Miami Worker Center leader, Marcia Olivo, took place in this solidarity Civil Disobedience
BLACK LIVES MATTER
We Stand with Ferguson
Curriculum Guide
Created by the National Domestic Workers Alliance
with collaboration from ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community
Empowerment), 8/20/14
We drew on many resources in the creation of this curriculum. We’ve included
the resource list with links in Appendix D.
Mujeres Unidas y Activas members showing solidarity for Ferguson
Black Lives Matter
Domestic Workers Stand with Ferguson
Curriculum Guide
Goals:
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●
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Address the immediate moment of the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO
Deepen understanding of and commitment to fighting anti-black racism in the US
Deepen understanding of connection around racism, gender justice, and immigrant experience
Move individuals and organizations to action
Time: 90 minutes
Preparation:
 Facilitator should read the resources on how to handle common challenging remarks.
 Research if there are local actions planned in your community.
Materials:
● projector & speakers for video and powerpoint
● handouts for small groups
● copies of the NDWA statement for all participants
I. WHAT HAS HAPPENED (15 min)
1. Ask participants - What have you heard about the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson,
MO and the subsequent protests?
2. After getting several comments, lay out what has happened
● On Saturday August 9th a Ferguson MO police officer shoots 18-year Michael Brown
multiple times despite Brown being unarmed and holding his hands up in surrender. His
body was left in the street for hours following the fatal shooting.
● Immediately, community members began to respond by taking to the streets starting that
day and every day since then. Protests have also taken place around the country.
● Various confrontations have taken place between protesters and police. Police are
responding with excessive force (tear gas, rubber bullets, physical aggression, threats, and
heavy military equipment), Journalists have also been abused and arrested, raising national
attention about the behavior of the Ferguson police force.
● The police imposed a curfew on the community
● The police did not release the name of the officer responsible for the shooting for nearly a
week, and simultaneously began a smear campaign on Michael Brown’s character. This is
a common strategy of blaming the victim that occurs in almost every case of police killing
of people of color.
● Various conflicting eye witness accounts have come out, some indicating that Brown was
surrendering, others indicating that he was running toward the cop, all agree that he was
unarmed.
● Attorney General Eric Holder has opened a civil rights investigation and grand jury is being
prepared to hear evidence to determine if there is reason to bring charges against Darren
Wilson –the officer who shot and killed Michael Brown.
● A second black man was killed by police just 3 miles south of Ferguson on August 17
● Protests continue...
A more detailed account of events is included as Appendix A.
II. THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT, IT’S A PATTERN OF OPPRESSION- Use powerpoint (20 min)
1. Pair & Share reflections (10 min): This is not an isolated incident. How does this situation relate to
other situations you know about or have experienced? You can consider racism, militarization of
law enforcement, criminalization, and repression of protest.
Take some responses from the room
2. Racism - Presentation with powerpoint (10 min)
a. the slides go through internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and structural racism, with
examples of each.
b. Each time you share an example, ask the participants for other examples
III. BLACK LIVES MATTER- Why is it so important for all of us to talk about and take action against antiblack racism? (40 min)
You can either select one of the following 3 passages that relates strongly to your participants, or divide
into 3 small groups, giving each group a different passage.
For the small group exercise, plan on giving the groups 25 minutes to read together and discuss, and have
15 minutes for sharing and large group discussion.
In your small groups, read the passage and discuss using the discussion questions (20 min).
Plan to share some of the important things you discuss in a 3 minute reportback to the large group.
Interconnection with Latinos
Pew Research Center, conducted a national survey Aug. 14-17 among 1,000 adults about their attitudes
towards the crisis in Ferguson. One of the questions was,
“Did you follow the police shooting of an African American teen and protests in Ferguson, Missouri very
closely, fairly closely, not too closely or not at all closely?”
54 percent of blacks said they followed the story closely; 25 percent of whites answered that they did as
well. But here’s what might surprise you: only 18 percent of Latinos said they closely followed what’s
happening in Ferguson. That’s less than one in five.”
