“This putting off of the Commission’s recommendations until some imagined future that is better-funded, less contentious, and somehow occupied by a more convivial FOP is insulting, especially since the Black doctors, nurses, academics, community leaders, educators, pastors and advocates who took part in the Commission — perhaps every one a descendant of enslaved people, each one tasked with finding solutions to problems they did not create — did so without compensation. As those in power sideline recommendations, it’s hard not to conclude that these Black neighbors of ours have had their work, time, expertise, community knowledge, and generational wisdom co-opted and stolen for no other reason than to soothe the pangs of white conscience.
There’s more. Mayor Gorton rightly credits this summer’s protest organizers with helping her see the need for the Commission in the first place, but these same protest organizers face criminal charges because of protesting. How can the mayor and council say they’re committed to racial justice and equality when the very people who convinced them face jail time for doing so? Especially since the majority of those still facing charges are Black?
We are at a crossroads, friends. Shamefully, it’s a crossroads we’ve been at before. We must not find ourselves here again in the future.
So here’s what must be done: Our city’s leaders must fulfill all recommendations set before them by the Commission on Racial Justice and Equality by either meeting them immediately or by laying out a public-facing plan — with a timeline, proposed funding, barriers to overcome, etc. — for how they will be met. They must see to it that all criminal charges still facing protesters are dropped, and if they really want to hammer a nail into the coffin of systemic racism in Lexington, they need to pony up back pay for every Black participant who served on the Commission.
Reva Russell English is an organizer, farmer and artist in Lexington.”
Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/article248796350.html#storylink=cpy