In the past, unions sometimes shied away from knocking down systematic injustices, especially with regard to race. Not anymore. This is not the labor movement from last century. We will not sit on the sidelines. #FREEAMERICA is committed to joining others who are on the ground, doing the work to fix our broken criminal justice system. We are committed to standing with workers who are already in our schools standing between young people and the criminal justice system.
The assault at Spring Valley runs deeper than one bad cop - it's the latest product of the school-to-prison pipeline. Over the last 20 years there has been an explosion in the number of police officers stationed in schools. This has been one of the most dramatic and clearly counterproductive expansions of police scope and power in postwar America.
Today, the Dream Defenders--a multiracial, multiethnic group of young people--celebrated the 10th day of occupying Florida's state capitol. They say they're not leaving until Florida takes concrete steps to deal with the bigger issues exposed by Trayvon Martin's shooting. When Gov. Rick Scott met with them and suggested they "pray" about racial profiling, they responded, "Faith without works is dead."
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