Under the baobab: We can breathe after Chauvin verdict. Now what’s next?

Guilty, guilty, guilty. We can breathe.

We cried when the Minneapolis jury returned a verdict of guilty on all three counts of murder and manslaughter. These were not tears from pain but flowed from the release from the pain. A knee was taken off our necks and the necks of all tortured and lynched Black men from years past. As Derek Chauvin was handcuffed and marched from the courtroom, our shackles were loosened.

We could finally fly, like a bird in the sky.

I can’t speak for all Black people, not even all Black elderly men. I can speak for a son listening as his father told him about witnessing his best friend being lynched in front of the town courthouse. I will speak for a tearful and frightened child clutching his mother’s hand as they filed past the casket containing the tortured and mutilated corpse of Emmett Till. I will weep, remembering, as the murderers, some of whom were police officers, of my friends James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Mickey Schwerner were exonerated of any wrongdoing. I will bear witness to being part of the disbelieving crowd in 1992 in Southeast Los Angeles hearing the profane utterance of “not guilty” spewing forth from the all-white jury in Simi Valley. Four cops had nearly beat Rodney King to death. Then like now, we had all seen the video but then it hadn’t mattered. Black people were invisible to them. We were not included in their “just-us”.

Now, a generation after then, a jury that demographically and morally reflected America, illuminated by light from the sunrise peeking over the horizon, could finally see the humanity of Black people. We were able to walk in the glow of an America that is beginning to live up to its promise that “all men (and women) are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and to breathe.

Sisters and brothers, a sunrise may begin a day but cannot make the day. Our future will be made by “We the people.” Where do we go from here?

Dozens of police departments, including Minnesota under the leadership of Attorney General Keith Ellison, are self-examining their procedures. Starting with Minneapolis, the U.S. Department of Justice will investigate whether police departments routinely use excessive force and/or treat minorities unfairly.

Most importantly, on the national level, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 under the guidance of Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., has already passed the House. It was introduced in the Senate last year by then Senator Kamala Harris. This nonpartisan bill requires law enforcement to undergo training “on racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling” It also:

“Bans chokeholds and carotid holds at the federal level and conditions law enforcement funding for state and local governments banning chokeholds; Requires that deadly force be used only as a last resort and requires officers to employ de-escalation techniques first; Changes the standard to evaluate whether law enforcement use of force was justified from whether the force was ‘reasonable’ to whether the force was ‘necessary.’; Bans no-knock warrants in drug cases; would require ‘federal uniformed police officers to wear body cameras and requires state and local law enforcement to use existing federal funds to ensure the use of police body cameras; enables individuals to recover damages in civil court when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights by eliminating qualified immunity for law enforcement.’

It is imperative that as their constituents we encourage our Republican and Democratic Senators to back this important initiative . Two steps forward, one step back. Ubuntu!