 So we're here it is it's been a long week for all of us. I know I know it's been a long week It's been a long week for me, Mr. Bruce Wilson in the house. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for showing up But again Reverend Mark Hughes the executive director for my racial justice alliance and every now and then how many people believe We just need to speak out How many people believe that every now and then we need to say something? Have you ever been around something or something happening? I don't know maybe like a political climate or some type of racial rhetoric that's happening nationally I'm just saying and things are just going by you all day long and you don't say anything For a week for a month for a year What happens is is that begins to normalize how many people believe that begins to normalize a lot of the things that we're Experiencing the reason why we're here to speak out for those of you who've come for those of you who are wondering The reason why we're here to speak out is because at some point or another We just have to break the deafening silence of nonsense that's happening around us and just show up and say something About the insanity that we're experiencing and call wrong wrong and call right right So that's what we're here for we're here that we're here to speak out So there are some of you who who may have a couple of things to say about the topic at hand And we'll talk a little bit more about that in just a second if you do then just feel free to go ahead and stop over and talk To our assistants. You can grab a card. I just want to get your name Just so I can announce you for those who are walking by hi. I'm Reverend Mark Hughes I'm the executive director of the Vermont racial justice alliance This is you've just rolled up on a speak out and we're just talking about Something that you may want to hear about so if you want to just stop in and listen you're more than welcome and what this is all about Today is what we're gonna be talking about what I heard. I don't know whether you heard it or not But just recently this week Did you know that what happened was is that? the The ACLU I got a call from the ACLU I Think it was like the night before they the press release came out and and The director said hey something's coming and that's all he could really say. He says something's coming in I just want to let you know it's in your backyard So there's so there it was he came out that that morning in the press release It went back to something that happened here in Burlington Probably right at about maybe it's a little bit around I say us around three years ago About three years ago, and I'm gonna give you just a short narrative And then later I'm gonna in just a couple minutes. I'm gonna read parts of that press release And if in as as you hear this I just you know the reason why we're calling it out is is so we want we want you to be able to process it Then the other thing to I do have at least one statement for our you know, I'll make some statements There's some there's some narrative. I got a lot to say But there's some narrative that I want to add to What it is that we're dealing with in and if you will add some color To the conversation that we're having here I'm inviting you out as well and it doesn't make any difference what you look like It's good to see central Vermont in the house But if we'd love to hear from you as well, I think I have a Statement at least a partial statement also from the mother of the child as well And and I think there's some there's an exchange that I want to share with you as far as some of the conversations That we had and I just and I'm gonna just paint a picture if you will of what I call just a Horrible name any snicket story just in general just the whole thing So is that is that fair enough? Is everybody is everybody up for that everybody down for that? But before I do that I got up we used to sing a song when I when I was when I was with the poor people's campaign the national call for a moral revival And it went kind of like this and just listen to what I'm saying just for a minute Okay, and then maybe if you can sing if you can't shut up But if you can sing maybe you can sing alone with no you can sing you can sing with it And it goes it goes like this. This is somebody's hurting my brother And it's going on far too long It's going on far too long It's going on far too long Somebody's hurting my brother, and it's going on far too long And we won't be silent anymore Anybody ever heard that before sing it with me one time say somebody Somebody's hurting my brother And it's going on Oh, it's going on And hell it is going on Somebody's hurting my brother And it's going on and we won't Anymore somebody's hurt my sister see when we're gonna pick it up a little bit my sister Somebody's hurt my sister and it's going on You know that it's going on you know that it's going on. I said that somebody's hurt my sister And it's going on and we Island anymore I said we won't Be silent anymore You gotta you gotta have that dramatic ending to it. Okay, and we Yourself a hand just give yourself a hand. So first up I just wanted to share just part of the press release with you. How many people have read the press release many people Okay, so this is for those of you who have it Right it makes sense. So listen um This is um This is dated January 31st The contact is Stephanie Gomery the communications director at the ACLU for those of you who are here our brothers and sisters in the press Thank you for coming to I appreciate y'all for you for showing up press give it up for the press so The parent of a Burlington teenager Filed a lawsuit against the city of Burlington Yesterday alleging discriminatory Unconstitutional treatment by city officials The case stems from an encounter in which Burlington police and the paramedics Needlessly