********
The citizenship we envision for ourselves is not the limited form of citizenship that black people still
experience today. Black citizens — whose very right to vote remains contested — may not be slated for
deportation, but they are disproportionately targeted for stop-and-frisk, for jail and prison, for violence, and
for death. Whenever non-black Latinos claim or even aspire to citizenship without also advocating for the
recognition of the full humanity (and full citizenship) of black people, then we are allowing white supremacy
to operate unchallenged.
We need to remember that, as powerful as it is to identify as people of color, black people face a
unique set of oppressions that non-black people also perpetuate. And we need to recognize that, as non-black
Latinos, our silence does, at times, protect us…. that silence is nothing more than collusion with white
supremacy. We need to talk about anti-blackness in our communities…. It is impossible to assert that we
stand against white supremacy while we allow it to inform our anti-blackness. It is impossible to be allies to
black people if we are unwilling to carry a conversation about our biases, and begin to lay claim to our faults.
We know racism and discrimination because we endure it — but that doesn’t mean we lack the
power to be oppressive.
- Aura Bogado is the news editor for Colorlines, where she writes about racial justice, Native rights,
and immigration.
Discussion questions:
● What do you make of the statistic about who has been following the news about the shooting and
protests in Ferguson? How is it related to internalized, interpersonal, institutional or structural
racism?
● In the quote, Aura Bogado calls on non-black Latinos to explore anti-black biases and ways that nonblack latinos can be oppressive to black people. What anti-black biases do you notice? What does it
look like to fight racism, including specifically anti-black racism? What changes or action need to be
taken?
● In the quote, Aura Bogado talks about a “limited form of citizenship” for African Americans in the
United States. What are some of the ways that “limited form of citizenship” that we see? How can
we fight for citizenship in a way that will expand the human and democratic rights for all oppressed
people?
In your small groups, read the passage and discuss using the discussion questions (20 min).
Plan to share some of the important things you discuss in a 3 minute reportback to the large group.
Interconnection with women and reproductive rights
If possible, watch this video clip of Michael Brown’s mother https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6rwJLoR_k (through 4:20)
Until the killing of black men - black mother’s sons - is as important as the killing of white men white mother’s son’s, we who believe in freedom cannot rest.
Sweet Honey in the Rock, Ella’s Song
Excerpt from letter from Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, to Michael Brown’s family:
To The Brown Family,
I wish I had a word of automatic comfort but I don’t. I wish I could say that it will be alright on a
certain or specific day but I can’t. I wish that all of the pain that I have endured could possibly ease
some of yours but it won’t….
Honor your son and his life, not the circumstances of his alleged transgressions. I have always said
that Trayvon was not perfect. But no one will ever convince me that my son deserved to be stalked
and murdered. No one can convince you that Michael deserved to be executed.
But know this: neither of their lives shall be in vain. The galvanizations of our communities must be
continued beyond the tragedies. If they refuse to hear us, we will make them feel us…. feeling us
means feeling our pain; imagining our plight as parents of slain children. We will no longer be
ignored. We will bond, continue our fights for justice, and make them remember our children in an
appropriate light. I would hate to think that our lawmakers and leaders would need to lose a child
before protecting the rest of them and making the necessary changes NOW…
Discussion Questions:
● After reading this letter, what do you think is the impact of police abuse and violence on
women and their families?
● What do you think is the role of women and mothers in the fight for racial justice and against
racist violence?
In your small groups, read the passage and discuss using the discussion questions (20 min).
Plan to share some of the important things you discuss in a 3 minute reportback to the large group.
How does this connect to Immigrant Rights?
Latino communities must see Ferguson’s fight as their own by Marisa Franco (NDLON, Not1More Campaign)
Within Latino and immigrant communities, we have been fighting a monster. With record-breaking
deportations and a dramatic expansion of the detention system from the border to our backyards, the immigration
enforcement system has grown out of control. Couple that development with regressive rhetoric of hate that
dehumanizes both those who speak it and who hear it.
