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Getting settled in for the Know Your Rights panel discussion starting in a few min! Run by @defundcpd, @BSAatUVA, @plumas_at_uva, and others! Will be live tweeting as much as i can 
Hereâs link and info: https://twitter.com/bsaatuva/status/1321835791497265152
Still waiting for it to start , guess we are running a few min late !
Turns out i had the wrong link 
thankfully my brother helped me out
thankfully my brother helped me out
first question being tackled by @FreeThinker365 Ang Conn of @defundcpd . She is talking about the prison industrial complex , and itâs relation to the school-to-prison pipeline
*its 
Say you get sent to jail as a young person b/c of STP pipeline, youâre then thrown into society when you get out and are under constant policing, called parole. You have to have a job, housing, etc - which can be hard to complete when you have a criminal record
If you have the wrong link, here is the right one ! https://virginia.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMudOioqj0qGtx5M8tdKfRmxQYhKlPwllNX
Now we have Luis Oyola of the @LegalAidJustice . He is talking about how the PIC is related to immigrant detention centers, and the criminalization of being an immigrant
Under the Obama admin, we had more deportations than even under trump
Next question - what language should people adopt when we talk about victims of the carceral state?
@DonGathers1 talks about being empathetic and meeting people where they are. âWe are one slip...from being right where they are.â We need to understand they are still a part of society.
Ang says to refer to them as people who have been affected by the injustice system. We should stay away from terms like convict and inmate.
Luis says in legislation and similar environments we do often have to use formal words like âdetaineesâ, but in every day language we need to use more humanizing terms, like âpeople who have been held in detention centersâ
One student asks about what resources beginners to abolitionist work and activism should use!
Ang answers - critical resistance, transform harm, and MPD150. These are all organizations, they work to inform and provide accessible toolkits for people to get involved in abolition work
Some other abolitionist names dropped - Mariame Kaba, Mia Mingus, and Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Donna Gasapo of Anarchist People of Color also answers, suggests becoming a pen pal with a person who has been affected by PIC. also joining local organizing/activist groups involved in abolitionist work.
Some other resources dropped in chat : Center for Political Education, http://AbolitionistJournal.org
@donavonlea urges people to go beyond attending lectures and zoom calls, and to actually get involved and talk to people!
Donna talks about importance of building one-on-one relationships with people when organizing. âTry to build genuine and honest relationships...you need people you can trust and rely onâ
Donna is also involved in ICE out of Cville , forgot to mention earlier!
Next question - why is it important that police departments be defunded and eventually abolished , and not reformed?
Ang - institution of policing can never be reformed. We get into this cycle of outrage over police violence and adding reforms but it never results in anything. You cannot reform an institution rooted in white supremacy, and that was built to protect property.
"there is no amount of training...that is going to hold these institutions accountable for the harm they cause in our communities"
@DonGathers1 talking - he laughs when he hears about reforms now. the system is working the way it was designed to, to oppress Black and brown life. We need to build something different, and continue to pour money down "a black hole" and "result to get anything out of it"
*expect to
Don talking about implicit bias training - no amount of training is going to change how someone is, or the system overall
Ang on reform - "we cannot allow propaganda to given to the community...when we know that community safety, it does not begin with the police dept". True harm reduction is defunding CPD 18 mil budget, and putting money into the community, like housing, mental health, etc.
Ang - "we have a very serious problem, and reformation is not going to solve it"
Don - "you can't dismantle the master's house with the master's tools"
Luis - making sure to bring ICE into convo! Abolishing ICE is not just getting rid of the org established by Bush in 2003, we have to get rid of the deportation machine that dehumanizes immigrants
Ang @FreeThinker365 - says that "abolish the police" goes hand in hand with abolishing ICE, and abolishing policing overall
great graphic on reform v abolition: http://criticalresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CR_NoCops_reform_vs_abolition_REV2020.pdf
correction from earlier tweet - Don said to NOT pour money down a "black hole" w/ reforms - sorry!!
