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Est. 2014
—Published June 25, 2020—
My name is Donavan Bailey and I have the opportunity to serve as a Social Worker with the Public Defenders Office and as a co-host of Barbershop Talk South Minnesota. The events of George Floyd’s murder have shaken us locally and worldwide. As we cry for historic overdue change, specifically, I would consider the following:
Changing the police officer licensing process. Currently, law enforcement officers must have an Associate’s Degree. I would change that model to a statewide academy that has the same academic prowess/licensing but like many states or the military model, the academy would be free. This would assist with increasing diversity in law enforcement.
Locally, I would upgrade the law RPD and Sheriff’s Crime Prevention Unit to be a civilian-led office that houses various social workers and other community personnel. It would continue with the triage method of social work but also add in a proactive element to build bridges to the community and serves as a holistic dynamic to policing.
Upgrade in human rights. We currently have the Olmsted County Human Rights Commission. Having served as a past Commissioner, I know it’s a good entity but the Commission has no power of enforcement. I would charge the City and County to come up with a better model or merge with the State Human Rights Office much like St. Cloud has done.
A change in use of force, specifically as it relates to low-level crimes. In consideration of Floyd and Brooks murders, both incidents could have been avoided from what I viewed if at the onset no arrests took place. Literally, each of these individuals could have received tickets and in the Brooks case, he could have been taken to detox and/or barred from driving his car. From what I viewed, there was no need to engage at a physical or lethal level in these two deaths and various ones that have highlighted and energized the Black Lives Matter movement.
—Donavan Bailey is a candidate for Rochester City Council Ward 6.
It’s typically not wise to write about something you know little about. I’ve never experienced systemic racism. I’ve never woken up feeling like the world was working against me without cause. In nearly every occasion, I’ve been given the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, this privilege is not extended to all. For some, the path to liberty and happiness requires overcoming ingrained prejudices that make a successful journey difficult to impossible.
Life is not a zero-sum game — whatever is gained by somebody else is not taken from you. The future of our country depends on the continued successes of All, not just those who look like me. The aphorism “a rising tide lifts all boats” holds true. Your neighbor’s success only makes yours more meaningful.
None of us are truly color-blind. We all SEE the differences between us and our neighbors. This holds true for our law enforcement officers. It is whether we see these differences as something to fear or something to celebrate that determines whether we are doomed to fail or whether we will meet our potential. America is not truly a melting pot but rather a beautiful mosaic of all colors, religions, beliefs and sexual orientations. This diversity is what makes us exceptional.
We were all sickened to witness the brutal murder of George Floyd. Police brutality and unequal enforcement of laws should not and cannot be tolerated. We need to hold our elected leaders — of which I am one — accountable if systemic prejudices remain within our law enforcement, court system and government programs.
W.E.B. DuBois wisely stated: “Either America will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States.” Prejudice is ignorance. I am optimistic that the George Floyd tragedy will serve to awaken us from our state of ignorance. Our future depends on it.
Mark Thein is an Olmsted County Commissioner — representing District 7. He also is President of Thein Well Rochester, Inc., an assistant high-school football coach, and a Rochester native. He lives with his wife, Jenni, in Oronoco Township.
Although American slavery formally ended more than 150 years ago, its legacy remains a powerful force in today’s society. Policing as we know it evolved from slave patrols, and the violent and racist core of the institution has survived numerous attempts at reform. Fortunately, because such systems were designed by humans, we are able to imagine alternatives and create new systems that align with a better future. That’s why I support abolition.
Angela Davis explains, “Safety, safeguarded by violence, is not really safety.” Threats to safety and security result from the failure of institutions to address issues like health, violence, and education, not from what we call crime. Abolition is a process, and we must begin immediately by shifting police budgets to new services and institutions like education, housing, recreation, and so on. We must disarm and demilitarize the police, eliminate the system of cash bail, and decriminalize people’s lives.
Abolition is about rethinking the kind of future we want (Angela Davis said that, too). A world with strong, safe, and secure communities that prioritize people is possible, and the process of abolition will bring us closer to that reality. This piece is too short to go into detail, but 8toabolition.com is a good place to start if you want to learn more. Abolishing the police is one of many changes we must pursue to create a livable future in which all people, regardless of race, gender identity, economic status, physical and mental ability, and so on, are free from oppression. Abolition is necessary, and it’s only the beginning.
