S U M M E R

From moment to movement. Since the murder of George Floyd at the end of May, cities including Chicago rose up to demand an end to police violence. Not only is the government standing by as COVID-19 ravages Black, Latinx and Indigenous communities—inciting mass Black death with their calls to reopen the economy, but the police and racist vigilantes continue to brazenly hunt and kill Black folks while they sleep in their beds and on open roads in broad daylight. 

Words by Damon Williams, Produced & Edited by Sensitive Visuals, Photos by Love & Struggle Photos, Music by Rebel Diaz, Footage by SoapBox & Equals 4 Media

Directed & Produced by David A. Moran (SoapBox), Cinematography & Editing by Xenon Zeigler, Additional Cinematography by Caullen Hudson

Filmed, Edited, & Produced by James Edward Murray

FALL
The struggle continues...

By fall 2020, individual organizers and organizations working on police abolition and Black liberation for years joined forces to create the Black Abolitionist Network and the #DefundCPD campaign calling for a 75% divestment from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to community services. During a summer of power-building, mass consciousness shift, and social unrest, CPD and other state agents across the nation were especially violent and brutal towards protestors and everyday people demanding radical change. In Chicago, this brought forth a lawsuit with the city. Watch below.

Protestors v. City of Chicago

Words by Miracle Boyd, Produced & Edited by Sensitive Visuals, Photos by Love & Struggle Photos, Music by PK, Footage by SoapBox, guillaume Le Mezo, Tom Callahan, Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle, Ervin Lòpez, Austin C. Pruett

#DefundCPD

Produced by #DefundCPD & SoapBox, Edited by James Edward Murray, Music by Chicago Soundbox, Footage by James Edward Murray & Caullen Hudson

More 2020: COVID-19 rapid-response organizing

2021 & #DefundCPD Campaign

Mourn the Dead, Fight Like Hell for the Living

May 29, 2021 -- Some sights and sounds from the first public #DefundCPD action out of hibernation “Honor the Dead, Fight like Hell for the Living” action. Shoutout to everyone who has been mourning and resisting this past year. We can’t change the past but we can make the future, and that starts now. Follow @defundcpd and get resources on Linktr.ee/defundcpd.

Photos by Sarah-Ji.

"Write yourself into history. Not because you're vain, but because you're important, your work is important, you're building off the work of your ancestors, and someone will be building off of yours." 
MARIAME KABA | Organizer, Educator, and Curator