escalated an interaction with this child used excessive force and injected him with ketamine Enforcibly removed him from his bedroom and home a black teenager with an undocumented with a documented history of complex trauma and Behavior in intellectual disabilities this 14 year old at the time he was up He was 14 years old at the time of the incident Now first of all on his face, that's a shame on his face. That's a shame. How many people believe that? Can I go on can I keep reading? So here's here's just a couple comments that that came from it This is from the ACLU staff attorney Hillary rich who's covering this case. It says quote This is from Hillary. She said as we've seen too many times before Burlington police escalated a routine encounter With violence and then refused to take responsibility for the harm they cause instead blaming the victim When community members are urging that more be done to address racial and disability Discrimination of policing and reduce the footprint of law enforcement in over police communities This is exactly what they want to prevent This is exactly what they want to prevent when the officers entered this person's room He was sitting calmly on his bed and he eventually relinquished all but one of his vape pens He did not engage the officers and he presented no danger the officers could have simply issued a citation and walked away The officers could have simply issued a citation and walked away instead Despite their knowledge of this person's disabilities and condition they threatened with an arrest and handcuffing if he did not produce the final item and Although the officers could have engaged in a number of different de-escalation techniques including continued verbal engagement Calling a supervisor for guidance or requesting a clinical clinician for support The officers abandoned Burlington Police Department policies and instead grabbed the person forced his arms behind his back wrestled the pen from his hands and then when he started to panic the officers did not Disengage instead they handcuffed him and ultimately pinned him to the floor where the teen lay terrified and screaming and Contorted himself in distress Police later they then summoned the paramedics who did not adequately discuss With the mother or the Burlington Police Department the disabilities of and his health needs It just keeps getting worse Instead the paramedics They proceeded to wrap the child's head in an opaque mesh bag Or a spit hood is what they call it Further terrifying him and then they labeled his distress as get this You should put this one in the books excited delirium What is that? Sounds like the same thing I I urged the police commission to keep out of their use of force policy and the same thing I rejected on and was the sole Decentre in the passage of the policy back a few years ago, but we'll come back to that so Yeah, it here it says that the ACLU says it's an illegitimate diagnosis rejected by the medical community yet often applied to victims of police violence Especially black men and boys. So there you have it So the paramedics didn't it with that what they did was they injected him With catamine. This is a powerful just in case how many people know what catamine is? Wow, you guys are heavy rollers so um, so um the this is a really Fast-acting anesthetic used to induce like loss of consciousness loss of consciousness So that that's what they usually use for restraint of adults I said restraint of adults because it's very important to Delineate we're talking about a 14 year old child, right? so Moving on the What happened is they then carry the unconscious child out of the home They carried the unconscious child out of the home so The mother sought some accountability she went around and I'm gonna let you read the rest of the report But the rest of the press release but she did go round and round with the police on a number of occasions is also with the police commission and She didn't get any justice. So there was no peace So that's why we are where we are today now This is wrong on so many different levels, I don't even know where to start and I'm in a for those of you who want to Just get caught up because I see that some are just walking by I See you. I see you grace. I see some some others who are coming and joining us This is a speak out for those of you who are passing by we're talking about a 14 year old black child That was Restrained in his own home put a spit hood on him pinned him down handcuffed and shot him up with ketamine and dragged him out of his house That's what we're talking about and somehow or another As I was interacting with some of my colleagues online today And I was getting feedback from some of them some people's you know what? I got somebody told me they said well, I don't know what good a speak out is going to do I Don't know why it is that you know, yeah, we understand that the police they use excessive force We understand that this being done disproportionately to black and brown bodies in there And currently there is a juxtaposition that somehow or another because everything is so unsafe Because everybody's feels so unsafe because public safety is Out of control right now and everybody is at risk and every you know, and it's everybody feels like Like right now we everything's just out of control. So it's okay for us to take This this factor off the table This whole idea that black lives matter the black lives still matter In just ignore that to me. I don't I don't know I'm just having a problem with that So anyway as I'm talking this thing through I've heard a whole lot of comments from a whole lot of people Who's who's who basically said they didn't see what the point of this was? But here's the thing nobody seemed to have a better answer Nobody nobody seemed to have a better answer So as I'm talking I'm gonna I'll introduce a couple