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ERASE THE DATABASE

2021 | Micro-doc | 7 minutes
Erase the Database Coalition
In Collaboration with the Collective Freedom Project
VIDEO
erasethedatabase.com
PODCAST

​#EraseTheDatabase is a campaign to abolish and repair the harm caused by Chicago’s gang database. “Gang Database” is the name used for the maintenance of information about an individual’s suspected relationship to gangs maintained by the Chicago Police Department (CPD). It is inaccurate. It leads to horrible outcomes for individuals and communities. It is inherently and systemically racist. It is an expansion of the police state and ICE. It needs to be abolished. Yesterday.

Gang databases have long been tools for social control used to track and criminalize communities of color. In Chicago, a study found that 95% of the individuals on the gang database were Black and Latinx. For years, Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD), Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), and Mijente had been leading a local campaign urging the city of Chicago expand what it means to be a “Sanctuary City” to protect immigrants and US born people of color, particularly those who are targeted by local police. The groups coalesced around the goal to expose and eliminate the gang database in Chicago. In 2021, the coalition is now steered by OCAD, BYP100, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC), and GoodKids MadCity (GKMC).
Erase the Database

The Collective Freedom Project

The #EraseTheDatabase micro-doc was created as part of the broader, multi-region Collective Freedom Project. Our communities’ campaigns are not relegated to “criminal justice” or “immigrant rights,” but are based in recognition that all of us deserve a world where we can thrive away from police and ICE violence and outside of jails and detention centers. By working at the intersections of the criminal-legal and the immigration systems, our communities are pressuring counties to stop racist policing practices, close jails, and expand second chances. As more wake up to the fact that anti-Black and racist policing leads directly to the growth of detention and deportation, our movements become clearer aligned in our vision and strategies for a more just society.

​Learn more about the broader Collective Freedom Project and campaigns in Texas, Atlanta, and California at CollectiveFreedomProject.org. ​Special Thanks to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Dogmo Studios, and with support from the Four Freedoms Fund.
Collective Freedom Project
CFP videos + podcast series
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2018 -- Wilmer Catalán gets released from detention
May 29, 2021 -- Erase the Database Block Party

​Related Podcast Episode & Series

Listen to Bourbon 'n BrownTown wherever you find your podcasts
Interviewees:
Jalen Kobayashi | Youth Organizer, GoodKids MadCity
Wilmer Catalán | Back of the Yard Resident, (in community with) Organized Communities Against Deportation
Ralph Edwards | Program Manager, Communities Partnering 4 Peace
Written, Directed, & Produced by Caullen Hudson
Cinematography by C’airra Cortez
1st AC, Danyelle Norris
Editing, Color, Post Sound, Additional Footage, & English Transcription by James Murray
Production Sound, Timothy Chan
Coalition Coordinators, Xanat Sobrevilla, OCAD & Alyx Goodwin, BYP100
Page Photos & Set Still Photography, Jalen Hamilton

“I will be organizing until I see
​Black and indigenous liberation here."  
JAYLEN KOBAYASHI | Youth Organizer, GoodKids MadCity

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© 2023 SoapBox Productions and Organizing
501(c)3 | EIN: 82-4144067
Chicago, Illinois
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  • Home
  • Productions
    • Film >
      • "No Cop Doc"
      • "Chi DNA"
      • "Seguimos Aquí"
      • "Calvin's Story"
      • "What's Beef?"
      • "Blue Notes"
    • SoapBox Action Works
    • Commercial PSAs >
      • Save Antibiotics
      • First Wheels
  • Organizing
    • SoapBox Action Works >
      • Sh*t Talks: Studio Sessions
      • Coalition to Decarcerate IL
      • The Final 5 Campaign
      • "We Are More"
      • Defund CPD
      • Erase the Database
      • Obama CBA
      • 2020 Uprisings
      • COVID-19
      • Census 2020
      • Crossroads Fund
      • Judges Matter
      • #NoCopAcademy
      • Archives
    • Education & Workshops
    • Live Events >
      • Chi DNA Speaker Series
      • Fitness Against Fascism
  • Podcast
    • About
    • All Episodes
    • Patreon
    • Linktree
  • Editorial
  • About
    • Mission & Model
    • Team
    • Press
    • Newsletter
    • Contact
    • linktree
  • Support
    • Support SoapBox
    • Store