What A Day - It's Been A Minute, Minneapolis

Episode Date: August 5, 2020

The Minneapolis City Council voted to disband the Minneapolis Police Department over a month ago, but achieving that goal requires getting a ballot initiative in front of residents. We discuss that effort and more with Oluchi Omeoga, a co-creator of Black Visions Collective.And in headlines: a deadly explosion in Beirut, the census is ending early, and a whole lot of new Miami Marlins.Black Visions Collective: blackvisionsmn.orgReclaim The Block: reclaimtheblock.org

It's Wednesday, August 5th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, where we are adopting Trump's habit of always carrying around a bunch of loose graphs. Yeah, you know, you can never have too many loose printed charts that you don't know how to read. It doesn't matter what they represent, just think of them as nice, colorful bars. Oh, that's sweet. On today's show, a conversation with Aluchi Omiyoga of Black Visions Collective about the movement to disband the police in Minneapolis.

Then some headlines. But first, the latest. We want every American child to have access to pristine outdoor spaces. When young Americans experience the breathtaking beauty of the Grand Canyon, when their eyes widen in amazement as old faithful burst into the sky, when they gaze upon Yosemites, Yosemites towering sequoias. Wow. So, yeah, that was President Trump talking about Yosemite, which I guess if you're reading the word for the first time would be Yosemites. I don't know. But an interesting approach that I'm just going to go out on a limb and say is not right or correct.

And it is Yosemite. So just so you know. Yeah, we want to make sure you don't go into any situation where you refer to a beautiful natural park in the wrong way. For sure. But on today's show, it's been nearly two and a half months since George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, sparking an unprecedented movement against systemic racism in the city and across the world. Just this week, video from the body cameras of the police officers came out, sparking renewed attention on the case and calls for accountability for police. Outside of the case, we've seen incremental reforms passed in several cities and states, as well as broader and more sustained dialogue about fully reimagining a world

where police departments don't exist as they currently do. Right. And we've been tracking some of the progress on this, in particular in Minnesota. And to sum up there, state lawmakers passed a reform package in July banning things like chokeholds and neck restraints for all police departments across the state. Then in Minneapolis, the city approved a 1% cut to the police budget. Activists were looking for a lot more there. But change could go quite a bit further, with a majority of the city council supporting an effort to disband the Minneapolis Police Department, or MPD. In order to get there, though, voters are first going to have to pass a referendum to change the city's charter. And in order to do that, the referendum has to actually get on the ballot,

which is something that activists are working on right now. In the meantime, city council members are planning to engage with the community to figure out what a different kind of public safety department would look like. Enter Black Visions Collective, a black, queer and trans-led organization in Minneapolis that has been working directly with members of the city council on this front, as well as trying to build greater support to defund the police among city residents who may be a little bit more cautious. Aluchi Omiyoga is a co-creator of the group. We talked to them yesterday to get a sense of where the work stands now that the national media spotlight may have waned a little bit. So, Oluchi, thanks for talking to us. Yeah, of course. Yeah, thank you so much.

So first, I want to start by checking in with you on some of the gains that you've made in organizing and protesting in the last couple of months. The state passed a reform bill. The city approved a small cut to police funding. There's a potential voter referendum to disband NPD. How are you feeling so far about the progress that's been made in Minneapolis? Yeah, it's definitely the first step of many, right? From taking to the streets and the uprising that we saw,

we've seen some like narrative shifts, which I'm really actually more excited about. And with that has been a lot of some like incremental gains in legislation and in policy, which has been really dope. And there's definitely more to come. Like this is, as I said, like the first step of many. And we'll just continue seeing more wins as we move forward. Your organization is called Black Visions Collective in terms of visioning and re-imaging

and re-imagining. So what do you make of the way that social media is being used right now, particularly the art on Instagram that is uplifting these voices that have existed for a long time that are now, you know, being beautifully drawn and shared way more widely. Like, what do you think? What do you make of all of that? I'm so happy for all of it that's happening online. I remember, like, the first week of the uprising, the You About to Lose Your Job song came out.

