Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    These Are The Minneapolis Activists Leading The Push To Abolish The Police

    It took less than two weeks after George Floyd's killing for Minneapolis City Council members to pledge to end the police department. But activists had been laying the groundwork for years.
    by Adrian Florido Jun 26, 2020 6 minutes
    Jeremiah Ellison, Kandace Montgomery and Arianna Nason are among those leading the push to dismantle the Minneapolis police department.

    When, on June 7, nine members of the Minneapolis City Council went onstage at a rally organized by Black activists and took turns reading a pledge to dismantle their city's police department, many in the crowd at Powderhorn Park let out not just cheers, but full-throated screams.

    They were screams of joy mixed with disbelief. Just two weeks earlier, even organizers who'd spent years calling for a disbanding of the city's police force would have admitted they did not yet have the political capital to get it done. That changed on May 25. The police killing of George Floyd and the resulting national outrage over police brutality quickly thrust the idea into the realm of the possible.

    There are still many questions about what a police-free city would look like, and even whether the city council that's pledged to dismantle the police department will succeed. The political headwinds are proving fierce. But if it is going to happen anywhere, activists in Minneapolis believe, it is going to be in their city.

    Floyd's killing was the

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR2 min read
    Columbia Students Barricade Themselves In Campus Building; China's EV Vehicles
    Pro-Palestinian student protesters have occupied a campus building. Electric vehicles are the newest front of competition between the U.S. and China.
    NPR3 min readInternational Relations
    Protesters At Columbia University Have Begun Occupying A Campus Building
    Students began occupying Hamilton Hall early Tuesday morning. The university's public safety department urged people to avoid coming to the Morningside campus Tuesday if they could.
    NPR4 min read
    Scientists Restore Brain Cells Impaired By A Rare Genetic Disorder
    A therapy that restores brain cells impaired by a rare genetic disorder may offer a strategy for treating conditions like autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.

    Related Books & Audiobooks