Dear friend–

We hope you have had a good weekend and that this message finds you well. Lask week, we wrapped up Justice Camp, our inaugural 4-day virtual learning camp on gun violence in partnership with Cities United. The week-long virtual event was a great success, providing attendees with insight and resources for ending gun violence in communities of color. If you missed Justice Camp, you can still visit the website. There you can find materials and resources from the week, including presentation slides.

Earlier this month we released our new, bold, and community-driven policy agenda, written to prioritize the varied forms of violence that people of color experience on a daily basis, and offers concrete solutions with examples of success.

The agenda was born out of our networks of thousands of volunteers, and built on three pillars:

Invest in Proven Strategies to Prevent Shootings and Homicides
Dismantle Structures and Institutions That Fuel Gun Violence
End Gender-based Violence

We will vigorously advocate for these policies, alongside all of you, our coalition members, affiliated Policymakers for Peace, and a network of volunteers committed to pushing leaders to address gun violence comprehensively.

Thank you for your continued support,

In solidarity,

Greg Jackson

National Advocacy Director

Upcoming Events & Opportunities:

Volunteer Meetings: Thank you to the volunteers who attended our volunteer meetings. We are excited to get you all trained and ready for upcoming legislative fights in 2021. Did you miss the volunteer meetings? Don’t worry, sign up for volunteer meetings for 2021 here.

Community Justice Policy Updates:

Ohio:

"Stand Your Ground" legislation was fast-tracked through the Ohio state legislature, setting up an intra-party showdown between Republican legislators and Gov. Mike DeWine, who opposes the measure. Standing united in opposition is a broad coalition of local and national advocacy organizations, including the Community Justice Action Fund. Law enforcement also stands united against the measure, as both the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association testified against it. Legislative leaders used various bills to get the measure through the House and Senate as quickly as possible, including S.B. 383, H.B. 796, and most recently an amendment to H.B. 175, which passed the House shortly before midnight on Thursday, and then passed the Senate on Friday. Only a veto from the governor can stop this dangerous bill from becoming law. Join us in signing your name to #StandWithOhio and show Gov. DeWine that the entire nation is watching!

Virginia:

Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia signed into law HB 5099, also known as Breonna's Law in honor of Breonna Taylor who was killed by the Louisville Metro Police Department. The legislation prohibits law enforcement from executing no-knock warrants, and requires warrants to be served in the daytime except under certain circumstances.

News of Interest:

As the nation mourns 300,000 people killed by COVID-19, Americans are also remembering the more than 41,000 people who died by gun violence this year. Many of the same Black and Latino neighborhoods have been disproportionately affected by both epidemics.
“In Chicago, we never get a chance to heal. Healing is not coming to us. Every time we turn our news on, it’s another shooting. So we’re living in day-to-day, present trauma.”— Check out this powerful feature of our friend Pamela Bosely of Purpose over Pain on grieving children taken by gun violence.
Louisville Activist Kris Smith was killed by gun violence last Friday. Smith is the second activist killed in the past weeks,and is one of more than 150 homicides in Louisville this year. Our thoughts are with his family and community.
Last week, Virginia became the first state to ban no-knock warrants in response to the murder of Breonna Taylor. The law was named Breonna’s Law, and her family was present for the signing. Gov. Northam said that the signing was "not a cause for celebration" because "nothing can be done to bring Breonna or any other victim back," but that "we honor them when we act." He stated he was signing this law so "other families don't suffer the same loss."
One year old Carmelo Duncan was shot and killed in DC. His life ended before it happened. His murder comes at at the heels of year with historically high rates of gun violence in DC.
To address gun violence, the Kalamazoo City Commission has developed a multi-layered and holistic proposal that provides funding towards community mobilization and cohesion, mental health support, and housing rehabilitation to end gun violence.
Violence prevention workers in the Bay Area point to the loss of local refuges such as schools and community centers as contributors to the rise in gun violence during the pandemic.

Gun violence is a public health crisis, but a Philadelphia social worker writes that we need to go further in naming and addressing this issue: “Gun violence is a disaster, it is catastrophic. It is a public health emergency."

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