Deep changes are stirring in the South. A spirit for justice is rising with renewed energy.  The struggles of the Tennessee Three, ending in the victorious reinstatement of both Justin Jones and Justin Pearson into the state legislature signaled a new energy for change, while echoing the best of the liberation struggles of the past. 

Just a few weeks prior to the removal of Mr. Pearson and Mr. Jones from their elected seats in the Tennessee Legislature, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it would be investigating the Memphis Police Department. This investigation will not only explore the actions of police who beat and killed Tyre Nichols, but it will review all policies and practices of the department, including the creation of “special units.”  The killing of Mr. Nichols was at the hands of men in the SCORPION unit which was given the mission to reduce crime in high target areas. This unit has already been discontinued.

This review of the Memphis Police Department came days after the DOJ released a scathing critique of the Louisville Metro Police Department. This critique was in response to the killing of Breonna Taylor.  It came as no surprise to anyone in Louisville that the DOJ discovered that the Louisville police engage in widespread violations of the law. Ordinary practices reflected unlawful traffic stops, the excessive use of force, including using attack dogs and choke holds, and the routine use of racial slurs. 

Such patterns of police lawlessness come as no surprise to anyone who has been engaged in the abolitionist efforts to create new forms of community safety. They reflect practices embedded in the history and culture of policing in this country, infecting every city, town, and rural area. As people are organizing with greater intensity, not only against these practices, but for more just and sustainable ways of living, the levels of repression are increasing. Efforts to surveil and control normal community life are spreading widely with the introduction of ever more intrusive technologies.  Meanwhile efforts to control, disrupt and forcefully restrict resistance to injustice are also intensifying.

These three examples of advances in the interests of people are just a few of the changes emerging since the uprisings after the killing of George Floyd. They reflect decades of struggle by communities for justice and self-determination. And these victories are sparking new efforts to destroy the drive of people for better ways of living.

The clearest example of the intensification of the power structure to use police for protection is taking shape in Jackson Mississippi. In response to a growing vision of democracy in action rooted in the Black radical tradition, Jackson is being attacked by efforts to reshape police power and restructure municipal government.  The Mississippi republic state legislature is eliminating basic municipal powers. Via new state laws to take effect in July, the criminal justice system will be moved into an expanded Capitol Complex Improvement District. This will expand the Capitol Police into communities and will create a new “inferior court” system where elected judges will be replaced by those appointed by the state’s attorney general and state chief justice of the Supreme court.  All republicans. This new shift will also restrict protests around the Capitol building.

The efforts to control Jackson are familiar to Detroiters. In 1997 Detroit lost its own Recorders Court by republican lead state actions. Elected African American judges and juries were replaced by appointed judges and a county-wide, majority white, jury pool. 

The loss of Recorders Court marked the beginning of the steady disruption of municipal power in Detroit. It is as a tactical weapon now aimed at Jackson.

But as the events of the last few weeks are making clear, these tactics are the grasp of a small group losing control. The principles and practices they represent are not sustainable. Change is coming in the most unexpected places.