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[ [link removed] ]TAKE ACTION NOW

Dear John,

How can BET — Black Entertainment Television — fund and enable police
violence against Black people? Considering the cultural impact the network
has as an outlet and platform for Black people, the hypocrisy is glaring.
What they do behind the scene matters.

That has not stopped BET’s president Scott Mills from sitting on the New
York City Police Foundation’s board anyway, despite the foundation
funneling money and weapons to the NYPD. Along with that, BET’s parent
company Paramount has donated to that same police foundation, and one of
its directors is also sitting on its board.^1

[ [link removed] ]Call BET and Paramount out on their hypocrisy. Tell their executives to
get off the NYC Police Foundation’s board and stop funding police violence
against Black people.

[ [link removed] ]demand accountability from bet

After George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek
Chauvin, BET released a statement expressing solidarity with Floyd’s
family and other victims of police violence.^2

Their statement spoke out against “racist brutality,” yet BET’s president
and parent company are helping prop up an organization that funnels
weapons and surveillance to the massive NYPD without any accountability or
oversight from the public. NYPD uses those weapons against Black New
Yorkers.

[ [link removed] ]Either BET is working to fight back against police harassment and
brutality or helping to prop it up behind closed doors. Empty words aren’t
enough and don’t keep Black people safe. John, tell BET and
ViacomCBS to stop supporting police foundations now.

[ [link removed] ]TELL BET: STOP FUNDING POLICE VIOLENCE!

The NYPD has a long history of over-policing, harassing, and targeting
Black communities. This isn’t and shouldn’t be news to the president of
BET. Yet Mills has decided to tie his name and the reputation of the
network to the NYC Police Foundation anyway.

By sitting on the NYC Police Foundation board, BET’s president and a
ViacomCBS director are abetting the NYPD — and enabling the police
department’s violence and corruption.

[ [link removed] ]Tell BET and ViacomCBS that they can’t have it both ways. They can’t
say they support Black Lives and racial justice while propping up a system
that hurt our communities.

Thank you for staying in the fight.

Until Justice is Real,

Color Of Change Criminal Justice and Democracy Team

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References: 

1. [ [link removed] ]Police Foundations: A Corporate-Sponsored Threat To Democracy and
Black Lives. Color Of Change.

2. [ [link removed] ]BET Calls For Action In George Floyd And Breonna Taylor Police
Killings. BET, 31 May, 2020.


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folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Please
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