There's So Much More Work To Do...

On May 17, 2018, WFAE Nick De La Canal wrote an article titled:?

“Charlotte City Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield is again drawing controversy over a social media post, this time for a tweet posted in March that equated police officers with "homegrown terrorists.”

Now to be clear I had retweeted a post on March 26, 2018 of Stephon Clark’s grandmother Sequita Thompson, Mr. Clark was unarmed and shot 20 times by POLICE OFFICERS. This was yet another murder from a long list of egregious murders of unarmed Black men and Women by those hired to “Protect & Serve”.?

I wrote the following “Being Black in America under #45 has created homegrown terrorist wearing blue uniforms #AReckoningIsComing" in my comments on the retweet.

Oppose to working alongside me to address the challenges of police brutality in Black & Poor communities or even reaching out for clarification on my retweet multiple media outlets choose to attack me; my work and my integrity.?

The same above outlet also wrote:?“Later, she published a lengthier defense, writing, "I have and continue to be one of the strongest supporters of law enforcement but I will NOT turn a blind eye to corruption, assaults, and the killings of unarmed black & brown people. If you are offended by my comments and not the situation YOU need to re-evaluate.”????

The almost comical part of this particular situation was that I was sharing a post regarding police brutality outside of Charlotte yet it was the budget season so it made for good click bate and feigned outrage to fight for an increase in police salaries and budget.

The outlet chooses negativity vs addressing the hypocrisy; chooses disinformation vs capitalizing on an opportunity to educate.?

The Charlotte Observer chooses to title its article by Mark Price: Charlotte city councilwoman under fire again for suggesting cops terrorize minorities”.?

NO, I did Not speak with or was interviewed by Mark Price although he like many others basically copy & paste from other articles & spent time including social media comments such as:“I don’t support calling police officers terrorists. And I don’t support 9/11 conspiracy theorists,” Parker tweeted. (from the comment section)”?

Along with my response to Mr. Parker's tweet: “So YOU do NOT support Freedom of Speech? Or do YOU support the attacks on unarmed Black & Brown people????” she said in the tweet.”

The media gave little to no attention to the “Racial Reconciliation through Truth & Healing: Police Relationships in Communities of Color Town Hall” which I created as a 3 part series that started with Former Police Chief Rodney Monroe where the community could directly address the concerns of police interaction in Black communities specifically. This platform was quickly adopted and adapted by CMPD Former Chief Kerr Putney with a BIG difference. That difference being the LACK of?accountability and constant deflecting along with the justification of police brutality.

The media did not write about the $250,000 I secured for the West Side of Charlotte from Tuckaseegee Rd to West Blvd, or the Targeted Rehab program I created and championed which started in Historic Camp Greene and Lincoln Heights to help mitigate some of the “Bleaching” the communities were experiencing under the guise of gentrification. Nor have they talked about the Black-owned media network SqAir Media Network where I was a host of a video podcast that addresses not only the concerns of the Black community but solutions to build up our communities.

I share this because although as a sitting elected official I attempted to champion injustice in all forms and pushed for hard discussions. I also?sat in many meetings to discuss pay-off amounts to individuals who had endured police officer misconduct both regarding their interaction with fellow officers and with the community (that could not be disclosed) that were evidence of a clear pattern.

Today, there is a mass call to “Defund the Police” due to the same police brutality I tweeted about in 2018 and Black People have been experiencing since the early 1800s. This is NOT a new call nor is the call for reparations.?This is a long-overdue call when you see the impacts of systemic legislative racist policies on the Black community.

Although some of those same media outlets that attempted to vilify me for posts I shared out of heartbreak and emotional pain - after reading yet another story regarding an unarmed Black male murdered - it seems disingenuous to see them in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement or report from the protests or make statements on their websites appearing to care about the Black community while simultaneously not promoting Black staff to positions of authority.

As I typed this, it had been over Twenty weeks since Breonna Taylor was killed by her local police force on March 13, 2020.?She committed no crime. She was fast asleep in her bed when lead officers John Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove and their comrades gunned her down. To date, these officers have NOT been charged by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. ?

Now let’s consider, the daily angst faced by many citizens of Boston, Massachusetts who have had no justice in the murder of an innocent 9-year-old, Jermaine Goffigan. Detective Keeler is the culprit in that senseless?murder.

In Wisconsin, unrest erupted after police shot yet another unarmed Black man. As I did back in 2018 and continue to herald today, heartbroken and fed-up citizens are speaking out & marching to highlight the racial injustice and urgency to bring fundamental change to law enforcement.?

Police shot and critically injured?Jacob Blake back in January 2021, who witnesses said had been trying to break up an argument between two women. As he walked back toward his silver SUV last Sunday, an officer trailing behind, fired seven times toward Blake’s back at close range. The incident was caught on amateur video and quickly boomeranged across the Internet.?

The grim reality for Black & Brown people in America sadly validates every tweet and every public statement I’ve made against racial injustice and its relentless perpetrators. Yes, I am outspoken, maybe even a little direct as I speak up about the issues plaguing the Black community, about the systemic racist policies and procedures that suppress our quality of life. It’s true.?

When I was an elected official, I refused to play the game of politics and that may have cost me my 2019 re-election. These are facts. And I’m proud of each & every one of them.?I am so incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to serve this beloved community, especially the steadfast citizens of District 3, and grateful now in 2022 to have been elected in the May Primary (I NEED YOU ALL AGAIN FOR JULY 26, 2022)

I took my oath to serve very seriously and made the tremendous personal sacrifices so that I could pour 100% of myself into the work of progress and equity. After much rest & reflection, today I am all the more?committed to the empowerment of Black people for a better America, a better North Carolina, and a better Charlotte with a renewed focus on Equity for all?disenfranchised communities to make this land a more perfect Union.?

I will be bringing to bear my personal, professional, and civic?experiences to create programs & opportunities that help better the quality of life for Black Americans and deconstruct the network of systems that aim to oppress/suppress.

Civil service was just one of my contributions to the cause. There’s so much more work to do.

IN THE WORKS

? An Online Resource & Mobilization Network?

• Re-engaging the Community
• Quarterly City-wide Town Halls

LaWana Slack Mayfield for City Council At-Large