Letters to the Editor 06-26-2020

Thank you for the coverage

To the Editor,
Thank you very much for the broad coverage of the June 4 Vigil in Support of Black Lives Matter.  The photos were exceptional.  We do, however, want to clarify a couple items you reported.  For the last four and a half years the monthly Vigil in Support of Black Lives Matter has been planned and led by a small planning group, not by Rabbi Victor Hillel Reinsteinof Nehar Shalom, as you reported.  Also after the Vigil was over, it was another group who was participating in the Vigil that led the March from the Monument to the local police station.  Regarding the caption that accompanied the photo of the Boston Police Department officers on motorcycles, it is our understanding that the officers were there on assignment, but we would of course welcome their solidarity with the idea of ending police brutality, as per your caption.  We are grateful to everyone who joined us, up and down Centre and South streets and adjoining streets, to protest against social injustice and witness for Black Lives Matters.

Thank you,

Julie Boss
Mary Lenihan
Bonnie McBride
Penny Wells

Follow the lead of people most impacted 

To the Editor,
I am writing to you in support of the work of Families for Justice as Healing, who lead the Building Up People not Prisons Campaign.  Like many in the Boston community over the last few weeks I have been attending local protests and conversations after the recent brutal murders of Black people by police across the country.  But police brutality is not just a problem in Minneapolis or Atlanta or Florida, it also also a problem here in Boston.

Families for Justice as Healing have a very attainable goal: to end the incarceration of women and girls in Massachusetts.  And it’s possible if we follow the lead of people most impacted by policing and prison. In Massachusetts, we are considering yet another increase in spending for incarceration, including a new $50 million women’s prison, when we have seen rates of incarceration go down.  

Like so many across the Commonwealth, I am amplifying the following reasonable demands: To Mayor Marty Walsh and the City Council, I say, shift spending from the police department out of the City budget and directly to community-led organizations run by and for Black and Brown residents. To the Governor, I say, meet with those most impacted, stop construction of new jails and prisons, and shift spending from police and prisons to communities.

Thank you,

Sarah Plotkin

Support work of fjah

To the Editor,
I have been deeply inspired by the uprisings across the country around police violence and racism following the recent police murders of Black folks. I also understand that racist policing is not just an emergency in Minnesota or Atlanta or Florida, also is so here in Boston.

I am writing to stand in support of the work of transformational work of Families for Justice as Healing (FJAH) and the Building Up People not Prisons Campaign. Prisons are part of the same oppressive, racist system of policing. FJAH’s goal is to end the incarceration of women and girls in Massachusetts. Formerly incarcerated women and women with incarcerated family members hold visionary leadership in this organization. We must take lead from people who are most impacted by policing and prisons here in Boston, too. They know that what we need is not more of the same. We need to shift significant resources into Black and Brown communities and away from policing. 

Unfortunately, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is considering yet another increase in spending for incarceration, including a new $50 million women’s prison, even as we have seen rates of incarceration go down. I am amplifying the following demands.

To Mayor Walsh and the Boston City Council: shift spending in the city budget away from the police department and directly into community-led organizations run by and for Black and Brown residents of Boston.

To the Governor: meet with those most impacted by incarceration, use your clemency powers to release incarcerated women, stop any construction of jails and prisons, and shift spending from police and prisons towards communities.

Eliza Kaplan

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