CRS and our member congregation, Urban Village Church, Wicker Park, co-hosted a virtual gathering on October 23. This online meeting set out to educate our network on the battle to end pretextual traffic stops in Chicago and empower folks to mobilize because, as asserted before, when we fight, we win.

While these new laws bring us steps closer to the Illinois we want to live in, the work is not done. All of us must continue to do the good work of organizing our communities, taking action and demanding meaningful change!

On July 21, 2021 The Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance passed! This achievement could not have happened without your involvement and the support of these Alderpeople. Please take the time to thank them.

by Rev. Karen Mooney, Executive Co-Director - Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of IL

The coalition behind the Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance, which is expected to be filed as a substitute to the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability ordinance (SO2019-4132), including aldermen and labor leaders, criticized Lightfoot’s proposal during a news conference Thursday and said they expect a vote on police oversight in June.

The Latino Caucus of the Chicago City Council has voted to endorse the civilian police oversight ordinance backed by the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) and the coalition for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC).

Another indelible image of police murdering an unarmed person of color leaves us perplexed. Chicago Police Officer Eric Stillman shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo less than a second AFTER Adam dropped the gun and had BOTH hands up. In other words, the young man complied.

The trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, the torture of Gerald Reed at the hands of police who was freed after 31 years of being wrongfully imprisoned, the wrongful raid of Anjanette Young. We continue to hear how the police engage in deeply traumatizing behavior. The only way to stop this senseless violence and injustice is by changing the system that allows for such violence to occur.

On February 21, 2019, Chicago police burst into the apartment of an innocent black woman, Anjanette Young, based on a faulty tip, handcuffing her while she was naked, forcing her to stand in full view of male officers as they searched her home. It took 22 months for the video to surface and Ms. Young’s voice to be heard.

As we embark upon a new era with a new administration, we continue to fight for this vision, demanding that just and equitable systems be created.

Too often, police break into homes with guns pointing, shouting expletives and frightening innocent children and families.

The Chicago Police Department’s invasion of Anjanette Young’s home and disregard of her pleas is systemic degradation.

When the city of Chicago rejected the vast majority of the recommendations of the Use of Force Working Group for reforming the policies of the Chicago Police Department, it once again chose to rely on the status quo rather than engage in meaningful reform.

Breonna Taylor was a beautiful young woman, who life was tragically taken away. This is enough to cry out for justice.

Let us lament in the face of languishing injustices, hatred, racism and brokenness that are part of our lives and part of our world.

“We must breathe” is a prophetic proclamation affirming self-worth and a righteous charge in the face of violence against Black and Brown bodies and lives.

I joined CRS’ Police Accountability issue team because a police officer profiled and assaulted my son outside our home in Northlake, Illinois.

God, you are the light of my life and the lover of my soul. You are the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. You know all, see all, and care for all.

Each and every one of God’s children has been endowed with the divine. This divine blessing is what connects all of humanity and when one of us is oppressed and suffers, all of us are oppressed. The Englewood shooting on Sunday, August 9, and the ensuing riots speak powerfully to this.

Community Renewal Society, as a member of the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability coalition, continues to fight for the GAPA Ordinance developed by community members and coalition allies.