The federal government now spends more on immigration enforcement than all other federal enforcement
agencies combined. The merging of local law enforcement with immigration enforcement has damaged the already
tenuous relationship between the community and police.
We have said no more poli-migra, we have demanded not one more deportation.
So when Latino and immigrant constituencies see the case of Michael Brown, we should recognize this problem
well. The criminalization of the black community is thorough in its cruelty. Politicians have created an extensive set
of laws in their crusade to be tough on crime and wage a war on drugs, often times enforced disproportionately on
black people. The massive incarceration rate and subsequent disenfranchisement shackles millions from pursuing a
life with dignity. To boot, we have the militarization of police and the unchecked use of violence we have seen
manifest in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri virtually since Brown was killed nearly two weeks ago.
These issues are distinct. However they leave in their wake destruction that is woven from the same cloth. And
they are justified by a politic of fear. Fear is literally killing us. We cannot afford to continue to look the other way,
put our head down, present differently, be silent, or put our hands up because we are finding in the most painful of
ways, it doesn’t always work.
So, my people, mi gente in the Latino and immigrant community, I suggest the following as some first steps in
coming correct:
● Recognize that black lives matter. Let’s enter the ring on this one, not simply because the devaluation of life
also happens within and outside of our communities, but because we are responding to the direct threat this
presents to our black sisters and brothers. It is a given, it is assumed that all lives matter, the political point in
saying, “black lives matter,” is to directly challenge the established pattern where black lives are disregarded.
● Redirect the “We are Not Criminals” message. For years, this message has made the rounds in the
immigrant rights movement. It is often the rally cry of undocumented workers. It misses the reality of people
who are the targets of criminalization. We must redirect the conversation from one of stereotypes about
criminal behavior to how the deportation system, police and prisons are criminal.
● Drop the “college-bound” clause. Many have latched on, for better or worse, to the fact that Brown was
college-bound after the weekend during which he was killed. It is a tragic coincidence, but someone’s
criminal or educational record does not factor into whether something like this can happen. After seeing how
limiting the ‘Harvard valedictorian’ paradigm was in the Dream Act movement, immigrant rights
organizations should recognize this and steer clear.
● Unity = some talking, more doing. So much lip service is given to the idea of the ‘black-brown’ unity. This is
an opportunity to go beyond theory and rhetoric. We learn infinitely more by doing, and we can build and
deepen unity between our communities through joint struggle. A good ally shows up, and pushes what’s
moving and plugs in where help is needed. Let’s listen carefully on how we can show up and contribute.
Discussion Questions:
● What examples of institutional and structural racism do you recognize that impact immigrant and black
communities?
● What does it mean to fight racism, including specifically anti-black racism? What changes or action need to
be taken?
IV. TAKE ACTION NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE (15 min)
Invite participants to brainstorm next steps and ways to take action. You might start with things people
can do as individuals and then talk about things you can do as a group or organization (you could use one
butcher paper individual next steps and another for organizational/collective next steps). As preparation,
research if there are any actions happening in your local community.
It’s important to include both immediate and longer term next steps. This is a good time for the group to
make a commitment to continue building capacity to fight racism and criminalization together with all
impacted communities. It’s great to have next steps for both external as well as internal impact (like more
education).
Here are some ideas of action steps you can add into the discussion if needed:
● Have your organization sign on (as individuals and as an organization) to this Women for Women
in Ferguson letter: http://www.domesticworkers.org/women-for-women-in-ferguson
● As Individuals, sign the following petitions:
● Sign the petition to support federal legislation that would keep local police from being given
military weapons like tanks and grenade launchers: https://www.change.org/p/congress-cosponsor-stop-militarizing-law-enforcement-act-by-rep-hank-johnson-ga
● Sign the ColorofChange petition demanding that the federal government investigate police
violence in Ferguson: http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/mike_brown/
● Use your voice on social media:
○ Take a photo of yourself with a sign that says Black Lives Matter and post on social media Twitter, Facebook with #blacklivesmatter.
