Thread by @andrew_ace_agh

Alright, let's do this thread on Nikkita's interview with Omari on Dow Constantine's Press Conference from yesterday!

Y'all know the drill, so let's begin!

Link to the youtube vid here:

#SeattleProtests

So context: Dow's speech was related to his upcoming budget, which includes "proposed investments in anti-racism and criminal legal system transformation."

Let the record show that Nikkita also looks fresh and her lipstick is poppin'.

Omari: what was your main takeaway?

N: thrilled the county is starting to address these ills, "at the same time..." an erasure of the past 10 years of advocacy by groups on the ground who have been fighting for this and "a desire to see more dollars attached to those words."

(ok give me a minute I'm having internet issues. #Comcast)

Ok back. So the way this is happening is Omari is playing clips from the speech to Nikkita and then getting her opinions on them. Playing the first clip now, which is his opening statement. It acknowledges the moment but doesn't note the past wrongs, including Charleena Lyles.

O: is the executive woke or just waking?

N: electeds have used our phrases without making any noticeable changes. "Dow certainly knows the language, as many white liberals in the Pacific Northwest do." Notes this is the first time he's attached $$$ to "the words he espouses."

(I made an error before, this is the first time he's made a monetary commitment. I stated earlier he hadn't made that commitment. #misheard)

O: what do you think that's bringing that about?

N: the movement. Cites the past 8 years of No New Youth Jail and how that has grown year after year. Marks how George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have pushed Dow to make these changes.

O: "I did notice he didn't mention Charleena Lyles"

N: something we've seen from PNW execs. They cite Black murders from other places but don't talk about Black murders here. Says that she's been in meetings with Dow talking about alternatives to jails for QTBIPOC communities.

N: "It brings a little internal conflict for me. Because nowhere in that press conference did I hear him take any accountability for the lives lost or the lives stolen by the criminal punishment system during the last 8 years of the 'No New Youth Jail' campaign."

Omari now asking about Dow introducing BLMSKC in his speech and citing them as playing a major role in the closure of the youth jail by 2025.

N: NNYJ has existed since 2012 and BLMSKC has existed since 2017. In addition, a lot of things they said are things NNYJ has been saying.

N: restorative pathways (which Dow mentioned) is also a program created by local organizations.

Omari now playing the clip related to restorative pathways.

(Dow does state the program comes from the community and has been created by them. Up to 800 youths a year will go...

...through the program a year.)

N's response: excited this program is finally getting the support it needs. RCP (restorative community pathways) has been doing this work for about two years to make this alternative a reality. "We've been putting in that labor without payment."

Nikkita states clearly that in this process people get erased who have been putting in the work for quite a while.

N: "For me, it's not about recognition. What it is about is telling holistic stories about how change happens. People need to know that it's movements that drive elected officials to make changes, not the other way around."

The stories are important to help teach the youth who will push for change in the future.

Now we're getting into youth deferment, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg speaking in this clip.

(stating that people need to believe that the system is fair. Good luck with that.)

Dan: "I have long believed that a community justice approach is one that makes us all better and all stronger."

(sounds like a bunch of people who understand what the problem is, they're just not doing anything about it.)

O: "Your comments?"

N: "Again, our electeds know how to talk about the issue." But saying Dan's had to have been pushed to this point over the years.

Nikkita states the KC prosecutor's office is still doing a lot of harm, including sending mostly Black and brown youth to be tried as adults, where they receive much longer sentences.

N: not just about RCP, which covers misdemeanors, but other work. It's about things like the movements around defund and housing affordability, and ensuring the youth never touch the criminal system at all.

Omari sharing that part of the plan is to take the $4.6MM that the sheriff's office gets from marijuana sales (WOW, did not know this was a thing) and divert that back to community, particularly into unincorporated KC.

Now the clip from Dow.

Dow: 'seed funding of 750K...

...to invite co-create new public safety models with the county, no later than 2022.' (paraphrasing)

N: 2022 is a long time away, and these are just platitudes without knowing more details and it's important to know WHO from the community is at these tables.

now Omari speaking about "who is talking to about what and who do these people represent?"

N: a lot of organizers are in the same position of trying to figure those out. You wonder how people are selected for tasks force and sometimes you wonder how they got there.

Nikkita notes that KC Sheriff's office has one of the worst records around police brutality and how much struggle is happening in the unincorporated areas.

N: "These unincorporated areas, a lot of what is being criminalized is actually acts of trying to survive poverty."

Nikkita says that at that point, defunding the sheriff's office and investing in the county community sounds like a good idea.

Next clip from Omari now, with BLMSKC board members including Marlon Brown.

(generally saying thank you and they're happy to push this work forward.)

"We can start those next steps with the end of cash bail."

(and one pretty good thing at the end)

Now going into explaining what cash bail is. Nikkita saying it was meant to incentivize people to return to court, but instead it's criminalized poverty and kept people in jail for extended periods of time before even seeing the court.

N: "It means if you can't post bail you're either going to accept a plea or going to stay in jail pre-trial."

Nikkita stating that about 60% of the jail population is simply people being held pre-trial.

Omari now asking about Dow's statement that BLM Seattle-King County has had a major hand in crafting this policy.

Nikkita states she agrees that this is a marathon and not a sprint, and that some people have been running the marathon for longer.

Says that it's important to recognize the work of past groups because it makes it clear to others just how much effort goes into making a change of this size.

Nikkita saying that she doesn't believe her role in the movement is to be sitting at the table with Dow but what she...

...does now, which is pushing the conversation forward "towards more radical abolitionist visions of the safe kinds of communities we can be having." That said, she thinks those at the table need to and ensure that they speak on and recognize the past work...

...particularly so electeds can't escape from their past dodging or continue to avoid changes in the present.

Nikkita wants more admission of accountability from Dow: to say "I didn't listen to y'all for 8 years."

For Dow to say 'now, I am here. I am awake.' and to recognize groups like Now New Youth Jail and how long they've been pushing for this.

Omari now asking how BLMSKC has been aligned with many community groups on changes at the county level, but that it seems with the letter sent about Council (accountability called into question) it seems like they are not aligned with what the community has been advocating for.

N:"I think a lot of us certainly were confused by that letter and found some aspects of it disconcerting, in the sense that it does not seem to align with the overall movement. In fact, a lot of it did seem to align with the rhetoric that's been coming out of the mayor's office."

Nikkita saying the mayor's been much in opposition with what the movement has been asking for (which is very true).

Nikkita recognizes that organizations will disagree, that's inevitable; but it's important that people need to recognize that some tactics in the movement...

...can undercut the overall movement. At that point, people need to be able to step back and be able to take critique and ask questions for clarity.

Explicitly asks BLMSKC to not undercut the Seattle Council's comittment to defunding SPD by at least 50%.

(which I support)

Speaking of council, per Omari's observation it seems like there are two groups with two different perspectives on what the mayor's veto of the budget has done.

One sees the defund as dead, the other things this is working.

"Where is this whole defund movement right now?"

N: "Absolutely no one that I work with thought the Mayor" would not veto the Council's proposed budget; that they expected council would need to override.

Nikkita says explicitly: "the communication to council members has to be 'we expect you to hold the line.'

#SeattleProtests

Omari and Nikkita agreeing that there is still a light under council's seats and that the movement has not died down.

And that,

is a Fendi fact.

And that's it for today's thread! Hope you enjoyed it, and as always: tips appreciated!

venmo: houstonace
CashApp: $Archstar

/End

#seattleprotests