Kadeem Fuller organizes community engagement for the Black Lives Matter chapter located in Champaign-Urbana. He says the time for educating white people on the cause has passed - now is time for action. C-U Chapter leader Evelyn Reynolds posted this on Facebook Thursday:
- "Folks asking "what is Black Lives Matter doing about the recent murders by police". The question is what are YOU doing?! Don't wait for black people or BLM to act on genocide, oppression, transphobia, etc. DO SOMETHING yourself! Reflect on how you are complicit and implicated. I'm with working together. I'm not with educating folks who can educate themselves, but don't care enough or are too lazy..."
Fuller says he agrees, and, "We can't continually take time (away) from organizing to tell white folks what's going on within our communities - what's going on with Black Lives Matter." Fuller says hip-hop artists who go by Mother Nature have an event planned for Friday (7/8) night in downtown Champaign, combining music and protest. That's at 6pm.
Fuller spoke with NPR Illinois about his reaction to the recent deaths at the hands of police of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, and now - Thursday night's shooting of police in Dallas as well:
A Black Lives Matter rally and protest is planned in Springfield on Saturday (7/9) at 9 am on the capitol lawn, in front of the Lincoln statue:
The event was planned before the deaths of police officers in Dallas. It's meant to call attention to the shootings of black people by police. Sunshine Clemons works as a legislative aide in Springfield and helped organize the rally, she says she's not an official member of Black Lives Matter since there's no Springfield chapter, still she says: "I feel like something needs to be done, and I don't necessarily know what to do - but I'm hoping with getting the community and the police out there together maybe we can come up with something ... because things have to change."
Clemons says she wants the event to be peaceful and non-violent and for police to be present and open to conversation. Listen to our interview with her about it:
'Stop The Violence' protestors are meeting at Cox Park (301 Martin Luther King Dr.) in Springfield around 4pm on Friday (7/8) and plan to begin a march around 4:30.
Ayo Abitogun has led anti-violence initiatives in Springfield. He is part of an effort for the peace rally. Organizers are emphasizing the event is meant to be non-violent. You can see a video Abitogun released on social media on Friday, here:
NPR Illinois is reaching out to local police representatives to get their take on the shootings this week. Stay tuned... For now, the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police have released the following statement regarding the deaths of police officers in Dallas:
" SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President Chris Southwood issued the following statement regarding the ambush-style shootings that killed five Dallas, Texas police officers and injured several others:
“What happened in Dallas was a purely evil, cowardly act. Those responsible should face the swiftest and most severe justice that our nation allows. The fallen are heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice serving and protecting the community they loved. Ironically, these heroes, some of whom were shot in the back, were protecting participants at an anti-police protest. Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers go to the fallen and their families, the survivors and their families, friends and fellow law enforcement officers, as well as the civilians who were injured by these despicable acts.
“Illinois law enforcement officers vow to honor the memory of our fallen brothers in Dallas. Their ultimate sacrifice reminds us why we put on the badge every day - to make sure that cowardly criminals and evildoers are removed from our streets and the vast majority of good, honest citizens can enjoy living in our free society.
“We also express our disappointment with the current President, who vowed to unite the country and now eight years later we are more divided than before. More and more people think it is OK to demonize and urge violence against police officers, and this is a situation the President has done little to correct. I call upon all our political leadership, state and national, to tell the nation specifically what they intend to do to stop the senseless slayings of those who protect our way of life in every American community.”
The Fraternal Order of Police, founded in 1915, is the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. With a proud tradition of officers representing officers, the FOP is the most respected and most recognized police organization in the country. The Illinois FOP, chartered in 1963, is the second largest State Lodge, proudly representing more than 34,000 active duty and retired police officers - more than 10 percent of all FOP members nationwide. Visit www.ilfop.org for more information. "
