You may have concluded that the #BlackLivesMatter movement jumped the shark when a black, queer liberation collective shut down the Bay Bridge by chaining together a line of parked cars. Why? It was Martin Luther King Day, and this was the sort of civil disobedience in which he himself would have participated.

Still, it’s important for voters to follow Campaign Zero, a spin-off of the #BlackLivesMatter movement which hopes to help pass legislation that would have a profound effect on police departments and their training, funding, hiring and disciplinary policies, and more.

President Obama is in his last year as president, but criminal justice reform in on his to-do list, and DeRay Mckesson recently tweeted about his meeting with Valerie Jarrett and others at the White House. There’s no secret that the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing is happy to work with veterans of #BlackLivesMatter to develop those reforms.

Today, Mckesson unveiled the Police Use of Force Project, which purports to show how certain cities enable police violence.

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The New York Daily News’ social justice writer’s name seems to have disappeared from the list of directors.

It’s all of these right-wing Republican mayors, we’re telling you.

 

Be patient. Campaign Zero calls for an end to the policing of minor offenses like marijuana possession, disorderly conduct, and trespassing. Also, active officers and prospective hires would be required to be tested for “unconscious” or “implicit” racial bias.

As promised in his State of the Union address, perhaps through this effort we’ll hear the voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love, as the president does in “the protester determined to prove that justice matters — and the young cop walking the beat, treating everybody with respect, doing the brave, quiet work of keeping us safe.”

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Tags: #blacklivesmatterCampaign Zeroderay mckessonPolice Use of Force ProjectPresident's Task ForceValerie JarrettWhite House