○ Post pictures by artists on your social media account - see “spread the word through art” in
this article (http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/archives/2016) for a listing of art
you can post
● Follow and support black-led organizing:
○ Follow the work of the Organization for Black Struggle, based in Ferguson, and find ways to
support their demands, including sending donations: http://obs-onthemove.org/
● Find creative ways to celebrate the lives of black community members killed by police or vigilante
violence and support those who have lost family members to racist violence. Consider making
altars or holding moments of silence.
● For Latino and other immigrant communities: Read Aura Bogado’s article
(http://www.salon.com/2014/05/20/a_matter_of_death_and_death_confronting_anti_black_raci
sm_among_latinos/) or watch Marisa Franco’s segment on MSNBC
(http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/watch/groups-express-solidarity-after-shooting318921795825) and talk about it together with friends.
● Do more political education on topics like anti-black bias, the history of black resistance, building
multiracial alliances, criminalization of people of color, do a know-your-rights with the police
workshop, etc
V. CLOSE
Here are some ideas for how to have a strong close to the workshop
1. Go around in the circle and have each person say one they commit to do as a next step
2. Stand in a circle and read the NDWA Statement (Appendix C), having different people read paragraphs
3. Teach a chant from Ferguson: “Hands Up. Fight Back;” “No Justice, No Peace.”
4. Take pictures of each participant with a sign that says “#BlackLivesMatter” and take picture to post on
facebook & twitter. Or have each participant make their own sign with #BlackLivesMatter and
something they want to say.
5. Listen to Ella’s Song, by Sweet Honey in the Rock: http://ellabakercenter.org/blog/2013/12/ellas-songwe-who-believe-in-freedom-cannot-rest-until-it-comes
APPENDIX A
Timeline of events in Ferguson, MO starting with the police shooting of Michael Brown.
●
Saturday August 9th: A Ferguson MO police officer shoots 18-year Michael Brown multiple times
despite Brown being unarmed and holding his hands up in surrender. His body was left in the street
for hours following the fatal shooting. Community members begin to respond by taking to the
streets that day.
●
Sunday August 10th: A peaceful vigil is met by police in riot gear. The conflict escalates and some
protesters respond with riots. At least 32 people are arrested.
●
Monday August 11th: A few hundred protesters hold a peaceful protest was held outside of the
Ferguson police station in the day. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon asks the DoJ to conduct a transparent
investigation. The protest turned “rowdy” at night according to the police and tear gas and rubber
and wooden bullets were used for the first time against protestors. At least 15 people are arrested.
●
Tuesday August 12th: President Obama weighs in on the shooting calling it “heartbreaking”. Dorian
Johnson, eyewitness to the shooting, recounts the incident. That evening a protest march ends in a
stand-off with heavily armed police but the crowd disperses peacefully. Later another man who
police say was armed was shot and injured by police.
●
Wednesday August 13: The U.S. attorney’s office launched a civil rights investigation. Ferguson
Police arrest reporters from The Washington Post and The Huffington Post for filming them. They
also gassed an Al Jazeera news crew and dismantled their camera equipment. Civil unrest continues
and police gas demonstrators as well as fire stun grenades and rubber bullets into the crowd. At
least 16 people are arrested.
●
Thursday August 14th: President Obama calls for a return to peace in Ferguson and condemns the
arrest of journalists as well as the stifling of the rights of protesters to peacefully demonstrate. Gov.
Nixon removes Ferguson police from duty and place Missouri state highway patrol in charge led by
Captain Ron Johnson. That evening peaceful protests are held with no arrests. Elsewhere thousands
of people gather in more than 100 U.S. communities in remembrance of Michael Brown.
●
Friday August 15th: Police publicly release the name of the officer who killed Brown (Officer Darren
Wilson) along with information that suggested Brown was a suspect for a convenience store
robbery. Community members are outraged at the attempt to smear Brown’s character. Once again
protests end with tear gas and violent civil uprising.
●
Saturday August 16th: Gov. Nixon declares a state of emergency and imposes a midnight curfew in
Ferguson. Police crackdown on crowds of protesters who defy the curfew, firing rounds of smoke
and tear gas.
