Rockford, IL June 4, 2020

March with PRIDE for #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Are you apart of the LGBTQA+ 🌈 community here in Milwaukee or the surrounding areas and want to show your SUPPORT for the #BlackLivesMatter movement? ….. do you want to show YOUR SUPPORT for a community so effected by systematic racism and oppression??…. have you wanted to STAND UP for what’s right as a unified community ???

IF the answer is YES, join myself and MANY OTHERS are we STAND UP and WALK for what’s right … which are BLACK LIVES …. there’s many ways to celebrate pride BUT this would not only show how you support but also how YOUR PRIDE guides u to things unlimited !!!!

THIS SUNDAY, June 7th, at HENRY MEIR Festival grounds (main gate that is used for general admission for PRIDEFESTMKE ) at 1pm …. we will walk for PROGRESS OF OUR BLACK QUEER, TRANS, and gender non-conforming LIVES… because THEY MATTER!!!

Come dressed in your rainbow gear or something FABULOUS like we are 😊..signs of hope love and support, bring your kids or WHOEVER … and let’s unify like NO OTHER in this peaceful protest demonstration !!!

June 03, 2020

Re: FORMAL COMPLAINT – May 30, 2020 violent attack by police in Roanoke City Virginia

Attention:

Roanoke City Chief of Police Roman

Roanoke City Manager Cowell

Members of City Council

Sherman Lea Sr.

William Bestpitch

Anita Price

Michelle Davis

Joseph Cobb

Patricia White-Boyd

Joseph Cobb

Djuna Osborne

(Please see attachments as supporting documentation of my formal complaints)

I am Bernadette BJ Lark, a Black American female.  I live in Roanoke Virginia with 15+ years serving my community in arts, and education. I am a mother of 3. I have a MBA, and minor master in education.  I was previously employed as a teacher in Roanoke City Public Schools for 8+ years. I am currently employed as an educator at Jefferson Center Music Lab for 5+years. I have been recognized as a Roanoke Citizen of the Year for Arts and NAACP youth Impactor’s recipient.  I have been violently attacked by Roanoke City Police and law enforcement officers. Memorializing this trauma is extremely tasking, and I’ll do my best documenting this formal complaint.

My delay in submitting this communication memorializing my experiences and eye-witness accounts is because I’m still trying to process the trauma of being violently attacked and violated by law enforcement. I’m memorializing my experiences and witnessed accounts during my walk from Washington Park to Roanoke City, VA police department on Saturday May 30, 2020.

My experience has been that Roanoke City Virginia leaders behave as if they need to see the reprehensible behavior of law enforcement, to acknowledge it. It shouldn’t have to be this way, but it is. We need to see it to acknowledge the truth that it exists.

The history that Roanoke VA leaders have taught me is the need to actually see injustice before leaders will fully accept it. Morally, and ethically, that is not a good thing, but a disturbing truth to my trauma.

Kionte Spencer and George Floyd are not the first Black Americans to be murdered by police. We all know the horrific actions of the Minneapolis police would have been covered up if it wasn’t for the videos being exposed to the public. Kionte Spencer’s and George Floyd’s inexcusable deaths might have gone unnoticed by most of the country.

Rodney King, along with myself, were not the first Black Americans attacked by police. But King’s beating caught on video by Los Angeles cops in the early 1990s was where many Americans had no choice but to acknowledge this reprehensible behavior.

Roanoke City Police and other law enforcement have been videoed on Saturday May 30, 2020 using (what I believe to have been) tear gas, pepper spray, paint and rubber bullets. These violent, and harmful things came raining down on me, and numerous other unarmed individuals.

I watched as police were putting on armored gear, and ballistic-like hardware with snipers targeting me, and unarmed civilians including children in non-violent protests.

This militarization of Roanoke’s police department was on full display during my walk, as many would describe as “a simple march.” The response was unwarranted and extremely violent.

I witnessed an armed white man confront law enforcement and appeared to flaunt his rights without suffering bodily harm on Saturday May 30, 2020.  My experience was totally different; as an unarmed Black female I was violently attacked by law enforcement.

Saturday’s violent attack vividly reminded me that not long ago angry armed White men destroyed property and murdered Blacks when James Meredith attempted to integrate “Ole Miss” before 3,000 federal troops quelled the riot in 1962.

