Civil rights leaders marched in Washington Saturday to protest the lack of indictments in the police killings of two unarmed Black men—Eric Garner and Michael Brown—and others, and to press for change at the federal level.
Thousands of marchers shut down a stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue and nearby streets.
The Rev. Al Sharpton of National Action Network said a civil rights summit will be held following the Dec. 13 march. He said the topics will be wide-ranging, including education and boycotts.
“We’ve seen instances of police violence and misconduct across the country. It’s now not just an issue in one city or one state; it is an issue affecting places across the country,” said Janaye Ingram, executive director of National Action Network, which is organizing the march.
“This is the time to come together and lift our collective voices, and say to Congress, we need to see more action from them around police brutality,” she said.
The question is what should be the goal of the marchers.
Sharpton said civil rights groups are calling for congressional hearings into the deaths in New York and Ferguson, Mo., hoping they’ll lead to legislation regarding police misconduct.
March organizers said while the Justice Department (DOJ) is investigating the deaths of both men, they want Congress to enact legislation giving the DOJ more latitude when it comes to police killings.
“The Congress needs to not only do hearings, they need to deal with the jurisdictional threshold of how you make a federal case,” Sharpton said on Dec. 7 during an appearance with Garner’s widow on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
There are several specific legislative and policy goals marchers should be seeking on the federal, state and local levels, including but not limited to the following:
•Automatic appointment of independent prosecutors in police involved shootings. There is an inherent conflict of interest when prosecutors are asked to charge local police officers they work with on a daily basis.
•Require police officers to wear body cameras and keep them on. While body cameras alone are not a solution, the cameras can help increase transparency and hold police accountable.
•Better police training and more recruitment of minority police officers.
In the 1960s, marches, sit-ins and nonviolent other protests led to key legislative victories such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Last week’s march in Washington cannot be just a photo opportunity. Leaders and protesters must follow through with political organization and action.
The best way to measure the success of the march in Washington and the numerous protests that are being held around the country is whether they lead to legislative and policy changes that help to end police brutality and bring about justice.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