people who want to have anything to say about this But you're gonna need to talk to Amina or Jamie They have the three by five cards. Maybe nobody has anything to say but as as we were having that conversation today, it occurred to me that To be quiet on something like this, especially something like this To have like absolutely nothing to say because here's what here's what we're experiencing and this is what's really going on Is is that time after time after time after time after time after time again? What we're seeing is is there's there's this ducking and dodging that's going on Not just with our police here locally, but also across the state where they're avoiding and evading any type of accountability Where no matter what seems to happen. Nobody seems to want to have any type of effective impactful transparent police oversight Because every time it comes up it gets kicked down the road by somebody in this administration or somebody Who's on this city console most of them with with higher aspirations? But what they but they never really do is come back to the fact that oversight is incredibly important Now, let me tell you one thing and I'm still in a little bit of my thunder, but I'm here to tell you and again This is a speak out Because at the end of the day, we got to call this thing out Kathy We got to call this thing out we we got we got to say what this thing is because if we're not talking about it Then who is if and if we're and if we're not talking about it Then how are we gonna ever come together and do anything about it? And if we're not talking about it, then what that means is it's normalized So as you think about this thing As you think about the fact that you know what we're doing is we're putting together task forces Now we'll talk we'll talk a little bit about that today I'm gonna come back to that again like I said I've got a few statements that I want to read But I want to hear from you too because this is your speak out But as we put together these task forces, what what's the point? The point is is you have local You have regional county regional statewide as well as federal law enforcement agencies all coming together Not just with their personnel, but with with all of their technologies with all of their surveillance systems with all of their command and control and so forth and Creating strategies to crack down on the war on drugs To do more of the same thing that they've been doing the entire time Understanding that it never works out very well at least for some of us And I think the long and short of my concerns of this This is my speak out is is to to encourage and this is not just in the city of Burlington or across this region But we have statewide task forces sister We have statewide task forces with all of with all of this collective power with all of this these Collective resources the financial resources the economic resource, but also the technological resources That span across the the entire state so what they're doing is there in there in there is an influx of money as Well as responsibility and the scope of authority is growing while at the same time the oversight of it is Diminishing So what that is is that is a perfect recipe if you will a perfect recipe For wreaking havoc once again in on black and brown bodies in this city across this state How many people believe that? Somebody say no Somebody say no Say no Say no Say no Say no We won't have it Say no We won't have it Somebody's got somebody's got to say no See we're so busy sitting at home watching all of this stuff go by go by us But nobody seems to want to say anything why fear fear of loss fear that we won't be able to gain something That we don't want to confront somebody we don't want to talk to our family or our friends about this because we'll have an unpopular Opinion we might lose a friend lose a family member lose a job or have somebody talk about us or we we Meanwhile what we can do what we do is we go home and rest and be white But at the end of the day black lives still matter So when we go back to this youth and we think about what happened with him Everybody that I talked to they said two things that they said number one. This is appalling Number two what's number two? I'm not surprised Every single person that I've spoken to about this has said I'm not surprised that this happened So what what what we're really talking about is is that this is being normalized? We've got to speak out on this. We got to call this thing out We're also there's an intersection of disabilities. Come on folks This kid. This is a disabled a kid with eight eight ADHD in his home So we're going to talk about a couple of other things that but I and I want to read a couple statements But I want to hear from you but before I hear from you though there. I I've got it. I've got to go here Because right now what you have to understand is across the state of Vermont. This is a speakout So I'm gonna say what I'm thinking. Okay Across the state of Vermont black children are being removed from homes at highly disproportionate rates Across this entire state the DCF system There is an attack just like the criminal justice system on black adult bodies There is an attack on black young bodies across this entire state Department of Children and family are removing our children from these homes at highly disproportionate rates and with a 93 0.8% white population in Vermont. They are ending up in white homes period and That is a part of this problem This child was adopted at five. So a five months old So let's let's talk about the whole problem because this child is a product of an interracial couple 1718 years ago and was removed from that home So in order for us to do the analysis on what it is that we need to be talking about and what we're actually speaking out about What we got to do is we got to rely on the grace