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The Chair's Corner
WEEKLY PROGRESS REPORT:
What Can We Do? 
 

The sniper's attacks on the Dallas police occurred on July 7, 2016, over a week ago, but the tragedy still weighs heavy on our minds. People of Dallas have delivered to the police flowers, well wishes and thanks. Many have participated in honoring the fallen officers at funerals and an official memorial service at which the families of the officers and the people of Dallas County were addressed by President Barack Obama, former President George Bush, Mayor Mike Rawlings, Police Chief David Brown and religious leaders of various faiths.

I learned of the tragedy while watching CNN during vacation in London, England with family members. We were shocked. Almost immediately, I felt that sick, sinking feeling that I experienced when President John Kennedy was shot in Dallas, over 50 years ago. I was nine years old then; yet I can clearly remember people outside of Dallas, telling me that "Dallas was a bad town." There was a stigma about Dallas, and it seemed the rest of the world blamed all of us, living in Dallas, for the terrible tragedy. Like then, I braced myself every time someone asked me where I was from. However, this time, the reaction was vastly different. Upon hearing our Texas accents, Londoners went out of their way to tell us how sorry they were to hear about the tragedy.

This universal feeling of mourning was demonstrated at the memorial service for the Dallas officers. Mayor Mike Rawlings' recognized that "...Dallas' pain is our nation's pain." At the same service, President Obama concluded that, "in the end, it's not about finding policies that work; it's about forging consensus, and fighting cynicism, and finding the will to make change." At a subsequent news conference, Police Chief David Brown invited members of Black Lives Matters to apply for the police force, explaining that "we'll put you in your neighborhood and we will help you resolve some of the problems you're protesting about." In response, the police department's recruiting team reported that they had been flooded by responses.

So, where do we go from here? We watch the words that we use. We think about the experiences of others, and how those experiences differ from our own. We think of ways we can be more inclusive. We take time to say "thank you" for a job well done. We participate in community programs to build unity within our cities and county. Meanwhile, gofundme pages have been set up for 4 of the 5 officers who died in the tragedy of July 7, 2016:

· For the family of Brent Thompson: go to gofundme.com/2debdfk4
· For the family of Michael Smith: go to gofundme.com/mikesmithdpd
· For the family of Patrick Zamarripa: go to gofundme.com/2ddq2x8
· For the family of Lorne Ahrens: go to gofundme.com/2dg7dczw

Also, to change our communities for the better, we can work for the Democratic Party, the party of compassion, by doing one or more of the following:
 

1) Volunteer
2) Join a Club
3) Become a Sustaining Member
4) Make a one-time donation
5) Become a precinct chair


Yours Democratically,
 
Carol Donovan, DCDP Chair



Contact:
Dallas County Democratic Party
4209 Parry Avenue, Dallas TX 75223
Phone: 214-821-8331     Fax: 214-821-0995
Website:  www.dallasdemocrats.org
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/DallasDemocrats
Twitter:  twitter.com/dallasdemocrats
Instagram:  http://instagram.com/dallasdemocrats