…and call out Mayor’s role in perpetuating death & devastation on South & West sides.
High school youth of color from across Chicago walk out of City Council meeting and silently die-in with tombstones that uplift the closed schools, shuttered clinics & people killed by police with impunity under Rahm Emanuel.
CHICAGO 3/28 — This spring break, high school and middle school students from the south and west sides of the city are participating in a #NoCopAcademy week of action to demand investment in their communities, and a commitment from City Council to stop the construction of a new $95 million dollar training facility for CPD before a vote to approve the company selected design & build the facility comes across their desks later this spring.
“I see a big discrepancy between what Rahm is planning for our neighborhoods and our communities’ demands… We are not backing down,” says Whitney Young High School senior Marcos Hernandez.
Yesterday’s die-in builds off of a youth-led Flashmob downtown on Monday, and the announcement of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Mayor’s Office for refusing to release e-mails which would demonstrate the planning for the cop academy began long before the Department of Justice report on Chicago Police violence was released. Rahm Emanuel has frequently pointed to the DOJ report as the justification for the new massive expense and expansion of CPD, aka “the false advertisement of trying to bring justice and resolve for what happened to Laquan with this cop academy,” says Mariah Roberts of Simeon Young Activists.
Rahm Emanuels’ plan to spend $95 million on a new, 32-acre police academy this year in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood, has drawn criticism from communities across Chicago, including celebrities like Chance the Rapper. The #NoCopAcademy campaign in Chicago is led by young Black people from Assata’s Daughters & Simeon Young Activists Club, and is supported by over 65 community organizations across the city and country. For more information and updates on the #NoCopAcademy campaign, visit https://nocopacademy.com
View Coverage of the Die-in Here:
“Chicago youth stage ‘die-in’ in City Hall to demand defunding of $95 mill cop academy, more community resources”
Chicago Tribune – Laura Rodriguez
“No Cop Academy In Chicago: Black Students Hold Hours-Long Sit-In At City Hall”
Shadowproof – Kevin Gosztola
“Chance The Rapper Supports Student Protest In Chicago Against New Police Academy”
Hotnewhiphop.com – Chantilly Post
“Students Stage Sit-In To Protest Chicago’s $95M Police Academy Plan; Chance The Rapper Supports The ‘Revolution’”
Blavity – Tonja Renée Stidhum
“Students Protest Police Academy at City Hall”
WGN – WGN Web Desk
Photos here:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/loveandstrugglephotos/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2116699528566420
