Statement from IDW Board - Our Commitment

For 8 minutes and 46 seconds, George Floyd and bystanders around him cried out and pleaded for his life while a white police officer braced his knee on Floyd’s neck, choking the life out of him. Since that tragedy, evidence of the pervasive reality of the senseless killings of black people in multiple states has been broadcast globally. From LaQuan McDonald in Chicago, Trayvon Martin in Florida, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Sandra Bland in Texas, Eric Garner in New York, and Breona Taylor in Nashville, the simmering anger and pain across this country has grown into a deafening crescendo that can no longer be ignored. It is past time for every person, corporation, and organization in our society to proclaim loudly by speech and action that Black Lives Matter.

Hashtags and words are only the beginning. With messages of solidarity also comes the duty for education and action. At Illinois Democratic Women, we recognize that we have work to do to educate not only ourselves but our members and our wider Democratic community. We have not done enough in the past to address the racial inequality within our own organization, and for that, we are sorry. We pledge to do better to create a more equity centric Democratic organization in which Black and Brown women see themselves reflected in the membership.

We are humbled and inspired by the protests across our country demanding that structural racism be dismantled, and a reimagining of public safety budgets to be inclusive of investments in mental health, education and economic development in addition to law enforcement. We understand that creating true public safety means including the social safety net over singularly prioritizing crime and punishment. It is only then that we can begin to solve the root causes of the civil unrest blazing across our streets. We understand that justice is hard-fought, and it is out of our best traditions to honor and stand with the right to protest conditions that must be changed. The inception of our country itself was born of protest. No civil rights advancement at any time in our history has ever happened without protest.

In the coming weeks, we will be making announcements about greater outreach efforts to black Democratic women in Illinois and educational opportunities for our membership to begin to do the work to dismantle racism in our homes, our communities, and our state.

We are grateful to you, our membership, for the work you do every day to support and elect candidates that will help us make this systemic change. The time is now, and voting is our superpower. Let’s commit to being the change we all want to see.

#blacklivesmatter

National Federation of Democratic Women Resolution #8

In Support of the Justice in Policing Act

WHEREAS, the horrific murder of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis--with a police officer's knee to his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds as he gasped for air, gave an anguished cry "I can't breathe" and called to his deceased mother—galvanized hundreds of thousands of Americans to take to the streets in peaceful Black Lives Matter protests in support of transformative change that ends police brutality, ends racial profiling, gives jurisdiction the power to fire or prosecute offending officers to achieve civil rights and justice for all, and invests in communities; and

WHEREAS, this week the Congressional Black Caucus--the conscience of the Congress—led over 200 House Democrats in introducing H.R. 7120, the Justice in Policing Act. This bold, transformative legislation will assist police departments to change the culture of policing, raise the standards of the profession and hold officers accountable by (1) creating the first-ever national accreditation standards for the operation of police departments, (2) establishing accountability and limits to the qualified immunity that keeps unfit officers on the street, (3) banning chokeholds and no-knock drug warrants, and (4) establishing a national registry of police so unfit officers can't move from one jurisdiction to another with impunity; and

WHEREAS, had these Justice in Policing Act reforms been the law of the land several years ago, Eric Garner and George Floyd would be alive because the bill bans chokeholds; Breonna Taylor would not have been shot to death in her sleep because no-knock warrants for drug offenses would have been illegal; and this May, Tamir Rice would have graduated from high school rather than having been killed at age 12 after an encounter that lasted mere seconds with an officer who had been fired from another department; and

WHEREAS, the Justice in Policing Act reinvests in our communities and empowers them to shape the future of public safety through grants to community-based organizations to develop innovative solutions.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Federation of Democratic Women endorses the Justice in Policing Act and urges all Members of Congress and Senators to support this lifesaving legislation and to reshape the future of public safety with justice for all.

Respectfully submitted to the National Federation of Democratic Women 2020 Convention by Christine Pelosi, California, endorsed by the Washington State Federation and the NFDW Western Region

Adopted by the NFDW Members at the 49th National Convention on June 13, 2020

At this time, the status of events in Illinois is in flux as gatherings are limited to 10 people or fewer. We will publish evens when we have updates.

Authorized and paid for by Illinois Democratic Women. A copy of our report is available from the Illinois Board of Elections, elections.il.gov.