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Every man of color has the potential to create an extraordinary life. The truth is that it’s difficult to accomplish when you are bombarded with stereotypes.
Time and time again Oklahomans have been promised this will be the session for meaningful criminal justice reform, and 2020 must be that year.
Nothing has actually changed in policing, TPD’s policies and Tulsa’s city government from 2017 — when I first began closely examining Tulsa’s community policing efforts — till now. All of the efforts that the public sees were planned behind the scenes by activists and citizens who would not and will not be silent because their community is over-policed, scrutinized, and portrayed as being a “high crime” area on television shows like Live PD.
“Live PD exploits Tulsa’s citizens,” a Tulsa citizen loudly declared at Mayor G.T. Bynum’s Town Hall listening input session to select a new Chief of Police for Tulsa.
“The learning line is the difference between people who have access to educational opportunities that push them forward — towards their promise, and for the group of people who do not have access to educational opportunities, this LevelUp initiative actually pushes families from below the learning line to above the learning line, so that they now have the opportunity to make it to their place of promise,” Pastor Dr. Ray A. Owens of the Met Cares said.
With Mayor Bynum holding interviews for the new Chief of Police, the public safety and service of Tulsa’s most vulnerable communities affected by regressive policing must be put at the forefront.
Several speakers from the community tried to explain to Mayor Bynum why the show was problematic and divisive for a city seeking to heal old racial wounds.
