Police brutality isn’t a new thing, but it has been highly visible and has greatly escalated during the 2010s. People have been harassed and even killed by police due to situations that often question whether the action taken by the officer was necessary. It’s a scary and confusing time where the people we were taught to respect and trust during our days in elementary school are viewed as the enemy of so many types of people, with good reason. In response to police brutality, there are people working to pass the Community Safety Act in Providence, RI. The act seeks to hold law enforcement accountable to communities who have experienced police brutality, racial profiling and stop and frisk tactics.
There was a vote on the act by the Providence City Council that was scheduled to take place on April 27 but the vote has been pushed to June 1 due to pressure from local police. Fueled by a reaction to the delay, there’s an emergency event titled ‘Our Loving Rage’ taking place at the Columbus Theatre in the heart of Providence’s west end on May 6. The event is hosted by Victoria Ruiz of Providence punk act Downtown Boys, poet and playwright Vatic Kuumba and film director Peter Glantz. In an effort to benefit the Step-Up Network in support of the Community Safety Act, the event showcases a diverse array of music and live performance. The meaning behind the title is to be a celebration of the power people have to protect each other.
“The initial ordinance was introduced to Providence City Council in June 2014, before the uprisings in Ferguson, New York, Minnesota, and throughout the country in response to police murder and for Black Lives Matter, “ says Ruiz on the history of the Community Safety Act and the purpose of ‘Our Loving Rage’. “In the wake of a national sentiment of distrust of the police, particularly by marginalized communities, there was even more energy and urgency to pass the ordinance. Groups including Youth of Color lead Providence Youth Student Movement, Direct Action for Rights and Equality, the American Friends Service Committee, Rhode Island Jobs with Justice, Olneyville Neighborhood Association and others worked endlessly to meet with city councilors, gain support of ally organizations and businesses, and speak with residents throughout the city to send a message that the Community Safety Act was more than an ordinance, it was both a response and pro-active measure against the unaccountability of the police. It includes simple measures such as giving people a standardized form after they are searched with who they were searched by and why, acknowledgement of one’s gender expression when deciding who would search someone, restatement of translation and interpretation rights for non-English speakers, and basic numbers and reports that law enforcement would have to keep on searches and arrests.”
Black Pus, which is the solo project of Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale, Puerto Rican activist, singer, songwriter and bandleader Taina Asili, 2017 ProvSlam Grand Champion Poet Justice Gaines, Nigerian-American comedian Nonye Brown-West and Dominican poet and performer Sussy Santana will be taking the stage. Admission is on a sliding scale from $10-$100 and it’s bound to be an eye-opening and entertaining experience.
Top photo by Imaginary Company
