all immigrants.
  • Free phone calls in the jail. Thanks to all of you who registered at the County Board or called your supervisors to urge them to vote down a exploitive contract for phone and other communication services for people residing in the Dane County Jail. The vote was very lopsided, 30 to 4, killing the contract. If you are interested in a short Instagram video summarizing the testimony look at: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYdG-SGzXPD/?igsh=ZXA0c3FvY2M1Z2Ru

    This success now brings us to the harder and more nuanced task of advocating for a good contract and finding funding for that contact. Thank you all for helping us get to the place where we can have that challenge.

EDUCATION

  • What Trump’s “Whenever Wars” Reveal About U.S. Empire. Listen to the latest podcast episode of Movement Memos. “Trump is banking on the idea that the entire U.S. population is as cynical and hateful as he is. And evidently, it’s not true,” says Khury Petersen-Smith. In this episode of Movement Memos, Kelly Hayes talks with Khury about Trump’s “whenever wars,” the spectacle of militarized violence, and the anti-war movement this moment demands. From ICE raids in U.S. cities to military violence abroad, we explore how fascism at home and empire abroad are part of the same political project, and why our resistance must be rooted in solidarity, anti-militarism, and an ever-expanding sense of who belongs to us.
  • Madison Common Council recently considered proposed changes to the Police Civilian Oversight Board. Recent findings from the Office of the Independent Monitor call into question use of force and legal basis for arrest charges against School Board Member Maia Pearson. These point to the importance locally and nationally for independent review committees separate from the police for accountability, especially when concerning rates at which Black, Indigenous and People of Color are arrested and targeted by police. Read the 2025-2026 Annual Report of the Office of the Independent Police Monitor prepared for the City of Madison for more local information. A key finding was the disparities in disorderly conduct citations for Black youth vs. White youth: When juveniles are charged with disorderly conduct as their sole offense, Black juveniles receive citations (i.e., are arrested for violation of City Ordinance 24.02) at 5.89 times the rate of white juveniles. The data suggests Black juveniles are being ticketed at a lower threshold; stops and interactions that would not result in a citation for a white juvenile are producing one for a Black juvenile.

AR QUIZ ANSWER

  • The killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, sparked days of global protests in outcry to police brutality against Black people. George Perry Floyd Jr. was a 46-year-old father of five and grandfather of two who worked as a truck driver and security guard. He had played college football and basketball, was a hip-hop artist, and was known to family and friends as a “Gentle Giant.” Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter, and the other three former police officers were convicted of federal civil rights violations. https://www.mprnews.org/crime-law-and-justice/killing-of-george-floyd


YOUR PEACE, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EARTH CONCERNS COMMITTEE; ANTI RACISM GROUP

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