●
Sunday August 17th: An independent autopsy reveals that Brown was shot 6 times including twice in
the head. Attorney General Holder orders another autopsy to be performed by a federal medical
examiner. Another violent night of unrest follows and at least 2 individuals are injured as police fire
on the crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets. Journalists were detained and threatened by police
with guns.
●
Monday August 18th: Gov. Nixon calls in the National Guard. The curfew is lifted. Police fired tear
gas at protesters amid the sound of explosions, shots ring out. At least 37 arrests are made and
police shoot at least 2 people.
Tuesday August 19th: Another fatal shooting takes place in St. Louis just 3 miles south of Ferguson
APPENDIX B: Responses to some common challenging remarks
From: Things To Stop Being Distracted By When A Black Person Gets Murdered By Police
http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2014/08/things-stop-distracted-black-person-gets-murdered-police/
I’ve noticed (again) how easily folks get distracted when Black people are murdered by the police. It seems
as though every detail is more interesting, more important, more significant—including looting of a
Walmart in Ferguson, which a local Fox news station focused its entire coverage on—than the actual life
that was taken by police.
So, to get folks back on track to focus on what matters most here—the killing of yet another unarmed
Black teenager—I’ve compiled this list of 6 Things To Stop Being Distracted By When A Black Person Gets
Murdered By the Police.
1. Over-Simplified Talk of “Riots”
According to media outlets and some residents, there’s been rioting in Ferguson since the killing of
unarmed teenager Mike Brown. There have been reports of peaceful protests turning less than peaceful,
with people confronting cops, throwing things at them, etc. I don’t know if the stories of rioting are true.
Most of the video I’ve seen of Ferguson shows the protesters themselves gathered or marching relatively
calmly. Angry sometimes, sure. But anger is a perfectly normal response to your unarmed teenage
neighbor being gunned down in the street by police (police who have now showed up at your peaceful
protest with attack dogs and riot gear).
But let’s get something straight: a community pushing back against a murderous police force that is
terrorizing them is not a “riot”. It’s an uprising. It’s a rebellion. It’s a community saying We can’t take this
anymore. We won’t take it. It’s people who have been dehumanized to the point of rightful rage. And it
happens all over the world. Uprisings and rebellions are necessary and inevitable, locally and globally. This
is not to say that actual riots don’t happen. White folks riot at sporting events, for example. Riots happen.
But people rising up in righteous anger and rage in the face of oppression should not be dismissed as
simply a “riot”.
Don’t be distracted by terms like “rioting”. Whether you’re for or against uprising and rebellion (side-eye if
you’re against it, though), it’s a tool, not the issue itself. The issue is yet another Black teenager murdered
by police. His name was Mike Brown.
2. Looting
Looting is often part of the “rioting” narrative. Peaceful protests that turn violent are often accompanied
by looting. During the first night of the Ferguson protests there was looting reported at various locations
nearby. Looting—stealing merchandise from vandalized businesses during a protest—happens separate
from the actual protest taking place and its actual organizers and participants in every case I’ve ever heard
about, anywhere, ever. Looting is often an opportunists’ game.
Looting, too, is about power. When people have nothing and something happens to remind them, in a big
way, that what little they do have can be taken away in an instant, including their lives and the lives of their
children, they may reach for any semblance of power or control they can get. That might mean breaking a
window or even starting a fire. It may mean taking something. Something you’ve been told you can’t have
because you’re not human enough to live, let alone prosper.
APPENDIX B: Responses to some common challenging remarks
Also (and this important), looting as a crime is NOT on par with the taking of someone’s life. Property is
not a life. In this country, police protect property while killing human beings. Sometimes they, as well as
civilians, kill human beings in order to protect property. That’s wrong. That’s savagery.
Whatever you think of looting, though, remember this: it’s not the issue, either. The issue is yet another
unarmed Black teenager murdered by cops. His name was Mike Brown.