Donna talking about Unite the Right - white supremacists were "beating the fuck" out of counterprotesters, and the police did nothing!!
also former UVA president stood on the lawn of her plantation *cough* i mean mansion during UTR, watching UVA students get beaten by white supremacists and neo-Nazis!!
police during this were "protecting and serving" - they were "protecting and serving" the status quo
the charlottesville CRB came out of the UTR violence - but if you've been paying attention to our coverage at C-VILLE and other local news, the CRB has yet to be able to get things done b/c of obstruction from City Council, CPD, etc.
another resource just shared: https://www.8toabolition.com/
Luis talking about ICE - how local jails and pd's collaborate with ICE and literally operate as ICE agents, called 287(g) agreements
My home county, Prince William County, was one of the first in VA to use this agreement. they only recently ended their contract with ICE. Culpepper still has its contract.
there is no constitutional basis to throw someone in jail for a detainer request, but police still act on them. even if their bail is paid, the police will hold folks longer so the ICE agents can get them.
some jails have ended doing detainer requests but will still send notifications to ICE about when/where they'll be released, so ICE can nab them if they want to
the @LegalAidJustice is trying to get police to stop putting citizenship status in databases so that they cannot collab with ICE
we now have Cherry Henley from Lending Hands on the call, which works with people who have been affected by PIC in Charlottesville https://lendinghandsnetwork.weebly.com/
She is talking about how socioeconomic status is related to incarceration - police are always parked in front of low income communities and just sit and wait . they will stop residents for crazy things, like tail lights, just to pull them into the PIC
in courts - you can see the diff tone of judge when they are dealing with someone like a UVA student, vs a Black resident. it's just a whole diff atmosphere in the court room.
Cherry - "all people have biases" , but it happens even more in CJ system and low wealth people have always been targeted
Ang - we know police target predom black and brown communities. we know classism has a lot to do white supremacy. your demographic determines a lot with how the police are going to handle you. ppl in upper class neighborhoods barely have police going through their neighborhoods.
Ang - when we are talking about classism, we need to recognize it is a form of white supremacy. "Black and brown folks are capital in this system of WS and we need to recognize that."
Ang - if you're unable to access food, medicine, and other necessities, what are you going to do ? you're going to do whatever you can do to get them, even if you have to steal it
Don - compares ICE to what happened to Japanese Americans during WWII - ICE is rounding up people and sending them to concentration camps
Ang - we had a question before about police jobs and their pensions once we defund and abolish police? "I don't care about their jobs and pensions...I care about their harassment of people!"
Ang - "sitting at the table with folks in decision making positions, [they] are only going to allow you to have a certain amount of say" . "we need to build actual community and not rely on state to provide the necessities"
Ang - she talks about how charlottesville is a very wealthy community (among white people, of course). there is so much mutual aid that could be going on here , that could really be helping our neighbors in need!
@donavonlea asks how all of the panelists balance their activism with their jobs. Luis says that fortunately this is his job with @LegalAidJustice, but still he is really passionate about it, which helps to prevent burn out
@DonGathers1 - "you can't train someone to be an activist. you're either born one or you're not." it's lonely, stressful, traumatizing, and not easy! it's something people are called to do.
Cherry - she has been doing activism since she was 12. and as a black person, this is nothing new for us. But she agrees with Don this is something you're called to do or that is really a part of your life. Black people do not all think the same, and that's a part of organizing!
Ang - the organizing she does is throughout the day, all while working two jobs. she teaches medical certification programs, in solidarity w/ community engagement. she also works to provide addiction prevention and COVID relief. "i just want everyone to have what they need"
Ang - "being a Black person in this so-called United States is a form of activism in itself." "even going outside is challenging." if we get pulled over, we don't how the police will treat us. "every day is a form of activism for Black and brown folk"
she makes sure to say this includes undocu and queer folk of color!
another student asks - how do you find the motivation and the energy to continue this fight against these injustices every day?
