It’s been 30 years since the world saw Rodney King on video being beaten by Los Angeles police officers. Since then, the list of Black people killed at the hands of police has grown — Eric Garner, Daunte Wright and Ma’Khia Bryant, the 16-year old Black girl shot hours before Chauvin was pronounced guilty of murdering George Floyd. Mary C. Curtis speaks to activist and podcast host DeRay McKesson on how to challenge the power of the police and how policies can be changed for the better.
One Black life mattered, this time
Remember when three Black women proclaimed that Black Lives Matter? It was in 2013 after a jury found George Zimmerman not guilty in the fatal shooting of unarmed Black teen Trayvon Martin in Florida. It seemed so essential and overdue for Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi to found a movement to defiantly claim what America had too often denied.
Yet it was controversial. The willfully blind countered with “All Lives Matter,” as though saying that would make it so. Then, there were suggestions: “Don’t you think it would be less divisive if the signs read ‘Black Lives Matter, Too?’”
In all honesty, anyone who did not get it was not going to with the addition of one three-letter word. But then the world witnessed Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin press his knee on the neck of George Floyd for nine minutes and 29 seconds. That the doubters needed video evidence was infuriating, when Black and brown Americans had been bearing witness for hundreds of years. But communities craving visibility and justice welcomed the opened eyes and protests by all ages and races.
It was certainly never a sure thing that Chauvin would be found guilty on all murder and manslaughter charges, as he was. There was also video of the killings of Philando Castile in Minnesota in 2016 and Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C., in 2015. Yet in Castile’s case, police officer Jeronimo Yanez was found not guilty. And in Scott’s case, after the first prosecution ended in a hung jury, it took a federal prosecution to gain a plea from former police officer Michael Slager — despite the evidence a brave citizen recorded of Slager shooting Scott in the back, taking aim while standing 15 to 20 feet away, and then throwing his Taser down to concoct a false story for his department to swallow and regurgitate as truth. (Another bit of mild relief this week as Slager’s 20-year sentence was upheld.)
No wonder so many were holding our collective breath.
Unique circumstances
The Chauvin Trial: A Black Issues Forum Special
A jury convicted ex-police officer Derek Chauvin of murder on three counts. A special panel weighs in on what this decision means for Black communities, policing, and the future of equal justice. Deborah Noel is joined by journalist Mary C. Curtis, UNC-CH scholar Erica Wilson, and community activist Greear Webb.
Mary C. Curtis: Derek Chauvin Verdict
CHARLOTTE, NC — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is found guilty on all counts of murder and manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd.
In the rare case of a police officer brought up on charges and found guilty in the killing of a Black person, the prosecutors mounted a strong case: video evidence, witness testimony, police officers including the police chief testifying that Chauvin did not follow policy.
What happens next on the issue of police reform and Black Lives Matter?
You can catch Mary C. Curtis on Sunday nights at 6:30 PM on WCCB Charlotte’s CW discussing the biggest issues in local and national politics and also giving us a look at what’s ahead for the week.
POLITICAL WRAP: Biden Administration & Justice Department Efforts on Police Reform
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Closing arguments are expected this week in the Derek Chauvin trial. It comes as protests continue over the killing of Daunte Wright. And tensions are high in Chigago with the video release in the police killing of a 13-year-old.
All this coming as the Biden administration and Attorney General Merrick Garland promise more federal oversight of local police departments
Black Issues Forum: A Tense Trial, Building Broadband & the Filibuster’s Future
WTVD reporter Tim Pulliam and “Roll Call” columnist and host of the “Equal Time” podcast Mary C. Curtis join Black Issues Forum to discuss the start of Derek Chauvin’s trial, Pres. Biden’s new infrastructure plan, the racial component to the fight over the filibuster, possible redistricting changes in North Carolina, and a new lawsuit targeting a Confederate monument.
Airing: 04/02/21