On August 28th Twitter exploded with the hashtag #justicetogether as this grassroots campaign to "end police brutality in the United States" was launched. With their launch Justice Together released this statement concerning their focus as an organization:
So what does Justice Together propose to citizens who "don't quite know" what to do about police brutality? On their website, they make two conjectures: 1) "police brutality is continuing at a record pace" and 2) "the movement against police brutality is growing in depth and reach...(and) this may very well be the largest movement for civil rights in the history of the United States in generations."
Justice Together proposes a twofold plan for addressing these trends, the first being what is called "50 State Policy Teams." According to their website, there will be a policy team made up of volunteers for each state. The job of the policy team is to assess local police departments based on a 35 point evaluation. Depending on the outcome of the evaluation, a plan of action will be designed specific to each department that will be carried out in the following months. The purpose behind this is to systematically eliminate bad policing one department at a time.
The second branch of Justice Together's action plan is "The Red Record." Based on a book (of the same title), written in 1895 by Ida B. Wells, the purpose of the Red Record is to document cases of police brutality. But while Wells used a statistical approach (to document lynchings in the US), the Red Record is opening up documentation to many art forms. Volunteers are encouraged to research and write about instances of police brutality as well as submit photographs, choreograph dances, write songs, perform spoken word poetry, or document their experiences via any other medium. Being the first campaign to advocate in this way makes them highly likely to succeed. Not only is Justice Together refusing to limit their modes of expression, they are also appealing to more audiences by encouraging multiple art forms.
So far, Justice Together is the biggest attempt at organizing this nationwide movement. Members of the board saw a need for organization as well as action and so have designed Justice Together to accommodate this, and it is likely to work. Because membership is based on volunteerism, people who choose to become involved will already be devoted enough to the cause that they will be unlikely to give up or quit. This promises a nationwide push for department reform and graphic, in-depth, and moving documentation of the struggle from here on out.
If you're interested in getting involved visit: http://justicetogether.org/action. They are looking for writers willing to report on police brutality as well as artists, song writers, etc.. And if you don't have a creative hand, Justice Together is working on organizing the Policy Teams in all 50 states. If you are someone who is disgusted by police brutality but doesn't know what to do, this is a great opportunity to help out and be a part of history.
