EVI Acts: Stand up against Black racism and police brutality

DONATE: Know Your Rights Camp

Making a difference starts with education. We are all currently a part of Civil Rights history as much of the United States and the world have come together to stand up against police brutality and anti-black racism. This problem is nothing new but remains to be solved. In order to progress forward as a single human race, we need to look at, talk about, and act to amend the systemic injustices towards the Black community that have prevailed in our own country and others for hundreds of years.

Black Lives Matter.

Repeating the mistakes of history while simultaneously allowing the continued actions of a severely under-managed and misguided law enforcement system is not an option. This goes beyond conversation, this goes beyond good intention or donating and posting. Change on a mass scale is only accomplished through repeated definitive actions. We have to ignite that change within ourselves and willingly take on that responsibility. Only then will it spread beyond to the culture of our society through our own communities and ourselves. It starts at home. It starts with you and it starts now.

For this quarter, we’re choosing to raise money for Know Your Rights Camp, funded by Colin Kaepernick. Their mission is “to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders”. This lines up with every single value we have here at Extreme Vocal Institute.

We will be donating 100% of the membership fees collected in the first week of the launch of EVI Now, our fully online guided lesson program (between June 10 and June 17). Additionally, we will be hosting events to further raise funds for Know Your Rights Camp throughout the quarter. We will be attending events in support of anti-racism and against police brutality whenever possible, and we encourage those who are able to do the same.

Below are additional links to resources, petitions, and organizations to learn to fight black racism and white supremacy, how to be an active ally, and where to go to be able to responsibly protest for change.

DONATE: Know Your Rights Camp

BY THE NUMBERS:

In 2019, police across the United States killed 1,098 people, 24% of those killed were members of the black community. In the United States the black community makes up just 13% of the total population.
Black people are three times as likely to be killed by police than white people and 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed than white people.
Levels of violent crime within a city does not correlate with the rate of police violence.
99% of killings by police officers between 2013-2019 have not resulted in the officer charged with a crime.

Statistics acquired from Mapping Police Violence

"Breonna's Law" Passed

On June 11, 2020, Breonna's Law was passed unanimously by the Metro Council in Louisville, KY that outlaws "no-knock" warrants. The law is named for Breonna Taylor, a former EMT who was killed by police officers during a raid on her apartment on March 13, 2020.

Kentucky senator Rand Paul has also proposed a similar bill that would outlaw the use of "no-knock" warrants by federal law enforcement.