of God to be able to give us the wisdom To slow down enough for a minute and look at the whole problem So we're not just talking about law enforcement. Although they should have efficient impactful and transparent oversight hard stop But there is also An issue that we need to be looking at with the Department of Children and families and the disproportionate rating Which they're removing black children and how do we let's not just talk about the problem Let's talk about the solution because we've been talking about that for a while. So tomorrow We're going to be again. This is I think our third month will be at the Richard Kim Center at four o'clock and we'll be having more conversations about Public safety and we call it community health and wellness So come come down to the Richard Kim Center tomorrow. We'll have more of that conversation today What we're talking about though what we're talking about is how could it be that a 14 year old black child could have a police officer roll up into their house Restrain them Call the paramedics shoot them up with catamine and drag them out. How could that be? How is that okay? Why is everybody still walking by? Why is everybody turning their tv off? Why is nobody talking about that? Why is nobody talking about the fact that this was an interracial child who was placed in a white home and she called the police Why is it nobody's talking about that he needed help way before this? We need to empower ourselves We we it's up to us as community to be able to position ourselves to create the programs and service to care for These youth to care for these these black and brown youth that are in these white homes. That's our job They're not obviously what's going on right now. They can't they're not doing it in this It's it's insanity for us to think that if we keep going back to that same apparatus and expecting different results That we're going to get something different It's up to us as far as who's supporting that white woman who called the police That's up to us and let me and let let me be perfectly clear about her. She dropped the ball She screwed the pooch There's no way in your military mind that anybody here there or anywhere needs to be calling the police on somebody black anytime of the day Even if it is your kid period And if you don't understand that as a as a white person with black children in your home, you better wake up right now Because what you're doing is you're assigning a death warrant for that child or anybody else And if you threaten that then we ought to be calling the police on you And if if it's within my power at any time in the near future, we'll make the laws to make that happen It's enough is enough where you got white people calling the police on black folks just because they don't feel safe Come on Knowing what that apparatus has done since 1850 Chasing slaves Somebody ought to wake up So yeah, I got real but this is a speakout I can do that So listen We'll talk we'll go back to the ACL the NAACP statement in just a minute I'm going to put the mic down for a second and see whether or not we had anybody sign up for um for comments I'll be right back Doesn't look like anybody wants to say anything you got any cards over there. What's your name? I got Emily Langster Somebody give it up for Emily Langster Yes, come on y'all can do better than that come on give it up for Emily Langster Yeah, I I have personal lived experience of having a teenager who struggled mental health issues and um And uh It's very difficult and retraumatizing to hear of this my son is white and Um, I had to think to myself Thank god my son isn't black because he would have been so treated so much worse if he had been black But the reality is the mental health system In this state is broken the police system in this state is broken the prison system in this state is broken And they're all um, they're all intertwined with an extremely dysfunctional Protocol that does not does nothing to Restore a deescalate situation and does everything to punish the victims Who who are struggling with mental illness in this very difficult time that we're living in right now? It's so broken and um So I really think so much needs to be fixed and we need to develop the tools to fix it Hey listen, uh, I gotta I want to remind folks who are here that we are doing you know There some of this has to do with the programs and services that are necessary that we need to get out in front of our youth um To for those of you who have kids and folks who are watching Where we do first friday with the youth out at spare time So send the kids send the kids out to spare time this evening. So directly after this will be at spare time with the youth We have a blast and then kids is all over the walls out there. So that's one of the things We got you got it. How many people believe you got to do more than one thing To solve these challenges that we're talking about You got to do more than one thing got to do more than one thing So I mentioned already that tomorrow we're going to meeting at we're going to be meeting at 4 p.m Hey, you who are walking by hi This is a speak out. You just walked through a speak out. This we're speaking out about some um, some Some law enforcement, um oversight and we're also talking about department of children and family and disproportionate rate at which black youth are being removed from the home and we're talking about um Black lives matter. We're talking about that as well. I don't mind saying that I'm reverend mark hughes from the executive director of for my racial justice alliance for those of you who are just tuning in And I just I think the first thing That's so important in this conversation You know in you know, it's it's fiery as it gets and it's passionate as we get about what it is that we're talking about It's important to know and understand that for