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#NoCopAcademy

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Podcast
Editorial
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2018-2020 | ​PSA + Call to Action | 3.5 Minutes
No Cop Academy Coalition
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#NoCopAcademy is 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 video 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 are organizing meetings, engaging their neighbors, meeting 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.

Find More Information and Take Action at

NoCopAcademy.com

Campaign Update Videos

December 2018 Update
AECOM Explainer - January 25, 2019
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.
Read "From Sidelines to Frontlines"

Related Podcasts

The #NoCopAcademy campaign has been a topic of discussion and analysis on Episode 26 of Bourbon 'n BrownTown podcast and mentioned in several other episodes as well as BrownTown guest appearances on other podcasts.
​Check them out!
Ep. 26 - Coalition-building & #NoCopAcademy ft. Monica Trinidad & Debbie Southorn
Other #NCA Mentions on Bourbon 'n BrownTown
  • Ep. 11 - Chi DNA: Intersectionality, #NoCopAcademy, Activist Art, & Organizing the Newly Radicalized ft. Ruby Pinto
  • Ep. 13 - Chi DNA: Black History & Resistance in Chicago ft. Kofi Ademola
  • Ep. 14 - Chi DNA: Electoral v. Radical Politics ft. Camille Williams

Guests Appearances on Other Podcasts
  • ​Brown Girl Talks Podcast - Ep. 2 "Brown Girl Talks Meets Bourbon 'n BrownTown"
  • #WeGotGoals Podcast by aSweatLife - Ep. 68 "How Caullen Hudson is Making Change Through Fitness and His Company SoapBox Productions"
Credits for Original 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

“Real community safety comes from fully-funded schools and mental health centers, robust after-school and job-training programs, and social and economic justice. We want investment in our communities, not expanded resources for police.”
#NOCOPACADEMY

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  • Home
  • Productions
    • Film + TV >
      • "Chi DNA"
      • "Calvin's Story"
      • "What's Beef?"
      • "Blue Notes"
    • Commercial PSAs >
      • Save Antibiotics
      • First Wheels
    • Action Works
  • Organizing
    • SoapBox Action Works >
      • 2020 Uprisings
      • Obama CBA
      • Census 2020
      • Crossroads Fund
      • Judges Matter
      • #NoCopAcademy
      • SoapBox in Trumpland
      • Chicago Votes
    • Events & Programming >
      • Chi DNA Events
      • Fitness Against Fascism
  • Podcast
    • About
    • All Episodes
  • Editorial
  • About
    • Mission & Model
    • Team
    • Newsletters
    • Contact
  • Support
    • Support SoapBox
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