By: Diane Benjamin
Citizens deserve to know what’s happening in their city. This post is meant to inform voters. Is BLM trying to run the Bloomington police force themselves? You decide. Why Bloomington and not Normal?
The proposals below were created by the local Black Lives Matter movement. You can see the entire document that explains each proposal here: BLM Police Platform
Note: The local group is following much of what the National BLM movement is demanding: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision
A survey was sent to all Bloomington candidates and members of the City Council by BLM, then a followup email was sent:
From: “Black LivesMatter” <[email protected]>
Date: Jan 17, 2017 7:57 AM
Subject: Black Lives Matter
To: “Black LivesMatter” <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Mayor, Council Members and Candidates,
Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal members are encouraged by those of you who took the time to respond to our community policing public policy survey. We appreciate your consideration of the concerns and proposals of your constituents and want to sincerely thank you for participating.
Those who responded include: Mayor Tari Renner, Jamie Mathy, Susan Feldkam, Bob Clay, Gary Lambert, Mboka Mwilambwe, Joni Painter, Sonny Garcia, Scott Black, Diana Hauman, Sheheryar Muftee and Jim Fruin. Stating your positions on these policies is important, as it demonstrates your willingness to listen and take action on the issues that matter to members of your community. In the coming weeks, we would like to schedule time to speak with each of you individually regarding the positions you have expressed, to address any outstanding questions and to start planning how proposals can best be implemented. Members of our group will be reaching out to you shortly to begin the scheduling process.
The following electeds and candidates did not respond to the survey: Kevin Lower, David Sage, J Balmer, Amelia Buragas, Lupe Diaz, Karen Schmidt and Ian Bayne.
We are disappointed in those of you who refused to consider the valid concerns and proposed solutions put forth by those you claim to represent. Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal members are still willing to meet with you to discuss your concerns, but we will leave it up to you to initiate the scheduling of those meetings with us.
Know that if you are not willing to have these discussions in private, we will address them at your open houses, city council meetings and other campaign events this year and next, until we, the people in your voting districts, are satisfied with a response.
In the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., ‘In the end, we remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’
If you are not willing to stand up for your community on these issues, don’t expect your community to stand for you in the ballot box.
Sincerely,
Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal
Threatening?
I’d demand this group publicly denounce the following before any discussions:
Hands Up Don’t Shoot – it never happened
Pigs in a Blanket, fry em like bacon – chanted by BLM members
Shootings of any police officer
.
.
OMG these social justice warriors.
The number one killer of black people is…. other black people. So is Black Lives Matters going to address this too? So we want you (the police) to get your house in order but we plan ignoring the black on black murderers in our living room? Do the police sometime use excessive force? Yes of course but you can’t have it both ways. Address black lives being lost by black killers too. Do black lives only matter when the police are the killers? Where is the outrage for hundreds of mostly black people killed in Chicago each year by other black people? I have heard nothing from Black Lives Matters on this horrible problem.
So true!
Pop Quiz
Black Lives Matter is:
1) A Terrorist Organization
2) A George Soros pet project
3) A subsidiary of the Democratic Party
4) Obama’s Brownshirts, after Occupy Wall Street imploded
5) All of the above.
So, they complain about those who didn’t consider their proposals. I submit those people did consider them. Then decided not to give them more impetus by responding to extortion.
“Let me into the chicken coop” said the fox. This needs to be addressed publicly by the mayor, the individual council members and the mayoral/council candidates before the election. We need to know where each one of them stands on this. Why would anyone need to know the BPD camera locations unless they needed to avoid them for some reason that’s not too hard to figure out?
The leadership for Black America on most all levels has historically failed to really provide the leadership necessary to move Black people forward. The finger pointing is never directed at the root of the problems, just their so-called oppressors. Why is it that races from other countries can come to the United States and within a generation become prosperous law-abiding citizens? We all know the answer. They work really really hard and place a high value on educating and disciplining their children. Why is this so hard to understand? It’s hard to understand when you have spent decades being lead by people who just want to point fingers and blame someone else for the problems embedded in the black community at large. I worked hard to raise, educate and keep my kids off the street. Guess what… they are now law-abiding prosperous adults! Funny how that works, right?
Any city official or candidate who agrees to meet with BLN in private does not support the democratic process and should not hold office. There are avenues in place for expressing grievances, changing laws and accomplishing transparency in this city and country. BLM claims to want equality but in reality wants special treatment. The actions of the Black Power movement in the 1970s was ineffective for the same reason this behavior will be. If BLM wants to be heard, speak publically so the entire community of Bloomington and Normal are aware of your demands.