Activist Institute: How to Get Police Out of Schools.

We honored to host this training over three evenings.

• Find the full collection of recordings here.
  • Kickoff video from K Agbebiyi
  • Day 1:  The Problem
  • Day 2: The Solution
  • Day 3: Take Action
• Download the Training Booklet for notes and questions
• See below for the agenda, workshop descriptions, and speaker bios.

Agenda

Day 1:  The Problem
What’s the problem with having police in schools?

We start with a presentation from The Advancement Project, and later, a discussion with Young Women of Color for Reproductive Justice (an Advocates for Youth program) about why getting police out of schools is an RJ issue. At the end of the session, we’ll get into workgroups and begin thinking about this campaign and who controls the presence of police in schools in our districts.

Presenters:
From Young Womxn of Color Leadership Council, a Project of Advocates for Youth:

Caro Hernandez is a chismosa foodie living in the intersections of a bi-national, and tri-state community made up of Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, México, Las Cruces, NM, & El Paso, Tejas also known as “El Chuco”. Growing up in the sun city was a vivid example of the systemic oppression and racialization that is inherently embedded in the United States policies and practices. Her upbringing & lived experiences enabled her to begin organizing, and understand that this life’s work begins with revolutionizing ourselves, and our people. She first began organizing around immigrant justice and education for youth of color living in rural areas. Currently she works with her local abortion fund, West Fund, to ensure folx have access to abortion care without any barriers or hurdles. Caro enjoys her sundaze dancing cumbias, eating with friends and family, or recording new episodes reviewing food & dishing the juicy 411 on @ComeChisme with her comadre.

Courtney Jones currently works as a justice campaign organizer for Mass Liberation and the Vegas Freedom Fund in Las Vegas, Nevada. A graduate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2020 with a B.S. in Human Services and Sociology, the past 4+ years she has focused on building energy within the reproductive justice movement and leading racial justice efforts at her alma mater & in the Las Vegas community. As an educator she facilitates discussions on pleasure, healing, and sex work decriminlaization & destigmatization. Her passion is to amplify the need to strengthen communal connections and challenge systematic barriers and power systems. Within Advocates for Youth they are apart of the Young Women of Color for Reproductive Justice Collective and a member of the #FreeThePill Youth Council. They enjoy modeling, cooking, dancing, outdoor activities, and spending time with family & friends.

From The Advancement Project:

Ky’Eisha W. Penn is a Staff Attorney working for our Ending the Schoolhouse-to-Jailhouse Track and the Power & Democracy programs. Ky’Eisha supports Black and Brown communities on the ground addressing issues of pushout, policing in schools and the overall criminalization of young people. Her work also includes supporting voter protection and restoration of voting rights for communities of color and people impacted by the criminal legal system.

Lidwina Bell is the Organizing Fellow for the Police Free Schools Campaign at the Advancement Project, where she aids in capacity national campaign to end policing in schools and supports youth-based political education. Lidwina is a prison-industrial-complex abolitionist who organizes against both police and intracommunal patriarchal violence. Lidwina is also a healing justice practitioner and an aspiring transformative justice practitioner.

Download the “Police in Schools as a Reproductive Justice Issue” training from Day 1

Day 2:  The Solution.

We look at how the money used to fund police in schools could be spent. Panelists from innovative programs discuss how to meet the needs students really have, including: – Organizers working to end sexual assault in schools – Organizers supporting incarcerated LGBTQ youth – Organizers working to support young parents in schools.
In this evening’s workshop, we’ll consider how we would invest the money in our communities, and how we can enlist allies in this work.

Presenters

Lindsey Farrell is a senior at Temple University studying Political Science with minors in Spanish and Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. She cofounded defundTUPD with friends after George Floyds murder. DefundTUPD is a group of Temple undergraduate, graduate, faculty, staff, and community members working to defund and abolish the university’s police department. TUPD has the largest private police force in the nation with over 130 armed officers that patrol into the North Philadelphia community and campus itself. Lindsey, along with other members is helping to place pressure on Temple in defunding from TUPD and refunding into the surrounding North Philadelphia community. 

Dominique Morgan (She/Her) is an award-winning artist, activist, and TEDx speaker. As the Executive Director of Black and Pink, the largest prison abolitionist organization in the United States. She works daily to dismantle the systems that perpetuate violence on LGBTQ/GNC people and individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Partnering her lived experience of being impacted by mass incarceration (including 18 months in solitary confinement), with a decade of change-making artistry, advocacy, and background in public health, she continues to work in spaces of sex education, radical self-care, and transformative youth development with intentions of dismantling the prison industrial complex and its impact on our communities. Ms. Morgan is a 2020 Ten Outstanding Young Americans Award recipient, NAACP Freedom Fighter Award recipient, and 2020 JM Kaplan Innovation Prize recipient. She is currently completing her capstone project for studies in the Georgetown University – System Involved LGBTQ Youth Scholar Program.

Vernisha Crawford is the CEO of Bringing You Excellence, a social impact consulting firm that offers community engagement consulting, education/training, and program development for community-focused initiatives. Her work focuses on systems change in the areas of Early Childhood Development, Mental Health, Community Resilience, and Economic Development. She is a mother and a life long student committed to completing her Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Video on Transformative Justice

Day 3: The Campaign 

On this evening we’re joined by activists from Power U in Florida who ran a campaign to remove cops from schools and invest that money in quality sex education.  They’ll share a close look at the tactics they used in developing and executing their campaign. The training concludes with a breakout room where folks will develop the first steps of campaigns.

Samantha Daley is a Jamaican, queer Black feminist whose origins in the movement are deeply rooted in Reproductive Justice. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida in Orlando and recently graduated with her Masters in Health Services Administration and Public Health from Barry University.  Previously Samantha served as a Health Educator and Sexpert for over 2 years and has worked with youth organizing and advocating for their sexual health for her entire career. Samantha is currently the Reproductive Justice Organizer at Power U and the Development Coordinator at BYP100. She is also a co-founder of the Carib Healing Collective which aims to heal and connect the Caribbean diaspora through herbalism, affirmation, and political education of Caribbean legacy in both in-person and on digital platforms. Samantha is committed to uplifting sex-positivity, writing, enjoys traveling, and crafting to-do lists. You can find her building community, twerking, or jumping on a plane for her next big adventure.