Yes. Like, that was, like, perfect. Shout out to iMarquise and Suede the Remix God. Yes. That was the anthem of the revolution. We even used it in our march, our thousand-person march. was amazing um and like the memes that are coming out are really good i think that like gen z or whatever you want to call it after millennials i don't know um they're being engaged in a way that like they haven't been able to be engaged

um which is like sad that the the fucktar that is donald trump wants to get rid of TikTok. But I also have seen like a lot of like political education on TikTok, which is like really, really dope to see. Like there are white kids that are like calling out their racist parents on TikTok. It's my favorite genre. Right, exactly. But it's been really, really dope to like see us like be able to connect in a way in a time where we actually don't we aren't able to connect physically right yeah um so like it's been really really amazing to like see the

creativity that black folks that youth that um all these folks are able to put out on the on the on the internet and be able to engage folks in a new way absolutely yeah and going back to the question about minneapolis um i want to sort of drill down a little bit about what you think is sort of standing in the way of immediate fundamental change there. Or is this just something that people have to sort of acclimate themselves to taking a lot of time? Yeah, I mean, it is going to take time. And I think that's I think for me, it's like it's two huge things. Right. It's like the fear of the unknown time. And I think that's, I think for me, it's like, it's two huge things, right? It's like the fear of the unknown, right? I think that's really big in this moment is like folks actually, I remember I was talking

to a friend and they were like, black folks are in a traumatic relationship with the police because they know that their relationship with the police is one that is very, very abusive and manipulative, but they don't know anything outside of that relationship. So, like, how are we actually setting the conditions for folks to be able to, like, be outside of that relationship and, like, think about, like, what is a new relationship that we want to see, right? So I think that's one thing. And I also think that, like, folks are just, like, really, like, we live in a capitalistic society where, like, people's attention spans are gone in two seconds, right? Like, where they actually don't want to invest the time that it's going to take in order for us to actually shift the conditions in which we live in, right? It's taken us 400 years to get to this point.

It's going to take us more than 400 years to get out of this point. And, like, folks are just not ready or willing to, like, be able to put in that time or they don't think that it's possible. So like how again, like back to this idea of like, how do we actually instill visioning into the into the minds of our people so that they can actually get into that and like be able to be like reimagine the ways in which that in which they live in our society. And on the more immediate point of removing MPD from the charter, if that's the right terminology, if that's like a ballot initiative this year, do you anticipate that a lot of people, like that that would pass, that like most people in the city would vote for it?

Thank you for asking that very well-timed question. On Monday, we actually released a poll that Benson Polling Group, I think it was what they're called, and the ACLU did to about 700 Minneapolisans that were most likely to vote. And quote unquote, they say with leaners, 61% of Minneapolisans said that they would vote on that today, right? And say with leaners, 61% of Minneapolis said that they would vote on that today. Right. And even without leaners, so without like people who would, yes, sway our way or yes, don't sway. It was 56%. So 56% of Minneapolis would vote on changing the charter to remove the Minneapolis Police Department and institute a new department of community safety and violence prevention. So we know that, like, folks really want this.

They want this in this time. They know that this is the right time. We just have to be able to get folks to that point, which is the work that we're trying to do right now. That's great. What was it like, you know, in the moments where the entire country and the world were paying attention to your city, your work, and what does it feel like sort of now that the dust has settled and the national media is sort of less focused? Like, can you explain, like, or just like let our audience know what that even feels like for a person? Yeah, it's interesting and funny because it's like,

there's a lot less external focus, right? The first two weeks of the uprising was a lot because people, I like, I actually do national organizing as my actual job. And like, folks all around the country were like, how are you, are y'all okay? What's going on? Are you safe? Are you okay? And now it's like a lot of internal focused and internal pressure. Right. I'm getting pressure from like my like my community members, my family, because they're seeing that like the police actually aren't responding to acts of violence or acts of harm in this moment. We're seeing that like folks are not able to advocate for themselves in the ways that they want to. And our city leadership is being unresponsive in the ways that they're actually handling this, right? We only saw a $1.1 million cut when they, months before,

just claimed that they were going to disband and defund the Minneapolis Police Department. So, like, I think that the focus, the intensity of the focus is still there. It's literally just different, right? So instead of, like, having all of this outside pressure still there. It's literally just different, right? So instead of like having all of this outside pressure, it's really pressure from within. And like, I'm on calls from 9am till 10pm every single day. So it's definitely different. It's shifted, but the intensity is still there. Yeah. I mean, we can't thank you enough for all the work that you've been doing. And I want to talk a little bit more about this behind the scenes. You know,

there's protesting in the streets that is really visible, that, you know, it can feel really powerful. We feel united. And I think that some people might think that, you know, less is happening day to day, like you were saying. So like, can you kind of talk more about like, what are the calls and like, what are, what are sort of the goals that, you know, you have to focus on and really pinpoint when, you know, there's not some teacher looking over their shoulder saying like, change. Exactly. One of my really good friends kind of like, it was like an epiphany moment, like a couple of months ago, where she was like, there's a difference between a protester and an organizer, right? Like people have skills to do protests. People can mobilize folks. People can like move a crowd. But organizing is completely different.

