Joe Gutierrez | CSUSB Office of Strategic Communication | (951) 236-4522| joeg@csusb.edu
The work of disabled activists fighting to end police brutality, highlighted by the screening and discussion of the film, “Where Is Hope: The Art of Murder,” will be the topic at the next Conversations on Race and Policing, set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, on Zoom.
The talk can be accessed from a PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android at https://csusb.zoom.us/j/97960458784. This will be the 15th event in the series that began in June.
"Where Is Hope: The Art of Murder," directed by Emmitt H. Thrower, a retired New York police officer-turned filmmaker, chronicles disabled victims killed by police as well as the activists/artists who are fighting to end police brutality against people with disabilities.
“It is estimated that over 50 percent of the victims of police brutality and police killings nationally have a disability that contributed to the incident,” according to the film’s synopsis. “Disability is glazed over or not recorded in the official police reports. Nor is the fact adequately represented in the media and even in popular movement around this issue of police brutality in general. It informs us that for them, disability doesn't matter. But clearly disability does matter, and this documentary project makes that statement loud and clear. …
“The work of many disabled activists and artists/activists are explored around this issue, especially involving disabled people of color.”
A discussion will follow the film. Guest panelists will be:
- The film’s director, Emmitt H. Thrower, an award-winning Bronx filmmaker, director and producer, and the founder of the not-for-profit company, Wabi Sabi Productions;
- Leroy Moore Jr., a writer, poet, activist, and founder of Krip-Hop Nation who spoke at CSUSB’s 5th Annual Ability Awareness Fair on May 20;
- Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia, co-editor of Poor Magazine and author of “Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America,” which was featured on an NPR program in 2007; and
- Beth Ribert, Ph.D., J.D., a nationally recognized disabilities scholar who is the co-founder of health and disability justice organization Repair.
The ongoing Conversations on Race and Policing series is hosted by CSUSB students Marlo Brooks and Yvette Relles-Powell.
The series is organized by CSUSB faculty members Marc Robinson (history), Mary Texeira (sociology) and Jeremy Murray (history), and Robie Madrigal, public affairs/communication specialist for the CSUSB John M. Pfau Library.
Conversations on Race and Policing began in the aftermath of the May 25 death of George Floyd while in the custody of four Minneapolis, Minn., police officers. A video of the incident posted on social media has led to widespread protests, the firing of four police officers, the arrest of one officer on a second-degree murder charge, the other three on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder – and a spotlight worldwide on race and policing.
Previous forums also are posted online (more recordings will soon be available for viewing):
- “Race and Policing, A Panel Presentation and CSUSB Campus Conversation” on June 3;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (2), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion” on June 10;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (3), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion” on June 17;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (4), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion” on June 24;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (5), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion” on July 1;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (6), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion” on July 8;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (7), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion,” on July 15;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (8), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion,” on July 22;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (9), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion,” on July 29;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (10), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion,” on Aug. 5, which discusses in detail what “defunding” and “abolishing” police mean, beyond the political rhetoric, with Alex S. Vitale, author and professor of sociology at Brooklyn College, coordinator of the college’s Policing and Social Justice Project, and author of “The End of Policing; ”
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (11), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion,” on Aug. 12;
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (12), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion,” on Aug. 19, and
- “Conversations on Race and Policing (13), CSUSB Panel Presentation and Discussion,” on Aug. 26.
On June 16 the College of Arts and Letters presented “Structural Racism, Civil Disobedience, and the Road to Racial Justice in the Age of COVID-19,” which is also posted on YouTube.
The university’s June 9 memorial for Floyd also focused on the Black Lives Matter movement.
And, related to the university’s conversations series, Netflix is making the 2016 Ava DuVernay film, “13th,” available for free on its YouTube channel. Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay’s examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country’s history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.
For more information, contact Robie Madrigal at rmadriga@csusb.edu or Jeremy Murray at jmurray@csusb.edu.