those of us who stand for justice for those for those of us who are here To do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly In this place what what happens is is that there we're going to always have opposition and what that means is is that um We need to be just as forceful with that opposition. Just I think I think some of us are just too doggone nice These days You know, and I got a lot of light. I got a lot of nice liberal friends But but we need but we need to not be so nice And when we're having these conversations because literally there's so many people That are suffering and so many people that are dying and I think that you know having to speak out like this This is healthy. I mean, I think I don't think we do this enough You know what I mean? I don't think we do this enough where we say, you know what that's wrong Let's talk about it. That's wrong. Let's talk about it. I'm gonna give you one little um story and then I'm gonna We're gonna come up to reverend johnson And that is um Reverend jess, I'm gonna go with jake schumann first though. Okay. Um, so I was I was I had some youth in the richard kim's center because we have Movie night in the richard kim's center on the second and fourth fridays Yeah, and um We were playing um red light green light And um, I was in charge and uh And I turned around and I caught one of the kids and I said that's it. You're out. I saw you moving and the kids said no And I said you're out any and the kids said I'm not leaving And I said you can't play they said you can't make me leave So we came to this impasse so the only way that I could figure out how to deal with that Without beating them. No, I'm just kidding. Um, the only way that I could figure out how to deal with that to say Okay, it doesn't make any difference what you do. I'm just going to ignore you We'll continue to play you can do whatever you want to do So after each move after each movement in the game, I would I would you know turn around Everybody's fine or oh, I caught you but to the other one. I would just look at them and say And I would just you know continue to play the game Why did I just tell you that? What I'm trying to get at is is we're at a place in our society right now We're at a place in our society right now where It's the norm. It's been normalized where some people just don't play by the rules And our kids are getting it Some people just don't play by the rules And nobody calls them wrong Nobody says that they're wrong Yeah Yeah, some and and it's it's bleeding over into our children some people adults Who are leaders folks who are who've been elected? They're not playing by the rules and we're looking right at them And nobody's saying hey, you're out You lose And as a result because we're not speaking out because we're not showing up and speaking out We got total mayhem to the extent where I got to go to the Richard kim center and look at a little kid And try to figure out how to deal with them because they're out in red light green light And I don't know what the hell to do with them. We got to speak out We got to speak out. Somebody say speak out Speak out Speak out speak out Speak out Mr. Schumann Jake Schumann Give it up for Jake Hey, um so I know there's cameras, so Get your bleeper ready. I'm fucking pissed off about this like a lot um Mark you you ask the rhetorical question like why do people just keep walking by Why do people just keep scrolling nobody pays attention to this? I think the easy out for people is well, I don't know about that like I don't I don't know all the details I don't know what's going on there, but let me tell you I do I fucking know what's going on here 2021 to 2022 that academic year I worked in the dcf policy and planning office I am a registered and licensed emt I Have been working for years on the police oversight issue in this town So I have the expertise. I can tell you Every single level of this was wrong Those paramedics they deserve to lose their licenses that doctor deserves to lose their license Some of you might have read the seven days article that said that there's nothing in the ems protocols that talks about using ketamine on a child The ems protocols in vermont that is called standing orders That's a list of all the things that you are allowed to do if there's something that's not in there It means you can't fucking do it You can't do it It's it's medical malpractice um So i'm just really pissed off about this and uh, you know, it's it's not just cops It's not just it's also ems. We need oversight of our medical system Right, we need oversight of dcf. DCF is a quasi legal process. It's quasi judicial Did you know that family court is secret? You can't find out what happened there They can they could just take your kids. Um You know my current project that i'm working on with some friends is to start a new vermont diaper bank So every month 150 beautiful brown black and a couple white babies get diapers And and i get to like have that experience with community. Um, you know Mutually providing for each other and When we don't pay attention when we don't speak out that is us failing each other We are not showing up for each other like Palestinian solidarity rally that shit's rad But there there's three four hundred people there every single time. Where are the people now? This is important people need to show up for everything um, so i'll just leave you on this one thought For four years We have been asking for an opportunity to vote on a police oversight and accountability Anything just anything can we please get something that we can the people voice our opinion on Just two weeks ago Joan Shannon who is running for mayor Introduced a poison pill amendment poison pill amendment so that we cannot vote on police Oversight once again for yet another time Y'all need to please please i'm begging you everyone please Do