3. Celebrities
Please don’t get distracted by celebrities. At times like this, famous people sometimes say really
important, helpful, intelligent things. Other times, they open their mouths and the most ridiculous hot assgarbage comes pouring out. (I’m looking at you, Morgan Freeman/Bill Cosby/Don Lemon.) Then everyone
spends all day talking about the celebrity and what they said rather than talking about the issue.
The issue is yet another unarmed Black teenager murdered by cops. His name was Mike Brown.
4. The Murder Victim’s Past
I wish I didn’t have to tell some of you that victim-blaming when a Black person is murdered by police is a
huge no. That it doesn’t matter if they were on the honor roll, or smoked weed sometimes, or were going
to college, or what brand of hoodie they wore, or even if they spent time in jail at some point. That the
right to walk down the street without being a target for murder by the police isn’t a right one should have
to prove themselves worthy of. That we should all just have that right by virtue of being human beings.
When you’re Black, you don’t always get the benefit of being seen as a human being, though. Black people
are seen as ‘up to no good’ by default. The truth is that our lives, like anyone else’s, are filled with good
choices as well as mistakes, achievements we’re proud of as well as missed opportunities. Successes.
Failures. Just like everyone else. But what’s also true is that we, as marginalized people, get fewer doovers. The system is rigged to punish us at every possible opportunity. Longer prison sentences compared
to whites who commit the same crimes and disproportionate rates of suspension and expulsion for even
Black pre-schoolers attests to this.
If we were to talk about a victim’s past, we would have to talk about it in a context of oppression. But, you
know what? We don’t need to talk about it at all. Because it is irrelevant to issue of their victimization. Just
like bringing up a victim’s past to justify her rape is wrong, bringing up a victim’s past to justify his murder
by police is also wrong. Yes, even when those people are Black.
The victim’s past isn’t the issue. The issue is yet another unarmed Black teenager murdered by police. His
name was Mike Brown.
5. Respectability Politics
Respectability politics is part of almost all of the things I’ve listed here already. It plays its part in most of
the ways we get distracted when a Black person is murdered by the police. It’s there in the idea that
protests should always be non-violent; it’s there in the idea that looting erases someone’s humanity; it’s
there in the idea that the victim’s past, if not squeaky-clean by white supremacist capitalist patriarchy’s
standards, makes their victimization less valid. It’s always there in the way people talk about Black youth.
APPENDIX B: Responses to some common challenging remarks
I’ve seen the following sentiment expressed on Twitter in response to Black folks murdered by police:
“Stop giving them a reason to shoot you!” I’ve seen some version of that tweeted by people of all races,
but the ones that concern me most come from Black folks themselves.
Y’all.
This country has spent the last several centuries systematically killing Black people. Black death is built into
the system. Black death, alongside Native American genocide, built the system. Yet, whenever yet
anotherunarmed Black person is killed by police, it’s somehow our fault? We must’ve been
threatening/drunk/holding a BB gun/maybe possibly shoplifted some candy? Because after 400 years of
never needing a reason, they suddenly need a reason? No. No. They have never needed a reason.
I understand how hard it is to accept that as a Black person your life means so little in this country that you
can be killed by police for nothing. That walking down the street while Black can be the only reason your
life, or the life of your son or daughter or father or partner or friend, ends. You want there to be another
reason, any other reason.
Yesterday on Twitter, @prisonculture wrote, in response to a tweet suggesting Black people can dress
better to avoid being murdered by the authorities:
…”looking the part” doesn’t help you brother…I’m so sorry. I feel so much compassion for you. How do you
absorb & internalize that you are killable, always killable? You create your own fictions. To survive, to live. I
understand.
I, too, understand that it’s hard. Almost too hard to bear. Who wants to have to carry these things?
Especially when you’re young and dreaming of a life without barriers based on your skin color. But
pretending we can “respectable” ourselves out of racism is dangerous. And it will not save you.
Please don’t let respectability politics distract you from the issue. The issue, again: yet another unarmed
Black teenager murdered by police. His name was Mike Brown.
6. Lies Mainstream Media Tells You
Please understand and remember that MSM chooses what to show you and what not to show you.
