Democracy Ateneo Announcement 2-15-14

Compañer@s,

We will convene the Universidad de la Tierra Califas' Democracy Ateneo, Saturday, February 15, from 2 - 5 p.m. at Casa de Vicky (792 E. Julian St., San Jose <http://www.casavicky.com/>) to resume our regularly scheduled reflection and action space and to explore some of the questions and struggles mentioned below and those that people bring.

Wednesday, February 12th marked a year since the death in police custody of Kayla Moore. Community members from across the Bay gathered to celebrate Kayla and remember her having been taken from us. Folks assembled to continue the fight for justice, for Kayla and for others who have been victimized by police violence in our communities. Wednesday's vigil and protest resulted from a year of struggle. A year ago, once community members learned of the death in custody of Kayla, folks joined her family confronting the violence and mobilizing a People's Investigation that revealed how Kayla died at the hands of six police officers who entered her home without legal cause. According to the flyer, Kayla was subjected to "Berkeley police officers [who] grabbed her and attempted to take her into custody. On her stomach, handcuffed and struggling to breath under a pile of six police [officers], Kayla died in the early morning hours of February 13th." The People's Investigation began its inquiry requesting police reports, coroner's reports, and other official material documenting the fatal encounter and the role of authorities in the events of that night. In addition, the People's Investigation interviewed witnesses, organized protests, and convened a celebration on what would have been Kayla's birthday to gather community members to tell a different story about Kayla's role in the community and to reconstruct the actions of police that ended her life. In addition, the People's Investigation successfully networked grassroots health care providers and organizations opposing police violence recognizing that the increasing use of the police as first responders to community members in some kind of mental distress has had disastrous results. Many have suffered at the hands of a police force untrained and unprepared to address the multiple needs of our community. The People's Investigation also exposed a failing civilian review board system, taking over the proceedings and converting the Berkeley People's Review Commission into a community assembly demanding action be taken against the officers involved and an end to the militarization of care.

The tragic death of Kayla Moore is not an isolated incident. All across the Bay Area and throughout the state members of our community have been taken from us by police and community violence. Many argue that in some Bay Area communities the police operate more as an occupying force than a community service. Similarly, we have become increasingly aware that the infrastructure of civilian oversight along with the court system have had little to no impact in curbing police excess. The growing phenomenon of police violence continues alongside our efforts to mark each incident. On February 27th the Justice for Trayvon Martin collective and others in San Jose will host a gathering to remember those taken from us and to advance the efforts of families who continue to demand justice and to put an end to police violence in our communities. While we insist on confronting each injustice, we have become increasingly conscious that we can no longer address this issue one shooting or in-custody death at a time. For some time, we have recognized that our efforts must focus on community safety authored and organized by ourselves, rejecting to rely on the police to reform themselves and to take care of us. Community safety, we have argued, can be understood through the relationship between three critical components --defense, justice, and assembly. People's Investigations that insist on placing the family and survivors at the center of our efforts reclaim community. These People's Investigations, or tequios de investigación, weave the components together advancing our struggles for autonomy. In this context, the act of marking each incident of violence contributes to a larger, collective process already in place and evidenced in the emerging relationships that provoke new obligations and questions.
 
Please join us.

South Bay Crew

NB: If you are not already signed-up and would like to stay connected with the emerging Universidad de la Tierra Califas community please feel free to subscribe to the Universidad de la Tierra Califas listserve at the following url <https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unitierracalifas>. Also, if you would like to review previous Democracy Ateneo announcements and summaries <http://ccra.mitotedigital.org/democracy_ateneo> and more information on the ateneo in general, please see <http://ccra.mitotedigital.org/ateneo>.

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