you understand how important this mayoral race is? It is an inflection point if the next mayor is mayor for 12 years Then this is the race that will determine whether burlington exists in 12 years. Please Mobilize organize. It's only five weeks. You just it's five weeks of hard work But please put in that hard work everyone show up with everything you got. We got to break this cycle. Thank you I got I got some um, I got some Bernie mittens from Kathy. She she she said yo your hands look cold So hey, I wanted to share something with you and um Reverend Johnson if you can head up this way um, you're next um Here's a um Here's a here's a statement. Can you help me? Can you just like help me look through these papers here? I'm looking for a statement from the NAACP. Oh, there it is So I just got a quick statement from the NAACP and then I want to introduce you to Reverend Johnson on the um the Rutland NAACP stands resolute Against a disturbing incident involving this young black teenager subjected to discriminatory and unconstitutional treatment by the Burlington police department Disrepresentable act is It's not an isolated incident Thank you But part of a distressing pattern that echoes The broader challenges faced by marginalized communities in their interactions with law enforcement It's disheartening that despite repeated calls for reform the Burlington police department continues To demonstrate a disregard for the lives and the well-being of people of color, particularly those with disabilities The ACLU's revelation of the historical discriminatory practices within the department coupled with the unwarranted Uh use of force against this young person reinforces the urgent need for a comprehensive changes in policing Methodologies and oversight and furthermore the um misuse of ketamine a powerful anaesthetic On a minor contradicts established protocols and raises serious ethical concerns The Rutland NAACP calls for a thorough investigation into the medical procedures Employed during the incident emphasizing the importance of adherence to ethical standards when dealing with vulnerable individuals, especially those with uh documented disabilities We demand transparency accountability and immediate action from the Burlington city officials to rectify This egregious violation of human rights. Thank you. The community Deserves assurances that steps are being taken to address the root causes such incidents Of such incidents and to implement meaningful reforms that prioritize safety equality and justice for everybody The Rutland NAACP echoes the sentiments of the victim's family affirming that Every parent regardless of their child's abilities or race should be able to seek assistance without fearing unwarranted violence We stand united with them in their pursuit of justice and healing urging the city of burlington to acknowledge its failures and work Collaboratively with effective communities to build a fair and a just system The Rutland NAACP remains steadfast in its commitment to eradicating racial injustices and advocating for systemic changes That promote equity inclusivity and accountability in all facets of social of society rather particularly within law enforcement agencies the time for transformation Is now that's the Rutland NAACP. Okay So Again, what we're what we're talking about here is we're talking about we're talking about the You know, we're talking about where there's been like so many missteps You know, you can't you can't even really number them the missteps that have that they that the that the police department Um, all right that have they have to be held responsible. They haven't they've yet to take accountability for that's the reason why the litigation is ensued It's ongoing. They've never stepped up. They've never said hey, this is the deal. You know, we're sorry about that Let's just move on. Let's get to so as far as we can tell what they're saying is is hey, it was all protocol This is the way we do it, right? No policy was violated or nothing like that. So it's a problem We we need to we need to get that figured out However, I think it's more important to understand that it's not just a problem But it's a pattern not just for the burlington police department But for policing in general particularly as it pertains to black bodies. That's really where we're going with this. That's why I'm here Okay, that's why I'm here. So this is a speak out. Let me introduce Reverend Karen Johnson Thank you, Reverend mark. I really appreciate that you have gathered people together And though I know our hearts and our minds wish that there were more people and we invite more people to be here I am I am so thankful for the chance to be here for this chance to say transformation Now, can you say transformation now? Transformation now It must come now when I hear the words of the Rutland NAACP. I know that transformation must come now I I heard Reverend mark talk about his his conversation earlier with colleagues who questioned why Why show up for a speak out? What is going to change? What is going to happen? And I think then of the words a story that Dr. Imani Perry told I don't know if you know her. She's an African-american author she teaches at Princeton University And she spoke to my faith community unitary universalists last june But she tells a story of how after yet another Black man was shot by the police and killed that she went forward with her two young sons And she wondered and they wondered why were we going out? What was going to change because we went out to yet another Protest another vigil and the thing that she said that has stayed with me Is that she couldn't promise her children as much as she wanted to that going to the protest would make any difference But that seeing that they were not alone that we are not alone that when we gather Whether it's just one or two other