Remember how that news station I mentioned showed only looting? Well, by accounts of many folks in
Ferguson that night, that was happening while the actual protesters were still protesting, their hands in
the air, shouting “Don’t shoot!” at police officers in riot gear who were threatening them. Your MSM isn’t
likely to show you that part.
Don’t be distracted by the sensationalized version, by the oppressor’s racist-colored lens that only
captures nice police officers trying to do their jobs while animalistic Blacks steal TVs and burn shit down.
Get your news from sources who stand in solidarity with oppressed people. I’m told that KSDK 5 and
KMOV 4 may be non-terrible local news sources in Ferguson. But do your research, ask around, and find
legit news. I’ve found the best sources to be Ferguson residents who are on Twitter. Right now, the folks
behind This Week In Blackness, including Elon James White, are headed to Ferguson to report on what’s
really going down there. Folks in Ferguson wanted them to come, and a quick campaign to raise money to
get them there was fully-funded within 12 hours.
The MSM will tell you whatever it needs to tell you to get you to click on another link or watch for another
5 minutes. Pushing back against oppression isn’t on their list of things to do today. Don’t let them distract
you from the issue.
APPENDIX B: Responses to some common challenging remarks
From Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) Police Brutality Action Kit
http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/archives/2016
The following are some suggestions for how to respond to conclusions white people often come to
around police brutality. The goal is not to read these as a script, feel free to modify as makes sense for
your conversations and life. We also included some questions that spark deeper conversations:
Comment: “But the murder of Michael Brown was an exception.”
Response: “ There is a pattern of police violence against black men, especially young ones. In just the
last few weeks, 4 unarmed black men have been gunned down by the police.”
Discussion question: How has police brutality affected your community?
Comment: “We should let the legal system take its course. If the policeman did something wrong,
he’ll be convicted.
Response: “The legal system is biased against people of color. For example, African Americans are
twice as likely as whites to receive the death penalty.”
Discussion Question: “How do you see bias in the criminal justice system playing out in your
neighborhood, town, region?”
Comment: “Demonstrations don’t accomplish anything. In fact, they make things worse.”
Response: “If it had not been for the visible community response, we would never have heard about
Michael Brown. Most police murders of black men never come to light. Besides, demonstrations are
a form of peaceful assembly that is protected by the Bill of Rights.”
Discussion question: “How do you think we can show that all lives–including African Americans and
other people of color– matter?”
Comment: “My TV station shows scenes of violence and looting during the demonstrations.
Response: “There was a small amount of this behavior by only a few demonstrators. The news media
features what is sensational, leaving out the peaceful actions of ordinary people.”
Discussion Question: “How does the media distort our perception of current events, especially the
ones involving people of color?”
Comment: “Well, it’s too bad about Michael Brown, but what does it have to do with me?”
Response: “Police brutality is a threat to our basic freedoms, including the right to live in a peaceful
society governed by the rule of law. White people need to stand up for racial justice, in public ways.”
Discussion Question: “What do you think could make the legal system work for all people?”
Comment: “But what can I do about it? I’m just one person.”
Response: In American history, individuals coming together have made real changes, such as the end
to slavery, Jim Crow laws, and DOMA. In fact, things don’t change without attention, pressure and
mobilization. The police brutality toolkit produced by SURJ suggests actions ranging from one-minute
to one-hour and beyond.”
Discussion Question: “What can we do today to engage more people more deeply?”
APPENDIX C: NDWA Statement
The National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) stands with the community of Ferguson,
Missouri and all communities impacted by police violence and criminalization. Black lives matter, our
children’s lives matter, and we all have the right to live in communities free of fear, harassment, and
violence. Black mothers and fathers have the right to see their children grow up and thrive.
Our hearts are hurting for the mothers across the country who have lost their children and the
mothers that live in fear that their children will be hurt or killed at the hands of police or vigilante
violence. We are deeply moved by the courage and dignity with which these mothers have sought
justice, and the love and support they have shown one another. Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother
sent a letter to Mike Brown’s mother, "I hate that you and your family must join this exclusive yet
growing group of parents and relatives who have lost loved ones to senseless gun violence," she
writes in the letter published in Time magazine. "But Michael is much more than a police/gun
violence case; Michael is your son."
