2009 was a different time, but also the same. A recession. Flip phones. An ongoing struggle against police violence. That New Year’s, Oakland police killed 22-year-old Oscar Grant - and it went viral.
This birthed the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP), whose founder, Cat Brooks, we spoke to for our podcast “Don’t Cop Out.”
”APTP was born to be visionary and not just reactionary,” said Brooks. Grant wasn’t an anomaly. State terror is our norm. But APTP dared to ask: What if we refuse to accept that?
APTP’s approach mirrors the Panthers’: meeting community needs. White, wealthier neighborhoods aren’t overloaded with cops, Brooks explained, but they do have clean parks, good schools, healthcare centers, and quality grocery stores.
And from decertification laws to getting budgets diverted towards grassroots organizations, APTP pairs fighting police and root causes of violence with making police alternatives sustainable - because it’s necessary.
In 2009, accurate police killing data didn’t exist. The state estimated 400 a year. Today, we know cops kill over 1,300 of us annually.
”If we just remain invested in police, what’s at risk for us as black people in this country if we don’t change?” questioned Brooks.
“If we don’t stop asking the oppressor to solve the problems that the oppressor created for us, [or] waiting for the system that benefits from our conditions to make it better, we’re in even more trouble than we were before.”
To learn more about APTP and other policing alternatives, learn more at “Don’t Cop Out” here: https://www.pushblack.us/dont-cop-out-podcast.