Kansas City Public Library Hosts Activist & Prosecutor Anti-Police Forum

For those who won't want to watch Wolf Blitzer relive the tragic events of Jan. 6th Capitol Riot this evening . . . We're happy to share a bit of alternative viewing.

Check this cast of influential characters in a discussion of how to defund and/or abolish the po-po. 

The ideas wouldn't garner much voter support outside a coffee house or sociology department but it's interesting to see a major KCMO institution AND a high-ranking elected law enforcement official signing on to the likely controversial conversation.

Here's a preview . . .

In an extraordinary community forum, local leaders and national experts examine the troubling patterns of violent discriminatory policing and how, through collaboration, we can build a more restorative justice system. Presentations and discussions revolve around the 21 Pillars for Redefining Public Safety and Restoring Community Trust drawn up by the National Urban League.

National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial and Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, examine the issues. And Donald Cravins Jr., the National Urban League’s executive vice president and COO, moderates a panel discussion.

Joining Cravins on the panel are:

- Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker
- Shanette Hall, a member of the board of St. Louis County’s Ethical Society of Police
- Attorney, political commentator, and former South Carolina state Rep. Bakari Sellers
- Ryan Sorrell, publisher of The Kansas City Defender and co-founder of the local activist group Black Rainbow
- Jerika Richardson, the National Urban League’s senior vice president for equitable justice and strategic initiatives

The National Urban League’s 21 Pillars range from the revision of divisive policing policies, including bans on chokeholds, no-knock warrants, and shooting at moving vehicles, to the creation or strengthening of independent, all-civilian review boards to raise police accountability. They “will move us closer to a world where community safety is real and not aspirational,” Morial says. 

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Another peek . . .

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

21 Pillars Heartland Tour: Empowering Communities to Redefine Public Safety

In an extraordinary community forum, local leaders and national experts examine the troubling patterns of violent discriminatory policing and how, collaboratively, we can build a more restorative justice system. National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial and Gwen Grant of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City examine the issues, before Donald Cravins Jr., the National Urban League's executive vice president and COO, moderates a panel discussion.

You decide . . .