KANSAS CITY URBAN LEADERS DENOUNCE MAYOR Q AS TRAITOR!!!

Today, a scathing letter was put on blast by a lesser blog and a bunch of social media citizen journalists. We stole quoted it because they're ignoring the most important part of the screed.

What's important here is an African-American led political coalition confronting Mayor Q despite his consistent demands to defund the police that weren't backed up by much legislative fortitude. Reality: Support for Mayor Q is fading within the Black community and this critical voting bloc is unlikely to rush to the ballot box in order to vote for the upcoming tax increase . . . And THAT balancing act FAIL will likely make reelection harder for Mayor Q in the event that he confronts a credible opponent.

Whilst it's true that writing an entire metro-newspaper or anything beyond a blog for this faction of activists is an exercise in failure . . . We don't doubt their ability to impact low turnout Kansas City elections amid the ongoing urban decline that has accompanied the Biden years.

Take look beyond the lame anti-police rhetoric and note political implications . . .

    Dear Mayor Quinton Lucas and affiliated parties,

    By moving forward with this violent ordinance, you have demonstrated your allegiance to a racist and corrupt police department.

    The same police department whose Chief called Cameron Lamb a “bad guy” and said every officer on his force would have murdered Cameron too. The same police department that has received over $1 billion dollars over the past 6 years, only for Kansas City to be the 8th most deadly city last year. The same department that was ranked Top 5 Worst Police departments in the country last year.

    From 2012 to 2018, KCPD’s budget grew an absurd 28% (an increase of over $50 million) while the violent crime rate rose 47%. It is clear: increasing an already bloated police budget does not reduce crime.

    Under your watch, KCPD continues to criminalize poverty, addiction, and illness instead of creating resources to help those suffering. We spend millions policing and incarcerating the most vulnerable members of our community instead of investing in treatment or housing. Meanwhile, police officers overwhelmingly patrol our city’s poorest neighborhoods, targeting and abusing already marginalized, primarily Black and brown people.

    Rather than hold them accountable, you gave them a raise and a blank check.

    Amidst our city’s vicious housing crisis, the ongoing pandemic, a food shortage in public schools, and horrifically underfunded mental health services, you have chosen to turn away from the People who elected you, and specifically away from the Black community – to instead side with a department that is not only already overfunded, but lies about how it spends our tax dollars.

    You have ignored us, you have lied to us, and now you have betrayed us.

    We, the civil rights leaders and community organizers who are closest to the problems in our community, have pleaded with you and told you how we best believe public safety to be achieved. Rather than listen and act on our wisdom and recommendations, you act as a lone authoritarian accountable to no one.

    We acknowledge that interpersonal violence is a real threat to the safety of Kansas City, but more “blank check” police funding will only reinforce the system that has already caused us so much harm. More police funding will not prevent harm. More police funding will increase their capacity to criminalize, terrorize and destroy our most vulnerable communities. Whether local or federal, we do not need more policing. We need health care. We need housing. We need jobs. We need justice.

    Your actions indicate that you are no ally to the Black, brown and poor people of our city, and you have given us no choice but to publicly indict you for selling us out for your own political gain.

    Signed,

    Urban League of Greater Kansas City
    National Black United Front
    Operation Liberation KC
    SCLC Greater Kansas City Chapter
    Sunrise Movement Kansas City
    Reale Justice Network
    MORE2

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