It's like the unsexy work that happens after the dust has settled. Right. It's like really being in two, three hour calls with city council members. It's how are we having conversations one on one on one with different community members, right? So it's a lot of the calls that we're having are around like strategy around like, how are we engaging the folks that are necessary in this moment and giving them the tools to be able to advocate for themselves? What is the leadership development that needs to be done? What is the political education that needs to be done around like how reforms actually don't work in this moment and have never worked, and how we actually have to move to a new system. It's like talking to national partners like Miriam Cabo and Miriam Ingus

around what does transformative justice look like and how do we actually implement some TJ practices in the work that we're doing and being more communal. It's talking to other organizers that are intersecting issues, right? So in Minneapolis, one thing that has happened in this time is there's a lot of houseless folks. Right. And they had a houseless encampment and the police came and they raided that encampment. So like how are we tying the issues of policing to the issues of houselessness? Right. We didn't have to spend almost 200 million dollars a year on police. We can actually buy homes for these folks.

People could have jobs in the time of a pandemic, right? So it's really like, how are we connecting the issues that are happening in our society and linking that to this call for abolition? Absolutely. Well, for our listeners that are a little bit younger or newer to activism, how did you get into being an organizer? And what would you say to them if they're, you know, seeing this moment and feel like they want to be involved and they want to affect change? Yeah, I actually got into organizing in a way that I would never recommend for anyone is through legislative, legislative work and electoral justice work. It will literally kill you from the inside. But yeah, I really got, I got very active and like more so like politicized during actually

the first iteration of what we like to call the Black Lives Matter movement or the movement for black lives, whatever you want to say. And we're like 2013, 2014. And I just like started, I was very activated and I was like, wow, this is really dope. And I always thought that the people that were organizing the protests were like these cis black men. And I quickly realized that like in my city and nationally, like the people that were in these movements, the people that were actually holding the work were actually like queer and trans black folks right and I was like well I see myself in this movement and grew in deeper relationship with the people that were in the city that I was in um and through that met like a lot of national partners a lot of national organizers that do really dope ass work um and started just like learning more like really like learning is like really really necessary and like I'm not someone who loves to read I know people who love to read.

But like, I do think that like learning history and learning where we've been is very important. So we know like what our ancestors have done so that we know what we can do for our future generations. So really just learning about like, what are the, what are the, like, and not even just like US, but like, what are the uprisings that happened in Africa during the imperialism of Africa, right? What are things that are like, what are the uprisings that happened in Africa during the imperialism of Africa, right? What are the slave rebellions that happened in the Caribbean even actually

before the slave rebellions happened in the U.S.? Shout out to like my Jamaican homie that taught me that, right? Exactly. So there are multiple things that we can do in order to like get more active and get more organized. Yeah, that's really helpful. Aluchi Omiyoga, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. We know how busy you are, and it has been just such a great experience. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Appreciate it.

We'll put a link to Black Visions Collective in our show notes, along with a link to Reclaim the Block, a coalition they are a part of in Minnesota that's working to reimagine public safety beyond policing. And that's the latest. It's Wednesday, WOD Squad, and for today's Tim Check, we've got a major quarantine movie update. Disney announced yesterday that their live-action version of Mulan will be skipping theaters and going straight to Disney+. The movie was supposed to come out on March 27th. It'll now be released on September 4th, Beyonce's birthday, and will cost $30 on top of subscription fees.

So Giddy, how do you feel about watching Mulan at home instead of on the big screen? I gotta say for me, this is the prime example of the kind of movie I would probably only go to the theater to see because of like how big it is and all the spectacle and like production and everything that's involved. so 30 bucks to like not have that feels really rough to me also like major impediment on my part i don't think i have disney plus anymore so i would have to cross that threshold and then this um so yeah right now it's it's probably gonna be a no for me dog i i hate to say it because i do like have a curiosity to see this movie. But I would just much rather see it in theaters. Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, there's so much I would rather do. But the world, the world is 30 is 30 too much for you. Like, are you like if you had it right now

in front of you? Are you pulling the trigger? I mean, I think that I'm gonna watch it no matter what, which is unfortunate, because that means they could charge me $1,000 and I'd be like, front of you are you pulling the trigger i mean i think that i'm gonna watch it no matter what which is unfortunate because that means they could charge me a thousand dollars and i'd be like well fine i'd like to see mulan yes they've just been dangling it for so long that i'm like i very much want to see it i do think that i need to like somehow subsidize this by like forcing my house make to make popcorn or like having something like some of the amenities you get like you know i think uh we made a joke once on the show about spilling Sprite of the amenities you get. Like, you know, I think we made a joke once on the show about spilling Sprite on the floor to get the floor sticky.

It feels like a movie theater. So I really am just going to try to replicate the experience, but I'm excited to see it. I think I think that it's going to be weird without the songs. But, you know, Disney doesn't often do like a very diverse cast film with like a high budget. So I'm, I'm looking forward to it. Yeah. I think it's going to look really, really cool.

