Today is the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King's March on Washington and the "I Have a Dream" speech.
Maya King at Politico:
After three months of sustained public protest, Black Lives Matter organizers are stepping from streets and plazas into the policy arena. And they’re going big.
The BREATHE Act, a four-part proposal named after the phrase uttered by Black men Eric Garner and George Floyd while in police choke holds, aims to codify the movement’s core objective: redirecting federal funds away from police, prisons and other parts of the criminal justice system and into underserved communities of color.
“I think that we've demonstrated over time that we have the rigor and the relationships and the expertise to truly generate meaningful ideas into public policy solutions," said Jessica Byrd, a Democratic strategist and lead organizer of the Black National Convention, the virtual gathering of activists taking place Friday night. “And the BREATHE Act is the best and highest example of that.”
1 comment:
I wrote about the BREATHE act for another class, there it is below
"There is a bill created by The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) known as the BREATHE act. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley have offered their support for the bill, yet it has not been introduced in the House. If it was, would it pass? Absolutely NOT! There is no way a Republican is approving this bill it is far too radical for them. It calls for abolishing all institutions that have been used to inflict violence on Black people which includes the police, prisons, and even immigration detention centers. "
The bill was created by an interest group made up of 150 other interest groups. The future of this bill is determined by the agenda setters. Many people on the House Judiciary Committee have not expressed support for defunding the police. A bill introduced by Rep Karen Bass for police brutality reform passed in the house but did not get 60% of the vote in the Senate. While a BLM bill is on the informal agenda the likelihood of it being on the formal agenda gets less and less likely as the BLM movement fades from current events.
Below are some links if you want to read more about what the Act entails.
https://www.thecut.com/2020/07/what-is-the-breathe-act-and-would-it-defund-the-police.html
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/what-is-the-breathe-act-squad-members-push-defund-police-reparations
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