—Cora Egherman is a 2019 graduate of Luther College and a member of IWW. She has lived in Rochester for a year and is committed to fighting for collective liberation.
As an emerging, young leader working at Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association (IMAA), a culturally diverse organization that supports and advocates for refugees and immigrants, the future lies not only in individuals such as myself, but the broader community. It is our responsibility to do our part in engaging with and learning from those who identify differently from the mainstream community. Moving forward, I hope society will improve in three ways:
Expose. Engage. Educate. The fears that come with discomfort and vulnerability often hold us back from engaging with others and breaking down barriers of ignorance, bias, and assumptions. It is easier to stick with what we know and are taught. There is a sense of ease and tranquility for those of us who can walk alongside the status quo. We need to educate ourselves about diverse histories, expose ourselves to new people and cultures, and engage with others different from us. Then, we will open our minds to perceive the world in challenging, new ways.
Listen. Learn. I hear a lot of people talking. Who is listening? Are the ones who need to listen, listening? It is time that leaders and law enforcement let down their egos, step up and take the lead on engaging with communities of color, listen to their stories and emotions, and understand why.
Be curious. Be humble. These two characteristics have been my guiding compass into every new experience. I do not walk into an experience thinking that I am the expert. I walk into an experience hoping to learn something. I work with staff who come from 10 different countries. Many are individuals of color who have their own experiences of injustice. We need to be curious and humble enough to seek understanding within each of these stories. Then, we can take informed action.
—Susan Haskamp works at IMAA as a project coordinator. She is also obtaining her Masters of Social Work at Augsburg University, and is a board member of Revolutionary Earth.
What function do police truly play? They “keep order” in a society riven by deep and widening systemic inequalities. This use of resources does little to improve the quality of life of those most likely to interact with police—the homeless, mentally ill, addicted, scrambling to survive, and those unfortunately trapped in the legal system. Could some of these resources be better used? One can’t conquer addiction or mental illness while homeless. Stable housing is critical to the ability of youth to graduate high school, and without that diploma comes a higher likelihood of future entanglement with law enforcement.
Can we accept the leadership embedded in the bills written by the People of Color & Indigenous Caucus legislators, bills passed by the MN House that put the safety of our communities first? Police should come from the communities they serve. Keep people in the community; end cash bail. Bring ex-felons back into society; restore the vote. Give the community meaningful opportunity to review policing actions and define what public safety looks like. Fund mental health providers and bring these to the streets.
We hesitate to acknowledge it, but in effect, police patrol the segregated borders of our society. This is an untenable proposition for the well-intentioned officer. Given the opportunity to address the most urgent economic issues driving racial disparities during the legislative sessions, the Minnesota Senate leadership failed to move us forward. They obstructed policing reforms, didn’t pass necessary rent and mortgage assistance, held back federal CARES Act aid to cities and towns, and didn’t address educational disparities. Finally, we did not get a bonding bill to make good a commitment to rebuild the communities affected following George Floyd’s murder. Meaningful policing reform is the first step and only path to a sustainable future for all of us.
—Dr. Aleta Borrud is a community advocate, a public health trained physician, who is running to represent Senate District 26 in the Minnesota Senate. She is a 27 year resident of Rochester.
There are pivotal moments in a lifetime and we have collectively just experienced one of them. While this wasn't deeply personal in the sense that we each knew Mr. Floyd, it resonated deeply with everyone because we are human and, in our gut his death resonated as inherently wrong. There is a communal sense that things must change. Right now, in this moment, we must have the difficult, but necessary conversations with our family, friends, and neighbors about how to put into action solutions that can change hearts, minds and, yes, systems.
As Rochester’s mayor, I know it’s important for us to be at the table quickly and often with people from across our community to listen, to ask questions and gather ideas in order to make the kinds of decisions that will make things better now and in the long term for the entire community. I’ve witnessed the passion of our young people organizing and leading marches and rallies; I sense the frustration from longtime advocates who grow tired of waiting for change; I also feel the hope that perhaps this is the moment that real change can happen in this country and here at home, too, for those that have been marginalized, discriminated against and who simply want fair and just treatment without trauma or living in fear.
A list of new ideas is evolving and will be discussed with the City Council in the coming weeks. Ideas that have been generated locally and nationally will be brought to the table to see where we should focus — implicit bias training, broader community oversight, more crisis workers, and expanding social programs through county partnerships or perhaps something not yet recognized. Community is a collective with a common foundation of understandings and truths — we seem to have lost our way or maybe we’ve not yet found the path. Let’s set our own course and hold each other accountable — we can, we must, and we will do this together.
