Updates

This Saturday, around 30 residents gathered at Bethel Lutheran Church for a teach-in on #NoCopAcademy.  It was a powerful afternoon, where we heard a range of perspectives on why the cop academy in West Garfield Park is a bad idea, but felt unanimous determination to fight it.  Gloria, of Jane Addams Senior Caucus, welcomed us to the space and shared why she doesn’t want this facility just two blocks from her home.  We heard and responded to powerful spoken word poetry from Arewa of the 411 movement for Pierre Loury, her nephew who was killed by Chicago Police in North Lawndale in April of 2016.  And Maria Hernandez of Black Lives Matter Chicago shared the results of a nearly 500 person survey of the 37th ward, asking residents their opinions on the proposed cop academy and how they’d like to see $95 million invested in their neighborhood.

February 28, 5 constituents of Chicago’s 47th ward continued the fight for NoCop Academy, in a meeting with Alderman Ameya Pawar.  We presented him with petitions signed by over 100  ward residents, and made our case. Alderman Pawar listened intently to our concerns, and shared his experience managing the politics of his ward and the city, while continuing fight for equality and the basic human rights of all Chicagoans. Although we directly questioned his logic at times in support of the academy, we were overall encouraged by his intentional thought process about the academy, and the concerns he reported with moving ahead.  We will continue to follow up and discuss this issue with Alderman Pawar and will hold him accountable to the statements he said in our discussion. This was an empowering and important meeting that we hope will add strength to our fight!

Want to meet with your Alderperson?  Need support?  Let us know by sending an e-mail to nocopacademy[at]gmail.com!

Want to talk about #NoCopAcademy with your community, but been waiting for some resources in Spanish?  Here they are!  Developed by friends and volunteers supporting the campaign, including Organized Communities Against Deportation.

PETITION SHEETS:   Download Here

MINI ZINE: Download Here

Have you translated other materials?  Please share them with us at nocopacademy@gmail.com so that we can post them and more people can use them!

ICYMI: On Thursday, March 1st, over a hundred Rogers Park residents gathered for a march in support of #NoCopAcademy and to shame 49th Ward Ald. Joe Moore for his unequivocal support of the mayor’s plan to build a $95 million cop academy. Pictures and more below!

At the end of the March, in front of Joe Moore’s office, members of Black & Pink Chicago shared words from incarcerated members, with their ideas for how to invest in communities in Chicago that would actually get at the root causes of violence.  Read the full list of demands here:

On February 26th, a group of 33rd Ward residents confronted Alderman Deborah Mell outside her office on ward night. The group rallied with signs, noisemakers, and chants, and delivered a petition with 70 signatures from ward residents stating that her ward does not want the $95 million cop academy.

The group urged Ald. Mell to vote no to the next City Council meeting vote in March, where they will approve a contractor for the academy, as well any votes approving the academy going forward. Ald. Mell responded to group by stalling interacting with them, refusing to answer any questions, and interrogating them about where they lived. She claimed that the group was only a small fraction of voices in the ward that oppose the cop academy and disengaged.