I remember how angry armed white men beat down and attempted to burn and murder the bodies of Freedom Riders in Birmingham and Anniston, Alabama. I remember the video of angry armed White law enforcement in Selma, Alabama trampling and beating unarmed nonviolent Black protesters on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in 1965.

I also remember in all of these hate-filled instances police/law enforcement stood by and watched without impeding. Birmingham Police Commissioner Bull Connor made it clear to the hate-filled racist mobsters that, “when the bus arrives at the terminal, the mob will have 15 minutes to burn, bomb, kill and maim without police intervention or arrests.” This violence was unleashed on Freedom Riders.  The FBI was aware and knowledgeable of the attack in Birmingham way ahead of time and decided not to intervene.

More recently, I’m reliving the trauma of Roof murdering nine black members of the Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.  This emboldened avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof was treated with more care and respect than I received. Law enforcement provided a meal from Burger King during his interrogation by police.

The way I was attacked Saturday, coupled with all of these examples of law and disorder are singed in my collective memory and many other Black people. When I see our community being devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and institutional racism, it is a blatantly clear reminder that white people can arm themselves in so-called peaceful demonstrations while no alarm bells go off among most of their white peers.

The hypocrisy is plain as day, undeniable. Dr. King was celebrated because he took a non-violent stand against violent mobs of white citizens and law enforcement agencies.

Investigate the sources of any false claims that informed non-violent individuals made “premeditated, retaliatory lethal” attacks on police, and/or government buildings May 30. I can assure you this will be proven to be not only highly inaccurate and inflammatory, but incited opposition to the Black Lives Matter actions and protests in and around Roanoke City Virginia.

Why were the white people freely permitted to carry assault weapons and not be attacked by Roanoke City Police and law enforcement on Saturday?

Roanoke has a clear double standard for armed whites versus me. I don’t even care if there is a law that allows open carry in place because I know that this would never be allowed if the people with military grade assault rifles were not white. And don’t try to convince me that these were simply Americans taking advantage of their Second Amendment rights.

I know that none of these individuals who walked from Washington Park May 30 included assault weapons carried by someone other than the heavily armed police and white men. Can you imagine what the news coverage would have said if just one Black man showed up at one of these Black Lives Matter protests with a weapon? All hell would have broken lose; you know this is truth.

I’m struggling to continue processing in words what I experienced, but I’m hopeful you will communicate with me as soon as possible to begin the healing process for me, and possibly others.

Submitted,

Bernadette BJ Lark (BJ Brown)

Community ARTS-reach Founder, Artistic Director

——————————–

P.S.: Here is what I shared with concerned community members on social media for review:

For those who told me to stay at home where it is safe don’t protest……for those who told me covid19 is an invisible disease……racism is an invisible evil deadly disease.

Breonna Taylor. Shot to death AT HOME. The suspect they claimed they were looking for was already in police custody.

Aiyana Mo’Nay Stanley-Jones (July 20, 2002 – May 16, 2010), was a seven-year-old African-American girl from Detroit who was shot in the head and killed by Officer Joseph Weekley during a raid – AT HOME – conducted by the Detroit Police Department’s Special Response Team on May 16, 2010.

Atatiana Jefferson was shot to death in her Fort Worth, Texas, AT HOME  in front of her 8-year-old nephew by a white police officer who opened fire through her bedroom window.

Botham Shem Jean at the Greenville Avenue Church of Christ in Richardson, Texas, Sept. 13, 2018. Jean was shot and killed by Dallas police officer Amber Guyger in his apartment in Dallas – AT HOME.

Williams, an Air Force veteran and mailman, called police during an armed robbery at his house, but was shot by police when they arrived – AT HOME.

The list goes on and on and on: Racism is so bad that police would come to BLACK AMERICAN  homes, pull individuals out of their homes, and lynch us.

Government/RACISTS set fires to HUMAN FLESH, homes, businesses, and churches in Black communities. FACTS.  Don’t bark Jim Crow law of unlawful assembly at me. Covid-19 is a real invisible threat to my health.  RACISM is a real invisible threat to my life that I face daily.

I didn’t plan to watch George Floyd’s murder, just like I didn’t plan for the Covid-19 pandemic. I respond how I choose about what matters to me. You do what your heart/soul instructs you to do and I’ll continue to do what I can, while I can, when I can, for who I can.