—Kim Norton is the mayor of Rochester.
if you need to know how much billionaires have made since the pandemic, the answer is $434 billion. if you’re not sure what $434 billion can buy, the answer is 51,666 yachts, 963 copies of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, or your soul, which is a small uninhabited island in your aorta. the yachts have full-size tennis courts, the painting is of Jesus holding a crystal orb, the island is where they filmed the last season of Survivor. if you ask what does one do with all that money, the answer is bury it in your yard or in your lung tissue. if you’re wondering what to do with $1200, the answer is not much. if you’re confused as to why your husband earned more on unemployment, the answer is why were they paying him in beans. if you’re not sure what kind of people wait in line for cans of beans, the answer is people you know. if it is unclear why the economy opened so soon, the answer is this was a health emergency until we learned it was about the black and brown and poor. if you’re wondering why billionaires are taking your money, the answer is they upgraded to the newest iPhone and they eat too much avocado toast. the answer is if they hadn’t bought Starbucks every morning, they could’ve saved something. if you ask how come the billionaires don’t save Flint, or homeless veterans, or prescription drug prices, or black lives, the answer is how do you think they became billionaires in the first place. if you’re wondering why we’re protesting in the street, the answer is those people didn’t have to die. if you’re wondering whether capitalism is patriotic, the answer is those people were going to die anyway.
—Jean Prokott has poetry published or forthcoming in Arts & Letters, RHINO, and Red Wheelbarrow, among other journals, and is a recipient of the AWP Intro Journals Award. She holds an MFA from Minnesota State University Mankato, a Master's of Science in Education from Winona State University, and she teaches high school American Literature, Creative Writing, and Philosophy in Rochester.
The relationship between police and people of color is largely a reflection of racism in society generally. History provides numerous moments that seemed to be the critical moment that would lead to broad systemic changes and usher in Dr. King’s utopian dream. But the tragedies of Ferguson, and Baltimore were all too similar to the tragedies of Los Angeles, and Detroit, and Birmingham, and so many, many more. Although this moment really did feel different. The multi-racial world-wide crowds braving a pandemic to collectively demand action seemed poised to finally galvanize our society to search its consciousness and excise the biased relics so persistently rooted there.
But now we’re seeing the same polarizing tropes shouted between entrenched tribes. Black lives matter! All lives matter! White privilege! White guilt! Rinse, repeat.
My hope is we can harness the fortitude to break this cycle. Do a search for Project Implicit and take a 3 minute online test. Having a measurable implicit racial bias doesn’t mean you’re a racist. It suggests that you’ve been assimilated to a culture that more easily attributes negative stereotypes to people of color. Check against the impulse to get defensive, to find ways to rationalize, and to devalue the insight. Let’s just agree that acknowledging an implicit bias does not require that we impugn our parents, or our faith, or any other part of our upbringing. As a community, my great hope is that we rise to the challenge of this moment and fearlessly and radically embrace empathy. I hope we urgently get to know our neighbors beyond a superficial level and that we embrace their humanity without implicitly judging that humanity against the social mores of idealized upper middle class Minnesota culture, and instead adopt the radical notion that empathy is extended without precondition.
—Justin Cook is a 2020 candidate for the school board of Rochester Public Schools. Justin is a lawyer, a father of 4, and a Mayo spouse who is passionate about public education.
During the town hall addressing race and policing, Chief Franklin and Mayor Norton both supported the current training and procedures Rochester Police Department (RPD) officers go through. The Mayor was adamant they will not defund the police department. However, there is a national and local outcry for reform in policing and it’s the City’s responsibility to ensure all Rochester residents feel safe and secure.
Recently, there was a report showing the rising number of calls RPD responds to which involve people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. The Post Bulletin after a year of requesting video from RPD pieced together the night Albert Dashow had died in police custody. I talked with a friend who is retired law enforcement and they watched the videos. They believe if the officer was better trained in assessing the situation when a person is experiencing a mental health crisis maybe instead of restraining Albert, the officer would have figured out how to get him home safely.
