Please join us for a Courageous Conversation via Zoom after the Derek Chauvin verdict is returned. We know that the killing of George Floyd and others were traumatic events for many in our community. Regardless of the outcome of the verdict, we want to provide a space to talk about the trial, the verdict, reactions and efforts to prevent these things from happening in the future.
This is a partnership with GRCC’s CAP 3.2 and Western Michigan Cooley Law School and leading the conversation will be:
Raynard Ross is currently Associate Dean of Student Success & Retention at GRCC and also had a 10 year career in law enforcement. Although no longer working as a police officer, he is active in improving local police and community relations. He's been past chair of the Police Civilian Appeals Board, co-chair of the GRPD 21st Century Task Force on Policies & Procedures, and currently is a member of GRPD Chief's Advisory Council.
Tonya Krause-Phelan is both a trial attorney and professor at Cooley. Before joining the faculty at Cooley, Professor Krause-Phelan practiced criminal law for nearly 17 years, handling appointed and retained cases in both state and federal court. A frequent legal commentator Professor Krause-Phelan’s recent appearances in the media have focused on police reform, systemic racism in the criminal justice system, criminal charges stemming from George’s Floyd’s death, and the need for legal reform regarding nighttime and no-knock warrants in the context of Breonna Taylor’s death.
The event will take place at Noon within 24 to 36 hours after the verdict is announced. Stay tuned for the date and Zoom Link.
What does it mean to resist? Throughout our nation's history, discrimination and unjust treatment of all kinds have prompted people to make their objections and outrage known. Some protests involve large groups of people, marching or holding signs with powerful slogans. Others start with quotes or hashtags on social media that go viral and spur changes in behavior. People can make their voices heard in hundreds of different ways
What is the reality of policing in the United States? Do the police keep anyone safe and secure other than the very wealthy? How do recent police killings of young black people in the United States fit into the historical and global context of anti-blackness? This collection of reports and essays explores police violence against black, brown, indigenous and other marginalized communities, miscarriages of justice, and failures of token accountability and reform measures.
The breadth and impact of Black Lives Matter in the United States has been extraordinary. Between 2012 and 2016, thousands of people marched, rallied, held vigils, and engaged in direct actions to protest and draw attention to state and vigilante violence against Black people. What began as outrage over the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin and the exoneration of his killer, and accelerated during the Ferguson uprising of 2014, has evolved into a resurgent Black Freedom Movement, which includes a network of more than fifty organizations working together under the rubric of the Movement for Black Lives coalition.
A City Divided tells the story of the case involving 18-year-old Jordan Miles and three Pittsburgh police officers. David Harris, a resident of Pittsburgh and the Sally Ann Semenko Chair at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, describes what happened, explaining how a case that began with a young black man walking around the block in his own neighborhood turned Pittsburgh inside out, resulted in two investigations of the police officers and two federal trials.
How political protests and activism have a direct influence on voter and candidate behavior The "silent majority"--a phrase coined by Richard Nixon in 1969 in response to Vietnam War protests and later used by Donald Trump as a campaign slogan--refers to the supposed wedge that exists between protestors in the street and the voters at home. The Loud Minority upends this view by demonstrating that voters are in fact directly informed and influenced by protest activism.
Spanning continents and centuries, this book presents a major new chronological look at protest graphics. Beginning in the Reformation, when printed visual matter was first produced in multiples, This book follows the iconic images that have accompanied movements and events around the world.