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March 17, 2023: The Origins of Cop City

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This week we begin sharing a panel hosted by Haymarket Books on the abolitionist struggle to stop Cop City.  In this section, we hear from Kwame Olufemi, of Community Movement Builders, and Sarah Haley, a leading historian of Black feminism in the South.  Olufemi powerfully situates in the Cop City proposal in Atlanta’s recent history.  He juxtaposes popular demands for a Rayshard Brooks Peace Center, named for a 2020 victim of police murder, with the government’s preference for Cop City, an urban warfare training center.  The city of Atlanta actively sabotaged the modest peace center plans while pushing through the expensive Cop City proposal despite overwhelming opposition.  Haley goes deeper in time to put Cop City in the context of long cycles of anti-Black violence, plantation-based prisons and alleged carceral reforms. Special thanks to Haymarket Books for hosting the panel.

 

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