The Derek Chauvin Trial For many Black Americans anxiety surrounded the Derek Chauvin trial. The former police officer was charged with killing George Floyd, who died after Chauvin pinned Floyd's neck by the knee for more than nine minutes while onlookers begged the officer to stop and Floyd cried out for his mother. Our nation and most specifically the Black community have rarely seen white male officers held accountable for killing black people. So there was apprehension, fear, and anger that no matter how indisputable the charges and the evidence, our fractured criminal justice system would falter. Chauvin's guilty conviction...

Statement on the killing of Daunte Wright From 1920 to 1938 a flag was flown outside the NAACP’s national office in New York whenever a black man was lynched. It read simply, “A man was lynched yesterday.” Some may like to imagine that we have made progress on America’s long road to racial justice, but lynchings by white mobs have only been replaced by unabated police killings, which invariably happen in the course of subduing Black and brown communities. On Sunday, just outside Minneapolis, while Derek Chauvin is still awaiting justice for the depraved murder of George Floyd, another man...

From: Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz <sonia.chang-diaz@masenate.gov> Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2020 3:29 PM Subject: What comes next for law enforcement reform As you’ve likely heard by now, Governor Baker has returned the law enforcement reform bill to the Legislature with amendments. So here’s what comes next: The Senate, then the House, will take up the bill again in light of the Governor’s amendments. It’s possible that opponents of reform will use this opportunity to run out the clock on the bill, with still more amendments and procedural delay tactics. It’s imperative that we get the bill back to Baker’s desk by...

We can’t miss this moment. Urge Governor Baker to sign the Legislature's police reform bill into law, without amendment. For months, people across the Commonwealth raised their voices for racial justice. This week the Legislature passed a bill that takes serious steps toward answering those calls — and includes reforms proposed by a diverse array of advocates and elected officials, including Governor Baker himself. The police reform package includes critical measures to increase accountability and civilian oversight. It will establish a system for investigating and decertifying officers, set boundaries on police use of force — like banning chokeholds, limit no-knock...