Resist: JusticeLA Takes a Direct Action Against Institutional Racism in LA / Part 3 of 12

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Racism in LA – Justice LA hits the streets with 100 jail beds to take direct action against Los Angeles county’s $3.5 billion prison construction project.

By Patrisse Cullors

JusticeLA hits the streets with 100 jail beds to take a direct action against Los Angeles County’s $3.5 billion prison construction project.

RESIST is a 12 episode docuseries that follows the grassroots work of the intersectional organizations fighting the Los Angeles county’s $3.5 billion jail expansion plan in 2018. RESIST examines the issues of cash bail, unlawful arrest, over-policing of Black and brown neighborhoods, and mass incarceration.

Transcript provided by YouTube:

00:06

– Los Angeles has one of the largest

00:09

prison systems in the world.

00:13

that’s gonna fight against the 3.5 billion jail expansion

00:17

which includes a mental health jail,

00:21

They’re in the business of institutional racism.

00:24

All it’s led to is 2 million people

00:26

incarcerated across the country.

00:28

– There are people who are suffering,

00:30

who have mental health conditions, who are dying.

00:32

There are police officers who are abusing people.

00:34

Sheriffs are hurting people, killing innocent people.

00:38

And I wouldn’t feel right…

00:41

if I knew that information and didn’t do anything with it,

00:44

coming from where I come from.

00:49

(woman): Go south until Temple,

00:53

That’s where you stop, you don’t go past Temple,

00:56

you turn right on Temple,

00:58

and you pull over and block that lane.

01:00

– That sounds great. Alright Kim,

01:02

so we have the whole team here. We’re gonna go over

01:04

this plan one more time, and then we’re gonna come over.

01:07

– OK. Thanks everybody. – OK, bye!

01:09

We are doing a huge action

01:11

to challenge the County Board of Supervisors

01:14

building a 3.5 billion dollar jail, and, um…

01:18

We are gonna be delivering a hundred jail beds

01:21

right in front of their building.

01:23

For us, this is sort of like phase one…

01:27

of a long campaign to make sure that we don’t

01:30

keep caging folks here in Los Angeles.

01:34

– These are the types of things that change hearts and minds,

01:38

and that changes society.

01:42

somebody’s gotta do it.

01:48

– And we’re off! – Yeah!

01:52

– This is the biggest action I’ve ever (bleep) done.

02:02

– The worst case scenario today would be…

02:06

that the LAPD would use some sort of force or violence.

02:10

You’re never prepared for that.

02:16

My sister was murdered by the Torrance police

02:21

on Halloween of last year.

02:25

And they shot her over thirty times.

02:29

I’m nervous today, I’m not gonna lie.

02:48

Direct action and civil disobedience

02:51

gives us the opportunity to tell the community

02:53

how important these issues are.

02:59

For us, part of the message

03:01

is saying we are willing to disrupt business as usual.

03:10

– Orlando! Let’s move ’em out.

03:18

What I need to know right now… – Yes?

03:20

– …is time frame. I need to know time frame.

03:23

– OK, I’m gonna find that out. – Or else…

03:24

what’s gonna happen is I’m going to implement a time frame.

03:30

– They wanna shut down… – They wanna do, like, 9:30.

03:32

– Right, which is when the BOS meeting starts.

03:34

– It starts at 9:30? – Yeah.

03:35

– OK. Alright. – So, no.

03:37

‘Cause we want them to know that we’re here.

03:39

– What I asked… No, no, no, what I asked you to do

03:41

is tell them to leave their trucks here

03:43

to expedite the time to unload, and then reload.

03:49

– You tried taking the truck away.

03:50

– We won’t take it away. – Excuse me.

03:52

– Now they’re moving it, now that’s gonna add time.

03:54

Now I have to get the trucks back.

03:56

– They want us to keep the trucks here,

03:57

’cause they’re going to want us to, um…

04:01

They’re going to want us to pick up the beds

04:03

and leave at a certain time, but we’re not.

04:05

So we’re gonna go ditch the truck.

04:07

– We wanna be able to disrupt.

04:10

But we also want to be able to keep people safe.

04:14

So having an attorney negotiate things with the police

04:16

can prevent things from getting out of hand.