I wonder also like with the rental, what the window is, like how long you actually get it for. Because yeah, good point. I should be able to own it. Yeah. For 30 bucks.

Definitely. Like maybe, but maybe there's like a situation where it's like, if you're sharing a plus account with somebody, there could be like one rental, two people get it for the price of one. Just, you know, some bargaining that I'm thinking about. Yeah, you're not wrong.

That's a pretty good deal. My niece and nephew use my account, so maybe they'll get to see it too. Tell them to pony up a little bit. Yeah, I'm like, can you guys do some more chores or something? Please, it's breaking the bank. All right, well, just like that, we've checked our temps. Stay safe, everyone. And we will check in with you all again tomorrow.

Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. An enormous deadly explosion in Beirut yesterday caused chaos and destruction throughout the region. At the time of recording, at least 78 people were found dead and over 4,000 were injured. Lebanon's prime minister said the explosions were caused by over 2,700 tons of explosive material that had been sitting in a warehouse for six years without appropriate safety measures. Videos of the blast showed that it was powerful enough to shatter windows and overturn cars. Hospitals in the area were quickly overwhelmed in that capacity, with the public health minister saying that the government will cover all the medical costs of people who were

injured. Yesterday, Lebanon's prime minister announced that today will be dedicated as a national day of mourning and vowed to punish those who are responsible. The Census Bureau will be ending its efforts to count everyone in the country a month earlier than planned. The new deadline is September 30th. Back in April, the agency said they needed until October to finish collecting the data due to COVID-19 disrupting the process. Cut to August, the pandemic hasn't gone anywhere and nearly 60 million households are still uncounted. Census experts warn this shorter deadline will lead to an undercount of people of color in hard-to-count groups like students, unhoused people, and senior citizens. Yesterday, former directors of the agency put out a statement on how this rush schedule

will produce severely incomplete data. The Bureau said the change was made to meet a deadline to turn in census numbers by the end of the year, but many experts suspect that the reason might be political. Hint, his name is Donald Trump and he does not like real numbers. Only colorful bars that make him feel good. If you notice that the Miami Marlins are slapping each other's backsides less like friends and more like strangers, it's because 17 of them are now replacements standing in for players who were infected by COVID-19. The Marlins manager, Don Mattingly, said that he had, quote, never met some of the new Marlins who joined the team to face off with the Baltimore Orioles last night.

Before that, the Marlins had missed seven games and saw 18 players test positive for COVID. Unfortunately, not just anybody can walk onto the Marlins field, because if you could, you know I'd be down there slamming homers and probably making a cool documentary about one newsman's journey to make his dreams come true. The players come from a Marlins minor league team, the injured list, trades, and more. And right now, seeing the Marlins is kind of like going to a Beach Boys concert in 1985 where none of the Wilson brothers are on stage and for some reason John Samos is up there slamming on the bongos. For those of you at home keeping score, that reference is 35 years old, older than nearly all the Marlins players. The first pitch in the Marlins game last night was delayed after some players had to be retested for COVID-19 due to inconclusive results. I just don't think baseball is good enough to keep risking everybody's life, but that's just me.

All right. So Trump is finding pockets of support in unexpected places. A bear has been spotted in North Carolina with his 2020 campaign sticker on his tracking collar. Four words, all bear Trump rally. Look, I think this idea has legs, or should I say had legs, before it was attacked by those bears. Obviously, the sticker was put there by a Trump supporter, specifically the kind of person

that thinks every bear is his car. Animal rights activists in the area are understandably upset, and one group is offering a $5,000 reward for the identity of the bear Vandal. A bear with an identical Trump sticker was also spotted in North Carolina in 2019. Activists think it was a different bear based on the orientation of the sticker, meaning someone has made a habit of going into the woods and radicalizing apex predators. If Democrats want to lure these bears back, they're going to need to get moving on that whole honey for all initiative they're talking about.

Yeah. Endorsement from me. And those are the headlines. Quick announcement before we go. Crooked has a brand new pod. It's hosted by Ben Rhodes, President Obama's former deputy national security advisor. It's called Missing America, and it is all about how under Donald Trump, the U.S. has stopped leading the free world and started to try to dismantle it. Ben speaks with leaders and activists from around the world about what's happening in their countries and how they're fighting hard to pick up the slack in America's absence. The first episode drops next Tuesday, August 11th. The trailer is out now, so listen and subscribe to Missing America wherever you listen to podcasts. That is all for today.

If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, join our news person's baseball team, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just stickers on bears like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Ahila Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And keep fighting for universal honey. We all win when we all get honey. They've been saying it for years

and it's time to act on it, frankly. What a Day is a Crooked Media production. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kshaka.