people but when we gather and when we gather Across races across genders across all the ways in which we are different and beautiful That is one thing that we need we need in moments like this when there is no accountability When there is a flag flying that speaks a deep truth, but that is not being lived into We must gather together because love is what justice looks like in in public That's what dr. West has said over and over again It is how I try to live my life Love is what justice looks like in public and we love doesn't just happen It happens when we embody it when we come across each other. I'm relatively new to burlington I'm relatively new to vermont. I have to tell you as a white person I am shocked at the seething hostility towards people of color around this state. It's amazing And and not in a good way right and I just think even people white people Right. I am white white people my people like who think they are doing well There is so much that is clumsy and comes across this hostel and it has to change And then when that happens and then there is this whole pattern Of police brutality lack of accountability here It is just an epitome of the worst that happens, but if we show up We can be a part of the change and if we don't show up it will not happen So let us be love what justice looks like in public Thank you so much. Good to see you You know threatening a 14-year-old black boy with jail Uh restraining them Penning them cuffing them Tranquilizing them like I said, it's it's deeply troubling, but it's just not surprising That's that's the problem. That's the problem It's it's troubling, but it's just not surprising black people We know well that the biggest threat to our lives Is the institution of policing And what we see here, this is not a broken system The system is not broken. This is not a bug in the system This is a feature It's systematically Um, this is this is the racist system. Um This is um This is a situation where we we've we've tried repeatedly to get oversight here And currently right now if you go out to our website, um and just you can you can follow the Some of you receive our male our mailing list. You should have received an email blast today or yesterday But there's a a legislative agenda called due to work Uh and what we're doing is we're calling on the oversight the legislative oversight committee of the house government operations to implement. Um Some impactful and transparent and productive police oversight across all 79 agencies across the state so because if we can't do it here Um, just like we normally do if we can't get it done in burlatton We'll get it done in the state and it'll and we'll burlatton will just come along Kicking and screaming, but we'll get it done. I promise you that Okay I just we've got one other speaker and then I've got um I've got a um An exchange that I want to share with you that I had with the um, the mother of the child My sister, uh, kathryn kim I said my sister you could clap louder than that so I I think that I've walked through my life with um A sense of hope and I was raised by richard kemp Who believed and taught us that If you're not part of the prob part of the solution, you're probably part of the problem So one of the things I've done in my life is I stepped up um I've been Acquainted with dcf. I've been at all sides of the table And when the strife was waning I decided to step up and become a foster parent I decided to step up as a black parent To try to help care for these children So they didn't end up in white houses where the parents don't know what the hell they're doing And they're doing damage to these kids of color so I got so involved that I became a paid trainer of foster parents Okay, so I got in the room to talk to these white parents. I think there was one black parent that ever showed up So there's opportunity there But I got in the room and I said we're going to talk about race. You got your binder Running you through all the things you might have might happen when you have a foster kid in your house Nobody they weren't talking about race at all So we started talking about race And then years later I said well, I can't foster kids and I fostered a child. I adopted that child and I can't do that anymore. But what I'm doing now is respite work I am helping the foster families get a break And take kids when I can So it's a break for everybody. All right, so hope Provide hope step up Work with dcf in whatever capacity you might be able to do And and think about helping to provide Safe homes of color for these children Okay Step up. You don't have to be an angel That's bullshit. You don't have to have magic powers You have to have a heart And you have to care And if you want to talk about doing that work, see me I will introduce you to the process And you can do it well Thank you Hard to pick up these papers with those gloves on so um Wanted to share with you just Some comments from The parent of the child and also wanted to share with you some thoughts Because really what we're when we start to speak out how many people believe that when we start to speak out Not only does it give us a release not only does it hold those Uh, who have the political and economic power Accountable, but it also begins to bring us together That's really what this speak out is all about. It's about how do we begin to process How do we begin to start creating healthy patterns where we begin to come together and have constructive conversations And how do we how do we come together and and create solutions for some of these challenges that we're dealing with here? I'm telling you the um the um criminal justice system law enforcement in general, but the criminal justice system Um the truth is is it is a beast You know, and we're not we're not here. We're not here to take it down or anything like that And we're not we're not what