Ang - "every day that I wake up, I envision a different world. a world where we have everything." there is times when she or her comrades don't have something and need to lean on each other, "it's almost crippling"
Ang - "we know that another world really is possible. we have seen that vision...we have seen it where people can get their needs met during a pandemic. so what makes you think that on a daily basis, people can't get their needs met normally? these things are possible!"
through mutual aid, people are getting their rent paid, we are stopping evictions, people are getting food. these things are possible, we just need to advocate for it - redistribution of wealth.
Ang - we call the police on people who are having mental health crises, calling CPS on people who don't have food - these are things that can be taken care of by the community.
Cherry - she tries to stay away from all of the negative things said about black folk, and doesn't feed into untruthful narratives
@DonGathers1 - every day he gets up, he counts his blessings, and thinks of where he came from. the news brings him down sometimes, but once he looks at the Black kids playing outside in his neighborhood and his own kids, he remembers they are who we are fighting for
Don - he asks the students on the call what they are willing to do on Grounds to help. He talks about how he sent an email to @presjimryan, the football coach, and athletic director about painting "black lives matter" on the football field
He says he hasn't received any response to the email, and encourages students to push for actions like this!
One student talked about how white students painted over the Breonna Taylor msg on Beta Bridge last week, with a "confirm ACB" msg. by the next day it was painted over with ACAB, but still there were "confirm ACB" fliers around Grounds and she knew she needed to speak up about it
Here is the message the white kids wrote: https://twitter.com/anisa_mo626/status/1319144785295347714?s=20
Ang encourages students to continue to stand up against the UVA admin and continue calls to defund the University police, for instance.
Don also talks about the need to pay student athletes, paying tuition for descendants of enslaved laborers who built UVA, etc.
Ang says this could go even further with so many issues at UVA, and universities overall. "why are we still feeding into this system that is not providing proper education to our children, youth, and adult learners?"
Don - we can't forget about UVA hospital!! it has ruined so many peoples' lives with their financial practices https://khn.org/news/uva-health-system-sues-patients-virginia-courts-garnishment-liens-bankruptcy/
sorry i missed a few points trying to find the article about uva hospital. not sure if i found the one that had went viral. but we talked about need to take down TJ statue and other symbols of WS.
Last question - ways we can support activists and their orgs. Luis drops his email ([email protected]) and legal aid website https://www.justice4all.org/
Don - recommends getting out to meetings and making your voice heard! it can be city council, human rights commission, school board, etc. and rn it's even easier, since you can do it virtually. he also reminds people of election day next week.
Don - recommends people becoming poll watchers, to prevent acts of intimidation against marginalized folks. also, you can vote early until saturday.
And - recommends people follow @defundcpd on all social media platforms. they do not take donations. she also says to get involved in community initiatives, like Charlottesville Harm Reduction, and mutual aid, like Cville Cares https://www.facebook.com/harmredux/
*Ang, sorry!
Ang - "when we're talking about abolition...it's about presence, not absence." "we're talking about community based initiatives that involve getting to know your neighbor, exchanging those ideas, and talking to them [and] the barriers they face."
also get involved in low barrier services - so many nonprofits get funds from city gov't but aren't providing the necessary services to our community bc of all the restrictions/barriers they impose
looks like we are about to wrap up!
round of applause for all of the panelists tonight - lots of great info and knowledge shared 
Ang encourages all of the young organizers on the call - "y'all got it" "you're going to change how this country works"
Ang says that they will probably have another defunding convo after the election, and she invites all of the young activists to participate and answer the 50+ questions submitted to Defund CPD. "y'all give me so much hope."
and we are done! make sure to follow @defundcpd for notifications on upcoming convos where more questions about abolition will get answered 
PS i participated in the call out of my own passions/interests, this will not be in the paper. so hopefully this thread will suffice lol
PS i participated in the call out of my own passions/interests, this will not be in the paper. so hopefully this thread will suffice lol
