by Ron Daniels
Veteran activist Ron Daniels warns that New York City’s “Black community is a tinderbox ready to explode” in the wake of the police killing of unarmed Sean Bell. Daniels urges continued efforts to disrupt holiday shopping and other “business as usual,” to force an end to “paramilitary policing.”
Shopping For Justice in NYC
End Paramilitary Policing
by Ron Daniels
“There has not been this much anger, frustration and community mobilization in this city since the slaughter of Amadou Diallo.”
The protest march down Fifth Avenue December 16th spearheaded by a broad based coalition of civil rights, labor, religious and community organizations and leaders was the most massive of a series of rallies, marches and demonstrations capturing the outrage over the police killing of Sean Bell and the wounding of Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. Rev. Al Sharpton, Harry Belafonte, NAACP President Bruce Gordon, Rev. Calvin O. Butts, Minister Kevin Muhammad, Bob Law, Congressman Charles Rangel, Council Members Letetia James, Robert Jackson, Al Vann, Assemblyman Denny
Farrell and Transit Union President Roger Toussaint were among the leaders I recognized among the thousands from all walks of life who participated in the “Shopping for Justice” March. The December 12th Movement which held a large rally at Foley Square December 6th has also scheduled a Day of Outrage to “shut down Wall Street” December 21. The concept of the boycott or economic sanctions to strike at the retail business establishment during the heart of the holiday season has emerged as a common tactical theme in many of the protest actions.
Amidst this flurry of protest activity, much of which has been disjointed/disconnected, we have also witnessed the inevitable posturing, profiling, positioning and jockeying for primacy in the spotlight among various organizations and leaders. That notwithstanding, there has not been this much anger, frustration and community mobilization in this city since the slaughter of Amadou Diallo. Unfortunately, what the police killing of Sean Bell graphically illustrates is that fundamentally nothing has changed in terms of policing policy and strategy in Black and Latino communities despite all the marches and demonstrations around police brutality in recent years. In fact, the December 12th Movement had already scheduled the Foley Square march and rally prior to the death of Sean Bell precisely because of rising incidents of police harassment, misconduct and brutality in Black neighborhoods.
It is for this reason that Councilman Charles Barron has already warned, that the Black community is a tinderbox ready to explode unless there is measurable and meaningful change in this city as it relates to police community relations. In that regard, the current series of marches, demonstrations, meetings, the posturing and profiling will be for naught unless we keep our eyes on the prize. There must be justice in the case of the police killing of Sean Bell and a radical change in policing policy in our communities. Anything else will simply be “sound and fury signifying nothing.”
“The Black community is a tinderbox ready to explode.”
In addition to my intense interest in the issue as a veteran social and political activist, during my tenure as Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights the plague of police brutality and misconduct locally and nationally was one of my highest priorities. Indeed, it was the lawsuit filed by CCR against the infamous Streets Crime Unit (officials from this unit killed Amadou Diallo) that led to it being disbanded. Over a span of five years, we convened a National Emergency Conference on Police Brutality and Misconduct; persuaded Congressman John Conyers to hold a Special Congressional Hearing at Medgar Evers College; mobilized a National Emergency March Against Police Brutality in Washington D.C. in response to the death of Amadou Diallo that Justice Department officials indicate caught their attention; participated in President Clinton’s National Roundtable on Police Community Relations; and, attended numerous meetings with Attorney General Janet Reno and Department of Justice staff to discuss policing strategies and police issues of police misconduct. So, I am no stranger to the issue.
It is for this reason that I feel very strongly that there must be a focused and sustained initiative to see to it that the passions of the moment translate into justice in the case of Sean Bell and ultimately a change in policing policy. Without such an outcome, after the speeches, marches, press conferences, interviews and meetings have subsided, once again, we will have failed in the longstanding effort to stop police brutality and misconduct in our community. We must keep our eyes on the prize.
In that regard, there are a series of demands which taken together could lead to justice and meaningful change. In the case of Sean Bell, there must be the appointment of a Special Prosecutor if the community is to have any faith that justice will be done. Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer’s cavalier rejection of the idea, after appeals from community leaders and Sean Bell’s father, is unacceptable. It smacks of “business as usual” to simply say that Queens County District Attorney Richard Brown is capable of handling the case. This is not business as usual, nor is it personal. While Mr. Brown might well be an able DA, because of the cozy relationship between the prosecutor’s office and the police, the community is understandably skeptical that the fox can watch the henhouse. Since Lieutenant Governor-elect David Paterson campaigned on the promise that he would be more than a figurehead, perhaps he can convince Mr. Spitzer to have a change of heart. We must keep the pressure on for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor.
It is important to note, however, that the killing of Sean Bell is symptomatic of a much broader problem – the strategy, manner and method of policing in New York. Though there may be a change in “tone” with the present Mayor and Police Chief, by and large, it appears that much of the Giuliani model of policing with its emphasis on zero tolerance, quality of life enforcement tactics and “aggressive policing” utilizing special units and para-military styled units, is still the order of the day. Again I call our attention to the fact that the December 12th Movement had already planned a mass rally to protest the increase in police harassment and brutality in the Black community before the death of Sean Bell. The Street Crimes Unit may have been disbanded, but the NYPD brass have simply created similar units that function in the same manner – special units disconnected from any particular precinct or community that “rove the night” in unmarked cars, with plainclothes agents who an already suspicious community could mistake for the very criminals these units seek to detain. The Giuliani model of policing will always be a prescription for disaster in our communities.
