Youth racial justice organization calls for the demilitarization of local and campus police departments across the United States.
New York, NY—October 10th, 2014
Million Hoodies Movement for Justice has announced a national campaign to demilitarize local and campus police departments across the country as an effort to change practices that continue to disproportionately affect communities of color with racial profiling, zero tolerance policing, and the use of unregulated excessive force, consequences of the war on drugs and the war on terrorism.
In the United States, policing became militarized through federal programs during the 1990s. The Department of Defense’s 1033 program arm local and campus police departments with military-styled weapons without an inch of oversight. Within the last 17 years, more than $4.3 billion worth of equipment including MRAP vehicles, grenade launchers, tanks, and tear gas, has been distributed across local and campus police departments.
Over 150+ public, private, and community colleges in the U.S. have police forces with military equipment through the 1033 program and Pentagon – schools from the entire University of Texas system, Emory University, Rice University, Purdue University, to the University of California, Berkeley. Million Hoodies is calling for undergraduate, graduate, and community college students across the country to join the call to take action on their campuses against the continued militarization of police and criminalization of young people of color by signing up today: http://bit.ly/JoinMHCampaigns.
This campaign will be a focal point for Million Hoodies’ strategic communications and grassroots organizing efforts to address the systemic challenges that face communities of color.
“Our work is centered around addressing the structural and systemic challenges that affect young people of color today. The Demilitarize Police campaign will offer a culture change to the systemic nature of policing,” says Dante Barry, Deputy Director of Million Hoodies Movement for Justice.
Million Hoodies Movement for Justice is a grassroots network building next generation leaders to end mass criminalization and gun violence. With 15+ chapters across the country, Million Hoodies organizes students, artists, and young people of color to advance a participatory democracy and human rights for all and transforms the public dialogue about anti-black racism.
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