Cruel ‘Law and Order’ stunt to recall DA Boudin. Justice for minorities at risk.

Excerpted from San Francisco Examiner 5.17.2021

Cat Brooks is a nationally-recognized Bay area artist and activist against police brutality.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is committed to bringing equality, fairness, and humanity to the criminal legal system. Boudin’s opponents are using the same tactics that conservative media harnessed to thwart the movement for Black lives: fear mongering, misinformation, and doomsday predictions.

No one who genuinely cares about Black lives can support the effort to remove Boudin. Without progressive prosecutors, we will return to a system where jail and prison are the only acceptable responses to all of society’s ills.

Last summer, the murder of George Floyd ignited unprecedented support for the movement for Black lives. Finally, after decades of screaming genocide into the ether – only to have it fall on deaf ears –the brutality of Floyd’s public execution seemed to mortify white Americans into action.

A national chorus of voices spoke up to stand with Black demands for more accountability for law enforcement and a change to the legal system.

Where is that solidarity now? The fight is far from over and yet, not even a year after thousands took to the streets, and as the police continue to gun down Black and Brown people, there are efforts to take down elected leaders who stand for more accountability and equality in our system.

Chesa and Jamal Election Night 11.5.2019.jpg — DA elect Chesa Boudin – Election night 2019

The current effort to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is one of them. I supported Boudin’s candidacy for DA and I support him now. I support him because unlike most prosecutors, he’s taking real steps to move us away from the criminal industrial complex.

Chesa is actively addressing racial bias and disparities, dramatically shrinking the criminal legal system, and respecting the inherent value and potential of all those drawn into it. For the first time in San Francisco, an elected D.A. has held police accountable.

This recall effort endangers the safety of Black people in our community, with a looming threat of return to the status quo of mass incarceration, dead Black bodies, and singular pathway pursuits toward public safety.

One out of every three Black boys born today can expect to serve time in prison during his lifetime.

Children with incarcerated parents have a substantially increased likelihood to become homeless, suffer from depression, anxiety, or behavioral problems, struggle with learning disabilities, or become involved in criminal activity.