Chicago Cannot Continue To Be Trump's Talking Point

As you might have seen during yesterday's Presidential debate between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton, in a response to a question regarding race, Donald Trump highlighted Chicago's struggles with violence (before a Superbowl-sized national audience).

Regardless of your political beliefs, it is a shame that Chicago was mentioned in that context. The ongoing violence in Chicago is a crisis that requires the Mayor to go even further than he said he would during his speech last week.

Look at the current state of affairs in Chicago:

• More than 15,000 shootings since 1/1/10
• The tragic killing of Lacquan McDonald
• The Mayor commissioned a task force that produced a report with nearly 200 pages of recommendations 
• Years of mass meetings and listening sessions (more than twelve so far, including those conducted by everyone from the task force to aldermen and the DOJ)
• A new Police Superintendant was hired
• The United States Department of Justice began an investigation into whether there is racial bias in Chicago Police Department's policies and practices
• The Mayor laid out proposals that do not go far enough and do not even implement all of the recommendations from his own task force
• Now, more meetings are on the horizon

What Now?

A couple of months ago, Social Change introduced you to #TheLibertyProject. #TheLibertyProject is an effort to build a bridge between the #BlackLivesMatter  and #BlueLivesMatter advocates and fight for the concrete changes in policy and practice (e.g. the proposals below and more) necessary to measurably improve police and community relations.

Now, as we continue that fight, we would like to enlist you, and every other individual who cares about Chicago and police and community relations, to help us make these proposals a reality.

How You Can Help

To help, find your alderman or alderwoman and demand that they consider and implement common-sense, vetted proposals (like the ones listed below), as soon as possible.

The city, and the communities where violence is most prevalent, should not have to wait for another meeting, another Presidential debate, or another tragedy to occur, for the changes Chicago needs to take place.

Help #TheLibertyProject ensure that's the case.