N.C. Jews rally for justice
(pictured above: Carolina Jews for Justice take part in a protest earlier this month.)
Members of Carolina Jews for Justice joined activists and supporters from across the Triangle joined activists from several other religious and grassroots organizations for a “Black Lives Matter” protest on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at CCB Plaza in Durham. Similar protests have been held around the world in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and many other unarmed black men.
As the night of the protest was the first day of the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, Jewish participants lit menorahs and drew parallels between the Chanukah story of liberation from military oppression to the story of Americans of color struggling against oppressive state violence.
Protestors issued a series of local demands in response to what they call violent and suppressive tactics by the Durham Police Department.
The demands include the following:
• Provide all Durham Police officers with training and development around de-escalation, crowd control and civil disobedience situations.
• Stop interfering with (citizens’) right to peacefully assemble. When residents do gather in demonstrations, do not use militarized tactics and weaponry against our people.
• Redirect funds spent on militarized police presence to community needs such as education and job training.
• Use available community video footage to investigate and correct incidents from Friday, Dec. 5 and Saturday, Dec. 13, where excessive force was used by officers. Apply appropriate consequences in situations where DPD officers are found to have used excessive force.
• Respond to the demand from Spirithouse, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the FADE Coalition to engage with the Center for Policing Equity to offer real and potentially culture changing transformation of the Durham Police Department – not training that offers lip service to diversity and equity.
These demands are supported by Carolina Jews for Justice, a statewide social justice nonprofit that has supported Moral Mondays and other local, progressive activism.
