Criminal Justice.
Equitable dispensation of justice for all
NAACP Mid-Manhattan Criminal Justice Co-Chair:
CHAIR: KIM M. PARKER, ESQ.
CO-CHAIR: TERRENCE COFFIE
The NAACP Mid-Manhattan Branch Criminal Justice Committee aims to expose the inequities embedded into the American criminal justice system. From COVID-19 to running while Black, the abuse faced by people of color, particularly African Americans is devastating. Sadly, police brutality against the Black community has been an ever-present circumstance since its origin to preserve the system of slavery.
For too long we have marched, we have protested, and we have mourned our lost ones as the world watched on. When is enough, enough?
The work to upend the dark underbelly of discrimination within this country demands engagement from all people and industries. Therefore, our Committee works with partners to demand legislative action to combat the rise of gun violence, domestic terrorism and white supremacy. We also conduct programs to help formerly incarcerated individuals transition back into society. And we partner with community allies to bring awareness about injustices and police brutality affecting our community.
We look at solutions and approaches to criminal justice that do not include mass-incarceration. We advocate for smarter criminal justice policies to keep our communities safe, including treatment for addiction and mental health problems, judicial discretion in sentencing, and an end to racial disparities at all levels of the system.
Our oppression has reached its boiling point.
The uprisings we’re witnessing across U.S. cities are a direct consequence of the racism, bigotry, violence, and subjugation against Black people that has festered in this country for far too long. The murder of George Floyd has set into motion what can only be described as a moment of reckoning for our nation’s conscience.
How we become the land of the free depends largely on what happens next.
What does justice look like?
Justice means bringing an end to the criminalization of Black skin and holding police departments accountable because it is not only a civil rights issue but also a human rights issue. Secondly, we need sweeping police reform–federal, state and city legislation mandating a zero-tolerance approach in penalizing and/or prosecuting police officers who kill unarmed, non-violent, and non-resisting individuals in an arrest.
In our pursuit of justice for Black people, eliminating discrimination is critical to creating a better world. Therefore, we must protest peacefully, demand persistently, and fight politically. But most of all, we must VOTE.
George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Atatiana Jefferson, Stephon Clark, Botham Jean, Philando Castille, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Emmett Till
#SayTheirNames #WeAreDoneDying #Vote
NAACP NYS 84th Annual Convention Criminal Justice Workshop