It comes down to both training and hiring. We may consider not filling positions when RPD officers retire with more officers but reinvesting those funds to bring on board more clinical psychologists that can train and partner with an officer to assess mental health crisis on the fly. Currently RPD has one forensic social worker on the force. Adding this new position has lowered the number of recurring calls from the same people experiencing a mental health crisis. This shows that dealing with non-violent people with compassion, empathy, and resources can be effective. Crime will happen but I think it’s ultimately our responsibility to change how law enforcement polices our community. We need both political will and public support to move towards bold and innovative solutions if we genuinely want to address bias and institutional racism in the police department.
—Vangie Castro is a Rochester resident who has worked on bias and prejudice reduction with the Diversity Council from 2011 – 2017. They are currently running for the position of Rochester City Council President.
As two non-Black Women of Color, our experiences do not begin to compare to the levels of police brutality experienced by Black men and women in America. Yet, we are united by our connection as two Women of color in academic spaces that share distinct yet parallel experiences with policing in America. I (Chandi) have been fortunate enough only to have various experiences of being racially profiled since I was a young teenager. A dull pain on my (Angie) knee is the physical reminder of my first encounter with Seattle police in 1999.
Fellow readers, we will keep it simple: Law enforcement is a broken and rotten system. You cannot fix it. End of. Policing in the United States adheres to a set of White supremacist practices that have normalized acts of violence against members of Black and other racialized and vulnerable communities. As a 200-year old American institution that emboldened marginalized Whites to hunt enslaved people of African descent, policing will need at least another 200, or a complete overhaul of the system to evolve into an institutional body that can inspire trust instead of fear. The healthy distrust created by the murderous origins and continuation of policing has been the only thing keeping more Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) from dying.
So, Minnesota — Pay attention: If strong and revolutionary action is not taken, it will take more than a few lifetimes to change a system that will attract Andy Taylors when it was set up to empower Derek Chauvins to press their knees down our necks. Black Lives Matter.
—Angie Mejia, PhD, a former community organizer, teaches Community Collaboratory at the University of Minnesota Rochester.
—Chandi Katoch is a current student at the University of Minnesota Rochester. She is an active student leader and activist.
I believe we are in a great awakening in America—where countless members of our community are beginning to challenge the power structures around them. We have seen it with Black Lives Matter, #MeToo and the many protests fighting against the influence of money in our government.
Beyond police brutality, we have a tremendous amount of work to do. Those we elect in November must recognize that social injustice and political injustice are intrinsically tied to economic justice. I believe we must invest in education, including early childhood education, and programs that create opportunities for all Minnesotans, as one of many steps needed to close achievement gaps and disparities.
Collectively, we are starting to realize that systems can change, we just have to do the work to make it happen. Countless of us want this nation to live up to its promise that all people are created equal and should be treated as such. That push toward a more just and equitable society is the true definition of patriotism, and hopefully a sign of unprecedented turnout in November’s elections.
Historically, voter turnout in America has been below 60 percent. Imagine what our country would look like if 80 or 90 percent voted and was truly representative of its people.
—Sara Flick is running for Minnesota Senate District 25. Sara is a marketing professional who has worked in economic development, startups, nonprofits, education, and healthcare.
The idea that large and powerful police departments create safe cities is not only false, but the opposite is true: powerful police departments actively endanger citizens, especially racial minorities. Short term solutions, like more transparency and stricter application of force policies, may provide some protection for people of color. But those reforms don’t ask the deeper question: why do we have to protect people from a department that is sworn to protect them?
We ask our leaders to have the courage to dream of a city with true public safety based on care and compassion, not punitive violence.
We can start by reshaping our city’s budget. Rochester’s police department uses 31 percent of the operating budget, and it will receive almost $26 million in Capital Improvement Plan funding over the next five years. More police officers do not equal more safety for citizens, and yet they are the most expensive budget item. Why not call a five-year freeze on hiring new officers?
We also need to examine the presence of police in our schools. The school-to-prison pipeline is a well-established tragedy, and yet RPD officers act as school resource officers at Rochester schools, schools that are racially discriminatory in recorded disciplinary action. Why not cut this program and use the money to hire mental health professionals specializing in restorative justice school discipline?
Ultimately, a restructured police department could organize into mostly non-armed divisions to deal with routine business like traffic enforcement, noise complaints, and crime investigation, with only select armed divisions responding to specific calls.
All policing reforms must be subservient to this larger idea: the safest communities are those where people are given the tools and opportunities to thrive. Our city needs to invest in education, housing, and jobs. These are the spending priorities that will make us safer.
—Andy Smith is a Ward 5 Rochester resident and the owner of Gray Duck Theater & Coffeehouse.
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