First PSA - January 2018Full Version | Original PSA (January 2018)
Social Media Cutdown | Original PSA (January 2018)
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#NoCopAcademy was a grassroots campaign launched by Assata’s Daughters, Black Lives Matter - Chicago, People’s Response Team, For The People Artists Collective, and many more grassroots organizations to mobilize against Rahm Emanuel’s plans to spend $95 million for a massive training center for Chicago police in West Garfield Park on the city’s West Side. We refuse any expansion of policing in Chicago, and demand accountability for decades of violence. Instead, we demand resources for schools and youth.
This original video from 2018 offers the unique perspective of students who attend school one block away from the current cop academy, and young people who live adjacent to the site of the proposed expanded cop academy. What does it feel like to go to school next to cops every day? What would it feel like to have a shooting range, live scenario trainings, and a swimming pool for police next door to your high school gymnasium? What would you really need to feel safe in your neighborhood? In addition to centering the experiences that Black youth and youth of color have had with police in their communities, this piece goes the extra step by highlighting the ways young people are at the forefront of one of the most pressing issues in Chicago. The youth organizing team of #NoCopAcademy organized meetings, engaged their neighbors, met with City Council, engaged in direct action - all to demand an end to the violences that Black young people have experienced at the hands of the police and the city alike, and to demand schools for kids, not cops. |
Check out all of the Campaign Resources
Below are four videos chronicling different parts of the campaign after the initial PSA in January 2018 (6 months after Rahm's announcement) and before the production of the full documentary in late 2020. The December 2018 Update, AECOM Explainer, and City Council Vote Call to Action were all before the final 38-8 Chicago City Council vote on March 13, 2019.
Campaign Update Videos
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December 2018 Update
#FueraLopez |
AECOM Explainer - January 25, 2019
#AECOMsucks |
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City Council Vote Call to Action
March 12-13, 2019 |
No Cop FOIA Lawsuit - 2020
#NoCopSuesRahm |
Related Editorial Article
SoapBox's own David A. Moran wrote a piece on his first organizing experiences in the #NoCopAcademy campaign. He builds on his background as a first generation Chicano living in Chicago to learning from campaign comrades at the height of #NoCopAcademy efforts. Read more below.
Related Podcast Episodes
Other No Cop Mentions
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Credits for January 2018 Video:
Interviewees: Asha & Deja (Whitney Young High School); Brion & Robert (Orr High School); Nita (#NoCopAcademy)
Written, Directed, & Produced by Caullen Hudson Produced by David A. Moran, Asha Edwards, and Debbie Southorn |
Cinematography by Dakota Sillyman
Additionally Cinematography by Xenon Zeigler Drone Photography by Ben Jassin Whitney Young Liaison & Production Sound by Joanna Preston Train Takeover Action Footage by Tom Callahan of Sensitive Visuals |
