Hey John,

We hope you had a joyful and healing day yesterday celebrating Black freedom and Black resistance! 

The events of the last few weeks have highlighted something that we have always believed. We need to drastically change the structures in place in Wisconsin and throughout the United States to defend Black lives because Black Lives Matter. Foremost, we need to reimagine public safety and create a system that protects and serves all of us -- not just those of us who are especially privileged and white.    

Please join us on Wednesday, June 24th, at 3:00 p.m. for a conversation about public safety. Sign up now, and we will share the Zoom login information with you.

You have likely heard the cries to defund the police, but you may be wondering what that means. It means divesting from police departments and investing in communities. It means that an armed person is not sent to respond to someone sleeping in a parking lot, like Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta last week, or in a park, like Dontre Hamilton in Milwaukee. It means recognizing that police violence is gun violence and working to eliminate that violence.

We invite you to join us for a statewide virtual action meeting to learn about the history of policing in Wisconsin and imagine public safety possibilities for the future.

What: Wisconsin statewide virtual action meeting -- Defunding the Police: Reimagining Public Safety
When: Wednesday, June 24, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.
Where: On your computer or phone!

We hope you can join us for this important conversation!

Onward and upward,
Jeri

P.S. You can learn more about the history of Juneteenth here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/national-archives-locates-handwritten-juneteenth-order-180975143.