“The aggressive policing strategy with its para-military paradigm must be scrapped.”
It is in this light that the call for the resignation of Police Chief Kelly is legitimate. It is not just the reckless killing of Sean Bell, but the failure to change policies and strategies that have proven to be disastrous in the past that Kelly must be held accountable for. Moreover, despite the change in tone and improvement in relations with the Black community that has been touted, in the case of Timothy Stansbury, for months Kelly has refused to act on a report that found that officer Neri, who fired the fatal shots, used his gun inappropriately. We need a Police Chief who will fundamentally change policing policy and strategy and be accountable to the community. The aggressive policing strategy with its para-military paradigm must be scrapped.
The call for hearings in communities across the city to listen to testimonies from residents about the conduct of the police, issues of concern and recommendations on strategies and methods of policing is not only valid but essential. Changes in policy should be informed by the concerns, interests and recommendations of the community as well as by experts in the field who can provide data on alternative models of policing that are working in other cities and countries. City Council should decisively act by taking the lead to schedule these hearings. Simultaneously, City Council should conduct a full review of current policing policy, strategy and methods. In addition, an appeal should be made to Congressman John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to conduct a federal hearing in New York to illuminate the crisis here and examine its implication for federal legislation on police reform and accountability.
Finally, and, of no small significance, it is crucial that the concept of the boycott or economic sanctions be kept alive not only to press for changes in policing policies and practices, but to compel public officials and the business establishment to address one of the main causes of crime in Black and Latino communities, the alarming 50% unemployment rate for Black men (40% for Latino men) and the growing gap between the have and the have nots in this city. What does it mean when Wall Street brokerage houses and financial interests can dish out Christmas “bonuses” in the millions to its employees while untold hundreds of thousands of young Black and Latino men are languishing in unemployment, many of whom have simply given up hope of ever securing gainful employment in the “legitimate” economy?
Various leaders were absolutely correct to call on our community and people of goodwill to disrupt holiday shopping and boycott X-Mas in order that the retail establishment and corporate business elite feel and respond to our pain. In my view, the highly successful Shopping for Justice March and the Day of Outrage on Wall Street should mark the beginning of a sustained “season of sanctions” directed at specific establishments. The goal should be to scrutinize their hiring practices as it relates to Blacks and to enlist the support of business leaders in lobbying public officials to adopt the demands for justice in the Sean Bell case and recommendations for policy change formulated by organizations and leaders from the community.
“A season of sustained sanctions is needed as an educational tool to get Black people back in the mood, attitude and habit of translating anger into effective action.”
I will never forget the impact of a curfew imposed by the Mayor of the City of Youngstown, Ohio when the rebellion erupted after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968. Even though the Mayor was reluctant to lift the curfew, he grudgingly yielded to pressure from the business community because of the losses they were suffering due to the dramatic decline in patronage. In a choice between public safety and profits, the Mayor threw caution to the wind to appease the business community. Of course this lesson is not a new revelation. But occasionally it’s useful to remind ourselves that Black dollars can and must be used as an effective weapon in the Black Freedom Struggle!
In this spirit, I could envision rolling targets, e.g., Macy’s, Bloomingdales, where Black consumers and our allies would abstain from shopping for a specific number of days or weeks. Regional malls or shopping centers frequented by our people could also be targeted for “Black outs,” days when Black patrons would refuse to shop at a particular mall or shopping center. A season of sustained sanctions is also needed as an educational tool to get Black people back in the mood, attitude and habit of translating anger into effective action. Unfortunately, in the face of adversity, disrespect and indignities, far too many of our people have succumbed to apathy or bought the bogus notion that marches, demonstrations, protests and resistance are passe. This is wrongheaded thinking and we are suffering the consequences of it in this city and across the nation. If the Sean Bell police killing teaches us anything, it is that we need to get in shape to fight again, not just for a day but a season! The idea of “protracted struggle” must be revived in our vocabulary and take on new life in our movement.
In conclusion, keeping our eye on and winning the prize also means we must have a transparent implementation strategy with a team of people assigned to engage in negotiations with public and private sector institutions and their leaders around an agreed upon agenda with demands for justice for Sean Bell and a change in policing policy. Ideally such a team would grow out of deliberations with the various organizations, coalitions, networks and leaders that have been spearheading the protests. There should be an identifiable group/body of people entrusted with the responsibility of negotiating on behalf of the community, a body that periodically reports back to the community via the collective constituencies of the advocacy organizations and concerned parties and gets its approval/sign-off on any proposals that are on the table. The process for achieving victory must include the demands for justice and policy change as well as an implementation strategy. Otherwise the movement will lose momentum, nothing will be done, the community will be frustrated again and, we may face “the fire next time.”
Dr. Ron Daniels, is President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century [www.ibw21.org ]. He can be contacted at info@ibw21.org or 718-429-1415.
“...white paranoia is here to stay/The white boy's scheming night and day/What you think about the King Alfred Plan?”
“Ethiopia just changed the continent of Africa forever.” - African development economist and electricity activist
"Department of War: What’s new is so old" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
Turning the Caribbean into a US bombing range requires local collaborators. Neocolonial governments have volunteered to play this role, betraying their people's right to peace and sovereignty.
The Africa Climate Summit is a greenwashing front for a new wave of colonialism. Under the guise of "nature-based solutions," corporations like the Gates Foundation are pushing schemes that will turn…
