The Thurgood Marshall Law Association, comprised of African American and diverse attorneys in Toledo, are outraged by the countless deaths of our black brothers and sisters at the hands of police.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose, they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
When citizens\u00a0are\u00a0killed\u00a0in\u00a0broad\u00a0daylight, in their homes, or anywhere else\u00a0by police officers sworn to serve\u00a0them, it is evident that America has failed us.\u00a0As citizens,\u00a0we seek equal justice, and\u00a0we\u00a0cannot and\u00a0will not sit idly by\u00a0as our brothers and sisters lie\u00a0lifeless in the street.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently explained in an Op-Ed in the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/em>, \u201cRacism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible \u2014 even if you\u2019re choking on it \u2014 until you let the sun in. Then you see it\u2019s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it\u2019s always still in the air.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Black lives have also suffered\u00a0at the hands of those who vehemently resist progress and change. We stand proudly on the shoulders of men and women who came before us, like Charles Hamilton Houston, who reinforced the\u00a0value of understanding the\u00a0Constitution of the United States and how to explore its uses in solving problems in communities and improving the conditions of Americans. This is why we fight.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Today, Black America still lives in frustration and fear with the real prospect of random and tragic mistreatment borne out of being viewed and treated less than equal to others.\u00a0 A series of inextricably intertwined events underscore the need for Black lawyers to mobilize and serve as a catalyst for real change ridding America of structural racism.\u00a0Thus, we will continue to fight to end systemic racism and discrimination in our society and within the legal profession. By mentoring the next generation of minority\u00a0attorneys\u00a0and leaders in our community, working\u00a0with community\u00a0organizations to ensure that equal justice under the law is not just a slogan or a catch phrase-but an unwavering belief and principle, and connecting those who are in need of legal services to competent attorneys who can best represent their needs; we will continue fighting for the justice we seek.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In this moment in time, we recognize that our community and the world\u00a0are\u00a0justifiably angry, frustrated and tired. We can relate. TMLA stands in unity and solidarity with those individuals and organizations dedicated to doing the grueling work to eradicate police brutality and misconduct, structural and institutional racism, personal racism, inequity and all injustices against African Americans, in this nation, and specifically in our community. We recognize our role in this fight, and we are ready to meet that challenge.\u00a0We welcome the opportunity to collaborate and partner with anyone in this work.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n To that end, the TMLA submits the following action items to address the inequities and racial injustice faced daily by African Americans and other minorities in our communities:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Establish a national, statewide and local Police Misconduct Registry.\u00a0 If a law enforcement officer has been found to have violated the law or departmental policies, those incidents should be kept, cataloged, and made available to the public.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Establish an effective Civilian Police Review Board with the authority to act when necessary, to recommend reprimands or other punishment for wrongdoing officers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Require a racial competency evaluation, in addition to the required psychological and mental health evaluations, prior<\/em> to being hired by a law enforcement agency.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ALL officers must be required to wear a body camera and to keep it on when they are interacting with the public.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hire African American and other people from the community in a pipeline law enforcement\/community liaison program, train and mentor them and promote them in the law enforcement ranks.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Conduct a survey of African Americans in the legal field in Toledo and institute hiring processes to make each institution\/office more diverse.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cWe cannot play ostrich. Democracy just cannot flourish amid fear. Liberty cannot bloom amid hate. Justice cannot take root amid rage. America must get to work. In the chill climate in which we live, we must go against the prevailing wind. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust. We must dissent from a nation that has buried its head in the sand, waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away. We must dissent from a government that has left its young without jobs, education or hope. We must dissent from the poverty of vision and the absence of moral leadership. We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.\u201d Submitted on behalf of the TMLA Board and Members<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Thurgood Marshall Law Association, comprised of African American and diverse attorneys in Toledo, are outraged by the countless deaths of our black brothers and sisters at the hands of police.\u00a0 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[19],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}I<\/s>n an effort to remove the spotlight from the injustices that black people face in\u00a0America,\u00a0there has been much debate about three words\u2013Black Lives Matter.\u00a0But we cannot move forward to address these injustices without shining light on and acknowledging this simple truth \u2013 black lives do matter. Black lives matter because black lives bring\u00a0value\u00a0to every space we enter. Black lives matter because\u00a0black lives have meaning, and black lives matter because black lives foster change.\u00a0Black lives matter because black lives are human lives. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u2015\u00a0Thurgood Marshall<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n