04:18

– OK. They say that they want y’all to move in an hour.

04:25

But we know that until they say those magic words,

04:29

unlawful assembly, you don’t have to go anywhere.

04:34

(helicopter blades whirring)

04:37

– One, two, three, four.

04:39

Open up those prison doors!

04:44

Stop the (bleep) prison state!

04:46

– This campaign, it’s really about imagining.

04:50

It’s about reinventing what we’ve been doing.

04:54

And we have a number. You got 3.5 billion dollars.

04:57

Let’s imagine something with that.

04:59

Something that doesn’t mean

05:00

continuing to do the same thing,

05:03

and criminalize our people.

05:04

– This visual is a plead

05:06

to divest from the jail plan

05:08

and invest in health care, invest in youth centers.

05:12

(man): That’s right! – Invest in education,

05:16

and other resources that benefit our communities.

05:19

The system of incarceration is one that continues

05:23

They criminalize us simply for who we are.

05:28

The trans community is here today in solidarity

05:30

with the LA Justice Coalition

05:33

to make sure that the Board of Supervisors

05:35

ensure that trans and gender nonconforming communities

05:38

and all marginalized communities here in Los Angeles,

05:41

get social support services that we need.

05:43

– Jail did not help me.

05:45

My community, when I came home,

05:49

and who allowed me to even have a second chance.

05:51

‘Cause if it was left up to the system, I’d be in prison.

05:54

(Bleep) this. We need alternatives.

05:56

We don’t want new jails.

05:57

We want alternatives for our communities,

05:59

and we need help for our loved ones that are coming home.

06:02

– If we can figure out a way to sit down together,

06:04

we can figure out ways that can be beneficial

06:07

to that many more people.

06:08

(crowd): No more jails! No more jails!

06:13

– Not now! – No more jails!

06:15

– Never! – Two hundred people are here.

06:18

Many of us are going inside the County Board of Supervisors.

06:20

LA does not want to see 3.5 billion dollar jails.

06:23

The people are speaking today.

06:25

We’ll see what the elective officials have to say.

06:27

– A lot of times, elected officials get to avoid

06:29

interacting with the public.

06:31

But we want the people who are making

06:32

decisions about our futures to look at us up close.

06:35

And to know that this is only the beginning of our fight

06:39

Good afternoon supervisors Mark-Anthony Johnson

06:41

with Dignity and Power Now and Justice LA,

06:43

a coalition of over 40 organizations

06:45

across the County, who came together

06:47

to draft and support the motion you have in front of you.

06:50

– We’re urging you, please,

06:52

to invest in something beyond mass incarceration

06:54

for Black and Brown people in LA County.

06:56

– These beds represent trauma,

06:57

torture, embarrassment, isolation, shame, and death.

07:01

By building these new facilities,

07:03

the Board of Supervisors are saying

07:05

that state-sanctioned violence is OK.

07:08

– Right now, I’m supposed to be at the Justice LA protest

07:12

but I was just too overwhelmed.

07:14

My son John was killed while he was under police custody.

07:19

This is very hard for me just to…

07:27

(Crowd in video): No more jails!

07:29

No more jails! – Shut ’em up!

07:33

(Helen): It’s just so powerful. (sniffling)

07:45

Because when I first started, I only had me and my family.

07:51

to help me get out there.

07:53

I’m just glad everybody here now.

07:59

That finally everybody coming together and fighting.

08:05

– As undocumented people, as immigrants,

08:09

as Black people, as queer… trans people,

08:12

we need to win this fight.

08:14

Like, there’s no way around it.

08:19

the trajectory that this country has,

08:22

and that this new President

08:30

– I believe that we will win.

08:34

That is the power of our people.

08:38

and the fact that, you know, we’re…

08:41

prepared to do whatever it takes.

08:46

(Patrisse): We’ve done really well this far.

08:48

But we’re only just beginning.

08:52

– I didn’t think I’d be able to do this a long time ago.

08:55

Five years ago. But I can.

09:02

♪ You’re stronger than the world ♪

09:04

♪ And its illusions ♪

09:06

♪ Don’t be afraid ♪

09:09

♪ It’s all a game ♪

09:11

♪ I’ll help you start a silent revolution ♪

This post was previously published on YouTube.