what we're not going to do is is Destroy some type of institution because it's not happening. We cannot burn it down We've got to figure out. How do we work through some of these things? We've got to figure out. How do we introduce transformational Transformational activities that how do we work in conjunction with them to create programs and services in our own communities How do we take responsibility for some of those? How do we create inside and outside strategies with folks who are inside of these systems? So we can work together for for common solutions These are some of the things and more that we're going to start talking about that We're going to continue to talk about in some of the sessions that we're doing on a monthly basis That's the first saturday of every month at 4 p.m. And yes tomorrow is that and that's at the richard kim center So i want to invite you to that okay Here's What i'll leave you with is is and i just a little little commentary after that is is A statement Here's some words from the mother to child. She said i'm very grateful To the vermont racial justice alliance for holding to speak out And to all listening I made a promise to my son to seek accountability and find justice for the harm done to him Unfortunately my son's story sadly is not unique as devastating as the details of this trauma has was and is Man i wish i had some tissue has anybody had any tissue Everybody sticks their hands in their pockets somebody comes up here with a snidey rag right Narcan falling out Right Thanks. Thank you. Thank you We're good. You're good. You're good So thank you very much for that Unfortunately, my son's story is not unique as devastating as the details of this trauma was and is His experience as as a black youth was the direct result Of the actions of the burlington police department They created a medical emergency That stems for lack of training oversight in racial bias No parent should have to witness their child become a victim At the hands of law enforcement as his mother I was unable to protect my son in our own house and she goes on to uh She goes on to um Suggest that we join In seeking change and she does begin to lay out what she believes some of our uh Demands ought to be but I'm not going to share them with you because um I'm going to first share you my response to her email because she and I had spoken prior to this And I have intentionally asked her well we had an extensive discussion about The fact that she called the police Which is a huge problem a big problem and um and also just how Devastatingly harmful that that is on on every case And what I used during that conversation was an analogy I kind of shared with her my thoughts of my feelings around january 6 2001 And when I was watching on cnn the capital of the united states being ram sacked and hearing That there was a distinct possibility That there were white supremacist factions that were going to do the same thing in this state and that There was a possibility that this was going to happen again I'm going to tell you I was scared and I was confused and There was no one I could call because what I knew was It would be more dangerous for me to call the police So what I shared with her at that time was the fact that This is a constant Challenge that black people have all at a time and at that level if you if you can get your head around that and you probably can't But if you could just get your head around that then you come to understand how important it is that you do not call the police So after that conversation, I did get that email back from her and and she there are some things that she politely asked me to omit in the conversation and i'm respecting that Um, but my response to her was this thanks for reaching out the conversation that we had yesterday was Excentuated by your specific request that It'd not be revealed And I went on to talk about what that was In the conversation that I had with the acu acou And um, I said I said though I paid you the courtesy of reaching out prior to this event It's bigger than you Me or your son Our main thrust Is on white supremacy culture And systems that always treat black bodies as less than I hope that you would have acknowledged the role that you played in the situation If for no other reason To not come off as being blind To the error made in the situation regardless of your intent It would have served to teach other white folks That are raising black children around the state and beyond Sadly, I don't see that here This is not I said this will not be lost on me in speaking publicly about this matter in that its omission Would do great disservice To every single one of us Finally The transformation not change that we seek As black folks in burlington and across vermont Must be front and foremost communicated during this process Not yours To do otherwise only feeds into patterns of white supremacy culture And further perpetuates what we are experiencing with policing and the department of children and families In moving forward note if You have any last-minute thoughts or words or expressions on lessons learned On the decision that you made to call the police. I'm still willing to share them To the extent that you'd like to provide them I received nothing further from her before this meeting So Thanks for coming to the speak out tonight What we will do Is we're going to continue to have these kinds of conversations this I believe for those of you who are interested In joining us in this work Then you can meet up with some of our folks. Where did our folks go? We still have folks here There's a there's a sign-up sheet right over there. You can find us also online Or you can just stop in at the richard kim's center tomorrow at 4 p.m And we're going to continue this conversation. This is the beginning of the conversation Not the end Guys have a great weekend