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A crowd of roughly 40 protesters gathered outside Syracuse Police Department headquarters Saturday afternoon to protest police and local government in the wake of a video showing SPD officers forcibly putting an 8-year-old Black child in the back of a police car.

Organizers for Black Lives Matter Syracuse, Mothers for Justice, the Syracuse Police Abolition and Radical Revisioning Coalition, and Victory Temple Fellowship Church joined Rebirth SYR organizers in advocating for various aspects of police, government and racial justice reform and shared their experiences with systems of oppression at the protest.

Hasahn Bloodworth, a co-founder of Rebirth SYR, opened the series of speakers with a discussion about the organization’s mission and dedication to the boys involved in the incident, as well as systemic issues in Syracuse spanning from community, law enforcement and governmental levels.

“We are trying to make a difference in the troubled youths’ lives. And we don’t do that by kicking their back in. We don’t do that by trying to criminalize them,” Bloodworth said. “By trying to make it look like they’re some of the worst human beings in the world. We don’t do that by snatching them, in trying to humiliate them in front of a bunch of people. These are children, they should be treated as such.”

Bloodworth said that he has taken on a mentoring, father-like role for the three boys involved in the incident. A friend of one of the boys’ late father, Bloodworth plans to focus on self-betterment and mental health efforts with the children.

“I sat down with this child. I’ve taught this child. It’s not that this is not even my child. But he is my child. Every last one of those gentlemen right there, are mine,” Bloodworth said. “We went and got them new clothes, new sneakers from head to toe. Because you know why? They deserve it. They need to know that they are somebody, they need to feel like they are somebody, they need to be loved. They need to feel compassion with the lack of that and mental health issues.”

The Rev. H. Bernard Alex of Victory Temple Church also emphasized providing father figures for disadvantaged youth during his speech. Alex and the church plan to put on events to build community and provide resources, he said.

“This Friday at the Victory Church, we’re having a ‘sippy cup and paint’ with fathers, male figures. Grab a kid, bring them to the church,” Alex said. “I’m talking about the alternatives so that our children, their time is filled with positive influences and people and when we’re doing some things that are going to impact and change lives.”

Danny Khan | Design Editor

In her speech, We The People Syracuse founder Yvonne Griffin emphasized the importance of supporting mental health for young people, and criticized the Syracuse City School District for passing up opportunities to deliver resources to students.

TJ Davis, an organizer for BLM Syracuse, told The Daily Orange that while the protest might be the most visible form of work his organization does, it’s just the tip of the iceberg with respect to its advocacy efforts.

Davis said that many local problems surrounding youth crime or violence in general aren’t unique to Syracuse, and that BLM Syracuse puts resources into researching effective efforts implemented around the world.

Davis pointed to the success of universal child care elsewhere as an example of a policy that could reduce teen arrests and behavioral issues in young children, which he said would be a much cheaper alternative to militarizing the police.

“It’s like helping with the loving hand instead of just somebody showing up with a weapon as the main solution,” he said.

Davis, however, said it is difficult for members of the community to advocate for such policies or participate in municipal government meetings because of systemic barriers that hamper people’s ability to have their voices heard by those in power.

“A lot of people don’t have the capacity, or even the luxury to go downtown and attend a common council meeting, to hear them talk about Proposition 42 A,” Davis said. “A lot of people don’t have that, especially when you have families who are working two or three jobs.”

Davis added that this particularly impacts the significant immigrant community in Syracuse. He said that the city could increase accessibility for residents by making the community aware when governmental bodies have meetings, giving legislation common names that are easier to understand, providing in-person and virtual attendance methods, handing out materials so that residents can understand the legislation being proposed and politicians adding more context to their remarks when discussing such policy.

“There are many things and proactive things you can take to say, ‘Hey, we actually want the community engaged,’” Davis said. “There’s no ethical justification for not letting your community comment at any point in the process.”

Danny Khan | Design Editor

Rebirth SYR runs a program called Cop Watch, which Bloodworth said is an approach to community self-policing and accountability. The program works as a way for community members to understand the behaviors that Syracuse police officers exhibit when interacting with people, Bloodworth said.

“What we do is we police the police. We have police radios, or scanners and whatever call comes over to here. … More than half of the time we arrive on the scene before police arrive on the scene,” Bloodworth told The Daily Orange.

In his speech, Alex said that many incidents resulting from police interactions are sparked by routine responses to simple, everyday happenings that turn violent. Alex referenced the killings of 13-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot while holding a bag of Skittles, and George Floyd, who was killed after being accused of using counterfeit money. The 8-year-old boy physically restrained by officers, Alex reminded the crowd, had stolen a bag of chips.

“A lot of the challenges that we are now living with started from simple things, from young men going to get something to drink, some Skittles and iced tea,” Alex said. “Catching them selling loosies, a so-called $20 counterfeit bill, things that most wouldn’t even make a big issue. Some Cool Ranch Doritos.”

Bloodworth said that he considers the program to be one step toward the necessary goal of reinventing policing and severing it from racist origins.

“Policing was originated to keep slavery, keep slaves in check. And it kind of feels like that still right now to this day. So that’s why we always say we have to reinvent policing, we have to reinvent the way people think policing should be,” Bloodworth said. “And we as people who pay their salary, we should be the ones determining what policing should look like, especially in our community, especially when it involves our kids.”

Published on April 25, 2022 at 12:51 am

Contact Jana: jlseal@syr.edu | @JanaLoSeal