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.