Time of Reckoning Moves Forward
From Listening to Accountability
It is the birthright of Black people to live in a world where they can thrive as their whole, full selves. It is the duty of those in power to open (and make accessible) the avenues, resources, and relationships for that birthright to be realized. 2021 was a pivotal time in the movement to see racial justice and radical healing take its rightful place in our world. We’ve used the momentum of our collective genius to launch Time of Reckoning beyond the research and engagement phase of our essential work and into a time of action and accountability.
The future is here and Phase II of Time of Reckoning’s work is helping that future be inclusive, just, and worth experiencing. We invite you to explore the champions, changes, and challenges that we have encountered as this critical work moves forward.
Radical healing and political justice was, is, and can be an accessible reality for all Black people. Informed by community-led solutions, Time of Reckoning leaders are actively working with policymakers to change systems from the inside-out. View the full report by clicking on the box to the left and explore the remainder of this space for insights on the pathway forward
THE PEOPLE’S Journey of Justice
GOALS
These goals serve to support the opportunity for true, “radical re-imagining” to present itself and highlight what is possible within our collective efforts to advance racial justice.
1 Ensure community sets the agenda, defines the problem, and identifies solutions.
2 Support local Black led organizations, advocates, and community leaders to heal, reimagine, define, and develop a shared strategy for Black led social change through a criminal justice lens that is intersectional.
3 Reimagine the relationship between the state, philanthropy, and the community.
4 Host a policy action roundtable that invites local power brokers to the table to partner with the community in the execution of that work with resources.
SOLUTIONS
Raised by Black community members, these are key solutions being centered and prioritized:
GIVE COMMUNITY CONTROL:
Having more individuals from the community
in positions of political power and a part of
interventions and resources intended to
benefit the community.
INVEST:
Rethinking how to invest in individuals and
community resources to support wealth
development and access to meaningful
resources.
DIVEST:
Moving resources away from policies that
undermine healing and justice
in the Black community.
ENSURE ACCOUNTABILITY:
Ensuring all levels of organizations
and systems have accountability measures in place.
GROUND IN
HEALING JUSTICE:
Recenter the role of healing inside of
change to transform, intervene, and respond
to generational trauma and violence in
movements, communities, and lives (Page
and Raffo, US Social Forum, Detroit).
PHASE II Execution
We have entered a time of accountability in action
Throughout September, October, November and December of 2021, Time of Reckoning policy strategist, Anika Bowie, engaged in monthly interviews with policymakers who committed to a series of listening sessions led by the Black community and delivered commitments at the virtual policy action roundtable in June 2021. In these interviews, Bowie used the policy action road map to guide the areas of policy action and take collaborative steps towards accountability. Each interview assessed the confines of the commitments each policymaker made, what roadblocks they foresee, what partnerships, coalitions, or resources are needed to achieve their collective goals, and what support they might seek from policy action or healing justice experts.
THE POWER of Action and Accountability
Policy Wins
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi
announced in September 2021 that he will no longer prosecute felony cases resulting from minor traffic stops for violations like broken tail lights or expired tabs. This is a bold stance for a prosecutor to announce publicly and has the ability to change police behavior and unnecessary escalations and fatalities.
Research in Action (RIA)
In September of 2022, partnered with Attorney John Choi, Ramsey County, and the Bail Reform Working Group (BRWG) to change the booking and pre-trial process and reduce the amount of time people spend in jail waiting for charges to be filed. Through that effort RIA collaborated with the Ramsey County Bail Reform Work Group (BRWG) to listen and learn from community experiences with Ramsey County’s pretrial system. The goal of the BRWG is to eliminate the harm communities experience by the for-profit cash bail system while improving public safety and court appearances.
MDHR Commissioner Rebecca Lucero
Released their findings, a legal document, identifying a culture of racial discrimination in the Minneapolis Police Department in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. As a result, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights is working with the City of Minneapolis to develop a consent decree, a court-enforceable agreement that identifies specific changes to be made and timelines for those changes to occur, to address racial discrimination in policing in Minneapolis.
Meeting Challenges with Champions
Change does not come without challenges. And we’re meeting those head on with sustainable solutions that can keep this essential work on a productive path.
Lacking Money and Resources?
Use political power!
Even with a State budget surplus, there are many resources that are still not getting to the communities that need them most. We need sustainable funding and growth opportunities for community advocacy that invests in BIPOC leaders specifically. These leaders would encourage policymakers to divest dollars from harmful policies and instead invest in communities who have been intentionally stripped of resources for centuries.
Encountering Resistance to Change?
Support champions of change!
We need more internal champions in government who can change their corner of the political and funding universe and take a stand when others will not. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi is an example of what it means to bring community to the table for listening, learning, and iteration. More organizations can learn from this emergent strategy.
Navigating the Political Climate?
Ensure community control over accountability methods!
Community has consistently called for accountability and more control. We envision this need occurring in two ways:
Funding partnerships that provide the opportunity to help change the way law enforcement are vetted, trained, and held accountable.
Investing in political advocacy for organizations that supports and sustains community-led accountability methods in the criminal justice system but across all systems that impact Black families.
Strategies and
Support
It’s going to take both systemic transformation as well as community accountability to bring about the full result of the reckoning we are working towards. While we’ve been working with policymakers over the last year to hold them accountable to their promises, we understand the time it takes to make systemic overhauls at the policy level. Research in Action, the Healing Justice Foundation, Joi Unlimited, and many Black leaders have been moving the needle on the commitments made to community members. We invite you to learn about the organizations that are in need of sustainable funding, support, and resources to fully realize racial justice in our communities.
Growing the Healing Ecosystem
With a focus on healing from historic and present day trauma, the Healing Justice Foundation (HJF) team is solidifying our commitment to building a healing ecosystem, using The RedCross as an organizing metaphor. HJF is working with other Black-led organizations, institutions, and allies committed to liberation, justice and healing for the Black Community to address the psychological and material first aid needed in times of urgent and acute crisis, to build our version of a Red Cross for Black Liberation. HJF wants to better understand unmet community needs during incidents of violence perpetrated by the state and other oppression induced traumas like COVID-19. We honor the need for a collaborative and connected restorative response grounded in Black liberation. The Healing Justice Foundation in collaboration with Joi Unlimited is also expanding opportunities for Healing and Radical Self-Care training to support folks through trauma induced oppression as well as sustainable economic support for Black healers and mental health providers for the Black community. This early work is in partnership with The Pohlad Foundation; however, we need many more philanthropic partners and institutions to support this critical work.
Research in Action
The Minnesota Justice Research Center (MNJRC) is seeking resources to support its partnership with Research in Action (RIA) to advance its police accountability strategy. After spearheading an administrative rules change for the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board, which governs Peace Officer licenses in Minnesota, MNJRC seeks support in activating the community. We anticipate statewide resistance to a series of new rules, including prohibiting officers from associating with White Supremacist groups. MNJRC is looking to partner with RIA to educate the community on the importance of providing public comment, provide training on how to use the public comment toolkit, lead data collection and analysis at the statewide public hearing on the new rules change, and collaborate with MNJRC to design a community response and action agenda to the final judgment on the new rules change.
Zion Baptist Church
Zion Baptist Church has continued its commitment to serving community members and has expanded to include healing work in the community. Zion, led by Pastor Brian Herron, has become a hub for community meetings, partnerships and programming that prayerfully advances the cause of Black people.