I did not protest any constitutional rights yesterday, I protested for the UNBEARABLE recognized grief of Black American Mothers! Mothers of Black Americans!

Thank you for loving me and caring for me. I love you all so very much too. 📢❤️in this TOGETHER

Attached photos:

One photo #JusticeForKionte 2016 -myself and 2 individuals…..photo from yesterday’s protest 2020! IT’S REAL TO ME…….look at Roanoke City put snipers on the roof top – where are those snipers, pepper spray, paint guns, rubber bullets, mace, batons, tasers, during my time of protest with a much larger protest group Woman’s March 🤔😠🤔???…… systemic racism is evil. I was at the front TALKING PEACEFULLY WITH THE POLICE and after their countdown to PEACEFUL protesters they implemented their VIOLENT BRUTAL TACTICS… completely unprovoked …if you were not there then your reports could be flawed! I’m wearing my purple Dashiki..the same one I spoke to the protesters in at Washington Park yesterday before the March against police brutality. If gathering and marching is dangerous, then parades should be cancelled…..WE TOLD THE POLICE WE WOULD NEVER BURN THE JAILHOUSE! (as they ludicrously informed)….OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE IN THOSE CAGES!!!

Ms. Bernadette Brown, top left; Armed open carry white man, top right; Police sniper on roof, bottom right; Police launching canister at unarmed non-violent protesters, bottom left; #Saytheirnames-Stop the Killing March For Justice in Roanoke, VA.

All photos May 30, 2020 Roanoke, Virginia 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Roanoke, VA May 30, 2020 / Photos: Sana Baban‎

Wee Chalk the Walk Granville Station MKE!

As a continued sign of solidarity with National Black Lives Matter Week of Action, Wee Chalk Your Walk. Let’s chalk messages in our own neighborhoods, then let’s go to the chief of police’s neck of the woods. Bring yourself, chalk, and signs. We will start at the corner of 99th and Good Hope. We walk up 99th street and chalk the streets and sidewalks between 99th and 96th street with Black Lives Matter solidarity messages. We will end in front of Chief Morales’ house with a peaceful gathering. This is Family Friendly!

Four Demands of the National Black Lives Matter at School Movement
*Recruit and retain Black educators
*Fully Resourced Restorative Practices
*Black History and Ethnic Studies in all schools
*Fund Counselors, Not cops

https://www.aclu-wi.org/en

MILWAUKEE, June 1, 2020 – The ACLU of Wisconsin today issued the following statement pertaining to the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers against citizens participating in protests following the murders of George Floyd in Minnesota and Joel Acevedo in Milwaukee.

ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ott said:

“This past weekend, state and local law enforcement deployed violent and militant tactics against demonstrators, most of whom were peacefully exercising their First Amendment right to protest. Protesters already grieving the murders of Floyd and Acevedo, and the systematic murder of people of color at the hands of police, should not be met with rubber bullets, tear gas and other militarized weapons by the same government entity that they are protesting against.”

“Tear gas is a dangerous chemical weapon that is deemed illegal for use during warfare by many nations around the world. The use of it in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by a respiratory virus, is inexcusable. We have also seen the devastating injuries that have been caused by the use of rubber bullets. Neither weapon should be used in the streets against civilians, particularly when they are exercising their rights to protest.”

“Over the weekend, many people were arrested and ticketed during these protests, many due to the curfews that were put in place. These curfews provided another pretext for Black and brown men and women engaged in protest to be arrested. In Milwaukee, arrested demonstrators were taken to small holding cells, risking exacerbating the spread of coronavirus, which has already disproportionately affected communities of color.”

“The ACLU of Wisconsin calls on law enforcement to immediately stop its use of excessive force against protesters and ensure a safe environment for demonstrators to express their demand for justice. Curfews in general should be avoided because they make otherwise perfectly lawful behavior a basis for arrest and prosecution.  Any curfew should be time limited and have clear exceptions for members of the media, people without shelter, people traveling to jobs or those who otherwise need to be out. Any curfew must be reviewed on at least a daily basis to ensure that it is only imposed when absolutely necessary to prevent bodily injury or property destruction.”

xxxx

More information on the health consequences of crowd-control weapons is available online: www.aclu.org/report/lethal-disguise-health-consequences-crowd-control-weapons.

