Blog
News and Views

2020 Commitment March

August 28, 2020
march on washington

Today's March on Washington has an emphatic call for police reform, justice reform and voter action, 57 years to the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech echoed from the same spot on the National Mall. Demonstrators walk to the Lincoln Memorial for "Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" event in Washington, DC and Gov. Cuomo reflects, "I stand in solidarity with the thousands of peaceful demonstrators demanding police reform, criminal justice reform, and racial equality, shouting in one collective voice: Black Lives Matter." 

The march marks the 57th anniversary of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s visionary 'I Have a Dream' speech, which was a call for a more just and equal America. Sadly, we have yet to realize Dr. King's dream. We all have a role to play.

"Our nation once again finds itself in a moment of anguish and anger after yet another senseless shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a police officer, this time in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  The painful truth is that while the names of the victims change, the color of their skin does not. Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, and untold others continue to fall victim to the racism that is deeply embedded at the core of our criminal justice system. The anger and outrage felt by so many is a warranted response to a flawed system that devalues the lives of Black men and women.

"In New York, we turned our anger into action by signing into law the nation-leading 'Say Their Name' Reform Agenda, which fundamentally reforms and reimagines the state's criminal justice system. But we know the work is nowhere near finished. Our state has a proud history as the birthplace of social justice movements and progressive action that seek to achieve social and economic equality for all. Let us recommit ourselves to that goal and show the nation that at the end of the day, even if it is a long day, love wins - always."

Eric Garner was choked to death by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in 2014. Learn about recent legislation named in Mr. Garner's honor that was signed into law by the NY State Legislature on June 8, 2020.

"Say Their Name" Reform

"Say Their Name" reform agenda following the murder of George Floyd and an ongoing pattern of police brutality against minority communities across the nation. The Governor said he will work with the State Legislature to get these policies done next week.

The list of policy priorities builds on earlier proposals he called for in the immediate aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and prior executive actions he has taken including appointing the Attorney General as a special prosecutor in matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians caused by law enforcement.

The 'Say Their Name' Reform agenda includes:

  • Allow for transparency of prior disciplinary records of law enforcement officers by reforming 50-a of the civil rights law;
  • Banning chokeholds by law enforcement officers;
  • Prohibiting false race-based 911 reports and making them a crime; and
  • Designating the Attorney General as an independent prosecutor for matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians caused by law enforcement.

"Mr. Floyd's murder was the breaking point of a long list of deaths that were unnecessary and abusive, and people are saying enough is enough, we must change and we must stop the abuse," Governor Cuomo said. "Stopping police abuse vindicates the overwhelming majority - 99.9 percent - of police who are there to do the right thing. It restores the confidence, the respect, and the trust that you need to make this relationship work. You have to heal the police-community relationship for the sake of the police and for the sake of the community. As the progressive capital of the nation New York should be at the forefront of this movement, and I want to work with the Legislature to pass these policy priorities next week to reform our systems and put a stop to this abuse once and for all." 

Alvin Bragg, formerly the first head of the Attorney General Office's Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit, discusses #protestpolitics and #policebrutality.

 

More on the Commitment March on Washington

Martin Luther King III, speaking at today's March on Washington in the US capital, said that the US faces four "major challenges."

"We're marching to overcome what my father called the triple evils of poverty, racism and violence. And today, those evils have exacerbated four major challenges that currently face our country," he said.

Here's a look at the four issues he called out:

  • The coronavirus pandemic: "Covid-19 tragically has killed more than 175,000 Americans," he said. He noted that the virus disproportionately affects Black and Latino communities.
  • Unemployment: "More than 30 million Americans are unemployed again, disproportionately people of color." He noted that the pandemic has exposed inequalities in the economy "that kept too many people trapped in the debt and poverty."
  • Police brutality and gun violence: King noted that today's march includes families of Black people who were killed by police. He made a point to say the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner and many others.
  • Voting rights: King urged those in the audience to defend their right to vote, saying "We must vigorously defend our right to vote because those rights were paid for with the blood of those lynched for seeking to exercise their constitutional rights." He also called on attendees to vote "as if our lives and our livelihoods, our liberties depend on it because they do!" and added, "No person, no people, are more keenly aware of the risk of disenfranchisement than those who suffered from it."

 

Watch highlights of The Commitment March on Washington here: