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Emancipate NC is an organization working on behalf of Black and Brown North Carolinians directly impacted by systemic racism and insufferable injustice.

The undersigned strongly oppose SB 100.  We write to oppose the unprecedented power grab and blatant attempt to undermine the sovereign jurisdiction of county and municipal entities. Since the state-sanctioned murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement, people all over the world have come to understand the need to radically reimagine policing and the American reliance on the carceral state. Senate Bill 100 is an attempt to silence the voice and will of the people and locally elected officials as they attempt to fix a broken system.

In a nutshell, this bill threatens to take much needed local funding away from any local or county governing body that attempts to reduce police or sheriff funding. In the midst of the worst economic and health crisis this nation has seen in decades, it is unconscionable for the state legislators to threaten to withhold desperately needed local funding in a disingenuous power-grab effort to protect police and Sheriff budgets.

We are in the midst of a nationwide reckoning of social and civil rights. It is morally corrupt for the NC General Assembly to attempt to usurp the power and the will of the people and the people’s efforts to reallocate resources on a local level to create a better and more safe community.  No options, certainly not reallocation of resources, should ever be taken off the table as cities and counties grapple with the moral and ethical dilemma that a racist and biased criminal justice system has created. This dilemma, paired with the worst health crisis in 100 years – COVID 19 –  means that cities and counties need more resources, certainly not less.

We urge the General Assembly not to impede upon or strong arm the constitutional powers of cities and counties to make budgetary decisions that are best for its community.  Only weeks after a group of insurgents attempted to undermine American democracy, we all must fight back against tyrannical laws designed to undermine the will of the people. We call on all legislators and voters to demand this bill be cast back into the shadows of dictatorship, where it belongs.

For questions or assistance, please respond to Dawn Blagrove, Executive Director of Emancipate NC. Dawn can be reached via email at dawn@emancipatenc.org. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to democratic principles in North Carolina.

Author:

Attorney Dawn Blagrove, Emancipate NC

Endorsers:

NC Black and Brown Policy Network

La’Meshia Whittington, Advance Carolina

Kelly Morales, Siembra NC

Fernando Martinez, Education Justice Alliance

Dr. Evangel Savage, Black Women’s Round Table

Irene Godinez, Poder NC Action

Jovita Lee, Democracy Green

Chantal Stevens, ACLU of North Carolina

Kathy Greggs, Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Taskforce

Kyla Hartsfield, BYP 100

Robert Thomas, Racial Justice Coalition, Asheville

Rosanne Teniente, BREATHE Harnett

Chavi Koneru, NCAAT in Action (North Carolina Asian Americans Together in Action)

Anthony Faison, Always Ready 2 Fight (ARF) Reentry Resources

James E Buxton Jr, Fayetteville /Cumberland County Branch NAACP

Brigid Flaherty, Sugelema Lynch, and Jesse-Lee Dunlap, Down Home North Carolina

Kami Roush, Poor People’s Campaign

Sunny Osment and Ajamu Dillahunt, Refund Raleigh Freedom Committee

Melvin F. Montford, North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Educational Fund, Inc.

Tyler Whittenberg, Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Danielle Purifoy, Durham Beyond Policing

Taari Coleman, NC Raise Up/The Fight for $15 and a Union

Alissa Ellis, Democracy North Carolina

Connie Leeper, NC Climate Justice Collective

Cole Parke, Carolina Jews for Justice

Rev. Jay Kennett, Hillsborough UCC

Tara Romano, NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina

Charnessa Joyce Pollack, North Carolina Women United

Ellen Andrews, Church World Service NC

Jordan Brandt, North Carolina Survivors Union

Carol Prince, Jewish Voice for Peace Triangle NC

Martha Hernandez, Comite de Accion Popular

Julian Abreu, Asociacion Dominicana

Lyd Ahlum Hanson, Triangle SURJ

Becky Ceartas, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence

Jennifer Copeland, North Carolina Council of Churches

Victoria Nwankudu, Student Action with Farmworkers

Rebecca Cerese, Progressive Democrats of Orange County

Iliana Santillan, El Pueblo and Fortaleza NC

Alirio Estevez, Voto Latino Chatham

Maria Mayorga, Votemos NC

Sarah Haley, Charlotte Reproductive Network

Mayra Stefania Arteaga, Comunidad Colectiva

Tifanie Rudd, M8d 2 Rise, Inc.

The People’s Alliance

Quisha Mallette

JaNesha

Beth Bruch

Brian Vannah

Sara Loeppert

Roberta Waddle

Wanda Gilbert Coker

Laura Holland