Fam,
What makes you feel loved?
Could it be a vision for the future that shows you thriving? Could it be a story about what is possible if we stay true to our shared political compass? Could it even be a piece of legislation?
As we wrap up Black Futures Month, with our focus on Black love in the present and the abundance of Black love we anticipate in the future, we want to shine a light on one of the pieces of our work that is, in its truest form, an act of love: The BREATHE Act. The BREATHE Act of love.
Built on decades of diligence and visionary thought leadership from Black people across generations, this bill is an ode to a possible future. It is also the map. It is evidence that today’s movements for Black liberation have the organizing and communications expertise to demand change on the streets and the will, rigor, and analysis to provide details of how we want that done.
M4BL has a mandate from the people to protect and defend Black Lives. Yet, to date, a piece of legislation has yet to offer solutions that truly answer that mandate. The BREATHE Act does that; it is a comprehensive legislative response to calls for a new vision for public safety, one that invests in people and divests from the systems that are killing us.
We are lifting it back up during this Black Futures Month to fix our eyes and hearts firmly on our shared vision of safety, collective power, and true abundance for all Black people.
We have seen decades of ineffective piecemeal reforms, like chokehold bans and body cameras, that ultimately invest more money into the carceral state. We know that the police state remains outdated and dangerous. This country’s overreliance on brutal, discriminatory policing is not keeping the peace. It is not helping our neighborhoods and our streets to be peaceful.
We know more than we think about what creates safety in communities. In the neighborhoods with the least violence, there is quality education and jobs, low poverty rates, and high levels of community engagement. There isn’t an abundance of militarized police, surveillance tools, and people kidnapped from their families and caged.
This work is urgent right now but also involves a deliberate, thoughtful process to understand our community’s needs and concerns so that we can reinvest in a shared vision of community safety.
This vision is our love letter to you, to us, and to our future.
Here’s some of what’s in it:
The BREATHE Act shrinks police power and shifts our model of safety to one that requires the trust, investment, and expertise of local communities. The bill relies on alternatives that keep people safe:
- Our vision calls for schools full of trained counselors and restorative-justice programs where all our children are taught nonviolent strategies to solve problems.
- Our vision calls for trained counselors who can be called on for support when someone is experiencing violence in their home.
- Our vision calls for neighborhoods with community centers where people can be directed to safe housing, mental healthcare, and employment training.
Since it was unveiled, the BREATHE Act has served as a framework to inspire legislation across the country, locally and federally, bringing us a little closer to the vision for safety our people are demanding. Learn more about it here. Then talk to your people, share it with your family and friends, and call your legislators. Tell them what brilliant abundance and abiding safety you want to see for all Black people in the future.
Join us; we are making our future today.
In solidarity,
Movement for Black Lives
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