Mediaboss Marketing

Black Lives Matter Cincinnati (BLMC) hosted a discussion about the Cameo Nightclub shooting, as well as police and race relations on Saturday in the Bush Recreation Center in Walnut Hills.

At the start of the meeting, the organization stated that the police were unwelcome and asked any law enforcement present to leave.

Ashley Harrington, a member of the BLMC Steering Committee, began the discussion with a presentation on crime, legality and the circumstances that have hindered black people.

Crime and legality are both social constructs in the U.S. that are tied to class, race and capitalism, Harrington said.

She compared todays mass incarceration to slavery of the past. Todays prison system exists only as a form of free labor, said Harrington.

Harrington defined social alienation, which is an intentional high degree of distance between individuals and the society they live in.

There was equal representation of both races, as well as a variety of ages, and an almost equal amount of men and women in the room.

Three members of the Steering Committee that were present shared their ideas about police relations. All of the speakers agreed that police do not help, but only further create violence and fear within primarily black communities.

BLMC showed a video of Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, purportedly saying, "Cameo had a lot of people in there who are not good peoplethe majority had criminal records."

The event included a moment of silence for all of the victims of the shooting and their families.

Following that, the speakers discussed ways for communities to rise up together and respond to police brutality together, and then they proposed coming up with a uniform solution in which all communities could respond together.

At the end of the meeting, all of the people in the room were given the opportunity to ask questions and share ideas.

A lot of the discussion centered on gun violence.

Throughout the meeting, the main idea was to combat the current narrative and representation of black people in the media, to reduce police presence in Cincinnati and to build a sense of community among those living in this city.

We cant allow for this rhetoric that it is the fault of the black community, said BLMC Steering Committee member and University of Cincinnati student Mona Jenkins. We are going to stand up and respond to this. We need to start creating community opportunities for ourselves because others are not going to do it.

Jenkins spoke about issues like the closure of the Walnut Hills Kroger that many residents have relied on for years, as well as the opening of a gifted school in the area while the neighborhood school is failing.

Some leaders of Black Lives Matter Cincinnati offered information on black psychologists for anyone struggling with mental illness or coping with loss after the Cameo shooting.

More here:
Black Lives Matter Cincinnati discusses Cameo shooting - The News Record