Our country is in the midst of a crisis. What has come to light in recent days not just in Ferguson,
but also in Oakland, Miami, Staten Island, Los Angeles, and in cities across the country is an
epidemic. Too many Black mothers, too many Black families, have lost their children to police abuse
and violence. According to a recent national study, every 28 hours, a Black mother loses her child to
police violence or vigilante violence.1
Decades of racial segregation and racial discrimination disproportionately impact women and their
families. Black women - our beloved mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and sisters - who provide
the emotional, economic, and social hope for their families and communities – now represent the
fastest growing prison population. This in addition to holding their families together in the midst of
mass incarceration and police violence targeting Black men and boys.What’s happening in Ferguson
reminds us all that racial justice is a core issue for all who care about women’s equality and believe
in justice. We must all re-commit to working towards the day when there are no more Black families
grieving the loss of their children to police violence. We stand with Ferguson and all American
families who dream of living in a nation where no one dies because of the color of their skin.
We stand with families in Ferguson, MO to demand that justice be achieved for Michael Brown.
Specifically:
1. To secure new leadership for the local police department, that can ensure respect and dignity for
all members of the Ferguson community;
2. That the Governor of Missouri appoint a Special Prosecutor who will ensure that there is an
aggressive process to hold the officer and the department accountable for the death of Mike
Brown; and
3. That the officer responsible for the murder of Michael Brown be held accountable for his actions.
Our communities are stronger and more powerful when they are organized. We call on our friends
across the country to support the organizing on the ground in Ferguson, through donating resources
or other kinds of support to the Organization for Black Struggle (http://obs-onthemove.org/), a local
organization that has been working hard for many years prior to the national focus on Ferguson to
empower community members to determine their own destinies. Let us make sure, together, that
not one more family loses their child to anti-Black racism.
1
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement study, Operation Ghetto Storm Annual Report. http://mx
gm.org/operation-ghetto-storm-2012-annual-report-on-the-extrajudicial-killing-of-313-black-people/
APPENDIX D
Resources used in the creation of this curriculum:
● “Suspected for Being Black,” Bill Fletcher, 9/16/14,
http://zcomm.org/zcommentary/suspected-for-being-black/
● Letter from Sabrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, to Michael Brown’s family:
http://time.com/3136685/travyon-sybrina-fulton-ferguson/
● “A matter of death and death”: Confronting anti-black racism among Latinos, Aura Bogado,
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/20/a_matter_of_death_and_death_confronting_anti_black_r
acism_among_latinos/
● Pew Survey Explores Racial Attitudes towards Ferguson Crisis,
http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/08/do_latinos_care_about_ferguson.html
● The Real Crime: Mass Criminalization of Our Communities, Black Alliance for Just
Immigration, http://www.blackalliance.org/therealcrime/
● Exactly How Often Do Police Shoot Unarmed Black Men?, 8/15/14,
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/police-shootings-michael-brown-fergusonblack-men
●
Latino communities must see Ferguson’s fight as their own, 8/20/14, Marisa Franco,
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/latino-communities-must-see-fergusons-fight-theirown
●
Things To Stop Being Distracted By When A Black Person Gets Murdered By Police, Mia
Mckenzie, 8/12/14, http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2014/08/things-stop-distracted-blackperson-gets-murdered-police/
● Race Forward, Presentation to National Labor Leadership Institute by Rinku Sen, June 2014,
www.raceforward.org
● Las protestas por la muerte de Michael Brown exponen la tensión racial en EE.UU., 8/15/14,
http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2014/08/15/las-protestas-por-la-muerte-de-michael-brownexponen-la-tension-racial-en-ee-uu/
● Ferguson: a blue collar town made desperate by years on the edge, 8/21/14,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/21/ferguson-community-suffers-clashes-jobsequality