The tension may have seemed like it impeded progress, but it created a sense of urgency.
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First of all, to the attendees of Philly After Ferguson, thank you.
Some of you who were present for the nearly two-hour open discussion caught the bus, while others drove, a couple of you biked and a few car-pooled.
But no matter your mode of transportation, you thought it not robbery to sacrifice your time to see how you could contribute to improving policing, political participation and public perception of the black community, black men and boys in particular.
Did we execute the participation action research model as I planned? No. But, was a space created to allow you to engage in open discussion on the issues you care about? Indeed, it was.
Was Philly After Ferguson a success in my opinion? Yes, and here’s why.
For starters, many who came in support of the family of Brandon Tate-Brown felt as if the story of the 26 year-old that was shot in the back of the head by a Philadelphia police officer during a traffic stop of December 15th, 2014, should be more prominent in local media. The day after the event, every major Philadelphia publication was talking about Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown, including front page placement on the Philadelphia Daily News, which highlighted the “Fireworks at the Philly After Ferguson Forum.”
Beyond media reach and the fact that #PhillyAfterFerguson was trending locally on Twitter, many people learned new things, was forced to rethink their practices and made connections.
After the event, Mr. Mike Days, Editor, Philadelphia Daily News, admitted to me that he always just took the word of police that videos couldn’t be released. However, now he will be inquiring more about the policy, and particularly when the video of Mr. Tate-Brown’s death will be released.
Like many, Mr. Days believes the policy should be reformed in a meaningful way, and luckily he’s in a position to make his opinion very public.
Mr. Greg Brinkley, one half of the private investigating team looking into the death of Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown, was thrilled to hear not only that Mr. Thomas Nestel, Chief, Transit Police, agreed with him about putting more accountability on captains, but that the Philadelphia Police Department is actively reforming how they reach out to, and communicate with, families who have lost loved ones at the hands of police violence.
And a good portion of you told me that you never really understood the arbitration process until Mr. Nestel expressed his frustration for how bad cops get their jobs back after being fired.
Also, though the most of the media coverage made it seems as if conversation was minimal, we should all remember that the lights had the literally be turned off before the majority of us were ready to stop talking and leave.
Am I going to ignore the “anger” that prevented us from reaching the intended outcomes? No, I’m going to address that now. For starters, I don’t think it was anger as much as it was humanity. Humans have emotions, and when suppressed, oppressed and silenced – as both you, the public, routinely are and officers of the law are, too – when given a chance to finally unload, it can go KABOOM!
But, in reality and truth, I appreciate the emotion and the tension, because you can’t have transformation without cultural tension.
The frequent asking of “where’s the video?” may seem like it impeded progress, but it actually created a sense of urgency among us all, particularly within the ranks of police officials and media makers.
So, my asks to those who attended Philly After Ferguson is this: don’t let what was perceived as anger prevent us from coming back to the table – and it may not need to be all of us, or in that exact format. But we do need to stay connected and concerned about the direction of our city.
Because whether that was printed or not, we all showed up because we care and are concerned about some aspect of our society – that’s a great starting point.
In closing, I also want to acknowledge that there were some of you who attended that just didn’t get to speak at all, and others who didn’t have enough time to fully articulate your point. To that end, I want to open up Techbook Online’s worldwide media network to you, my neighbors, friends and colleagues, to attempt to answer the question of “how can Philadelphians improve policing, political participation and public perception of the black community, black men and boys in particular?”
Your post-ready essay should be a minimum of 400 words and will be published on www.PhillyinFocus.com and included in our quarterly publication, TABS!™
When I say “together we can write an end to the world’s toughest problems,” its more than my corporate mantra, it’s my heartfelt belief.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™