Michelle Alexander with a great discussion on the criminal justice system and the racial disparities therein.  What a powerful discussion.

Vermont state police taking on the topic of fair and impartial policing with five years of traffic stop and other data broken down by barracks and by individual trooper.

Source: New data points out possible racial bias in Vermont State Police | Local News – WPTZ Home

Seizing on the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) reluctant concession allowing him to appoint five members to the committee that writes the party platform, Bernie Sanders on Monday announced a suite of picks that included activists across the progressive sphere.

Source: Seizing Chance, Sanders Makes Bold Progressive Picks to Shape DNC Platform | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Happy December from the Justice for All Team! Here are some updates on upcoming events and some good things happening in Vermont in pursuit of racial justice.

1. Rights and Democracy Summit

This Saturday, December 5, join us along with numerous elected officials, candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, activists, and advocates for a day of skill-building and policy workshops hosted by Rights and Democracy. The event will run all day, from 9 am – 5.30 pm, at the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington. RSVP on Facebook here.

2. 1LOVE! Human Rights Day Launch Party

We are very excited to collaborate with Rights and Democracy, Champlain Area NAACP, Burlington Peace and Justice Center, and Vermont Interfaith Action to help put on a launch party for 1LOVE!: “a new grassroots initiative for racial justice and police accountability through community oversight and transparency.” This is a free event, 21+, from 8-10 pm at Red Square in Burlington. RSVP on Facebook here.

3. Fundraising!

Please help up us with our #DecisionPoints initiative:

Justice For All is leading a project to identify the decision points in the Vermont justice system that may be informed by biases. We will then provide innovative methods to monitor and report on these important data points in our justice system. This request (phase one) for funds is to offset the cost of staffing and research to discover and prioritize these decision points. Follow-on phases will include monitoring and reporting, capability maturity, continuous monitoring, aggregation and correlation and analytics dashboard creation. We really need your help to make this happen, and change cannot wait. Every little bit counts and we are so grateful for the support that we have seen in people’s commitments to these issues that effect all of us in the community. Click here to visit our page.

Our friend James Haslam at Rights and Democracy has also launched a fundraising campaign to help him and his organization bring about real social change in the racial climate of Vermont. Visit his page here.