Undoing Racism Organizing Collective (UROC) in Collaboration with POV invites you to a Film Screening of

Every Mother's Son

 Racial Equity Organizers Monthly Gathering

December 20, 2014 -  9:30 -12:30

Dunbar Y Family and Community Center, 33 Oak St., Springfield, MA  01109

Since early August, the tragic killing of Mike Brown has caught fire in the news. The shooting sparked protests and unrest in Ferguson and now across the country.  It’s no surprise that mainstream media has limited the conversation to this one isolated incident. But it leaves a crucial void of voices for change that are working to resolve the institutional inequalities that are the foundation of racial injustice.

With the most recent tragic events taking the lives Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY, John Crawford in Beavercreek, Ohio and most recently Tamir Rice in Cleavland , the POV film Every Mother's Son is a tragic account of police power gone awry.  It gives further voice to the challenges we face in working for racial justice. It is also a heartening and intimate portrait of three women who would not stand by silently when their sons had been unjustly silenced forever. 

The film profiles three victims of police brutality that made headlines around the country in the late 1990's.  Their stories are told from the perspective of the men's mothers, who fight for justice and accountability for their sons' deaths, and seek systemic reforms that will help prevent such deaths from happening in the future.

In the early 1990s, police forces throughout the U.S. began employing more aggressive and militarized tactics. Whatever the reasons for this trend, one result has been a rise in the number of citizen complaints about police brutality in many American towns and cities. Every Mother's Son recounts unjustified or questionable police killings in New York  —three mothers coming together to demand justice and accountability. Are such killings acceptable or necessary trade-offs for public safety? In reply, the mothers have their own question: What if it were your child?

Objectives of this event. to be followed by ongoing conversation and strategizing:

• View Every Mother’s Son, a film that presents three examples of police brutality, illustrates systemic problems related to policing and shows what some are doing to bring about reforms.
• Recall and discuss the connection of the film to the Michael Brown incident?  Compare personal encounters with local, state, and national incidences to the film.
• How do we begin to build political and economic power and address underlying issues through organizing with an understanding that racial divisions restrict access to resources in our cities..
• Develop recommendations for how local police can be more effective in the community.
• Strategize presentation of recommendations to their local police.

The Racial Equity Monthly Meetings are designed to help individuals committed to Racial Justice and Equity collectively develop a deeper understanding of and address racism in their personal lives, organizations and community. The meetings also provide networking opportunities and support local organizing efforts. 

This event is a collaboration with POV, the award-winning independent nonfiction film series on PBS.
(www.pbs.org/pov)