More information on protesters’ rights, including the right to record police, is available online: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights/

A video from the ACLU on the right to protest while demanding justice for George Floyd is at: https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1266553313266368518?s=20

Milwaukee, WI / Photo: Joe Brusky

Photos: Ryan Brahmstadt

https://wisconsinprisonvoices.org/

Prison revolt on 5/30/20 at Waupun CI

“The guards and prison administration are treating us as if this lockdown is disciplinary and not due to a worldwide pandemic. They’re angry because now they have to do all of the many jobs that they took for granted when it was the prisoners’ duty to do them, such as cook, clean, pass out the food, the phones, toilet paper, etc, and they’re taking it out on us, the prisoners. They only give us one shower a week, they aren’t giving us daily cleaning supplies in the northwest cellhall. We haven’t had recreation in I don’t know how long. They’re restricting our communication to our families and the media. Certain staff have told us, blatantly, that they don’t care whether we ( prisoners) catch coronavirus and die or not. We (the prisoners) are desperate to know what is going on and why we are being treated this way, when we’ve done nothing to deserve this type of treatment and or isolation. Its so bad that the prisoners in the northwest cellhall began to revolt, on 5/30/20, and started setting fires and throwing fire bombs in an attempt to get the outside world to take notice of what’s going on in here, but the effort was suppressed by the WCI administration.” [ Message received by Milwaukee IWOC on 6/1/20]

5/31/20 Black Lives Matter chants at Waupun Correctional:

“On 5/31, Sunday, at Waupun Correctional 75 incarcerated people were chanting “Black lives matter! George Floyd-Say his name!” Guards threatened to shut off the blowers, people incarcerated continued chants for at least an hour. Guards have shut off the antenna for local station, the only way they’re getting news is through court tv. The North has no electronics or phones. ” [ IWOC informed of this via phone call between IWOC outside volunteer and person inside WCI on 5/31/20, chanting heard over the call.]….

https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

Thousands of participants in Deadly Exchange programs include ICE agents and past and current police chiefs of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, LA, Seattle and Washington DC

September 12, 2018 – From the acting Deputy Director of ICE to the current Chief of Police in Washington DC, from San Diego to Chicago to Atlanta, since 2002 thousands of American law enforcement officials have trained in Israel with Israeli police, military and the Shin Bet. And thousands more have participated in security conferences and workshops with Israeli military, law enforcement and security officials held in the U.S. But despite their branding as top-tier counter-terrorism experts, Israeli police and security agents regularly violate civil rights, and implement racist and deadly policies.

Released today, Deadly Exchange: The Dangerous Consequences of American Law Enforcement Trainings in Israel, comprehensively documents how these trainings solidify partnerships between the U.S. and Israeli governments to exchange methods of state violence and control, including mass surveillance, racial profiling, and suppression of protest and dissent.

Produced by Researching the American Israeli Alliance (RAIA) in partnership with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the report is the result of dozens of FOIAs yielding hundreds of documents, exclusive interviews with American and Israeli personnel, and exhaustive academic and media research in English, Arabic and Hebrew. Accompanying the report, RAIA released the Palestine is Here Database, a search engine mapping Israeli trainings of US law enforcement across American cities and towns.

“American police already have a terrible track record on civil rights and racism – and then they go to Israel and train with Israeli police and security agencies that are documented human rights violators! We should be investing in our communities, not militarizing our police” – Jewish Voice for Peace Deputy Director Stefanie Fox

“The dangers of U.S. law enforcement training in Israel for communities across the United States make clear that U.S. policy on Israel is not just a foreign policy issue, but one of civil rights. This unholy alliance between the U.S. and Israeli governments and American military industries is creating an injustice that we must urgently address” – RAIA Executive Director Eran Efrati

Deadly Exchange: The Dangerous Consequences of American Law Enforcement Trainings in Israel documents how these training programs contradict the heroic efforts of the civil rights movements in the U.S. to counter racist state violence – including counter-terrorism initiatives – in black, brown and poor communities.

CASE STUDY: On a police training exchange in Israel, the Boston Police Commissioner visited Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, where he learned about Israel’s passenger screening process, including racial and ethnic profiling of passengers. Shortly after, Boston’s Logan airport became the first American airport to pioneer the Israeli inspired Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program. Years later, SPOT not only came under fire for being ineffective and wasteful, but also for facilitating discriminatory racial profiling at airports around the country.

The report also details the financial incentives and trade-offs between Israeli and American security firms and technologies….