Meet Je Amaechi, Unite Oregon’s Community Safety Manager
Everyone is entitled to thrive in a safe environment, no matter where they work or live. To achieve this, more services should be allocated to communities disproportionately affected by state-sanctioned violence. Instead, the current methods of police and the judicial system perpetuate a cycle of high imprisonment rates in BIPOC communities reminiscent of a history full of disenfranchisement.
Too many resources are allocated to policing rather than investing in community services. Neighborhoods with more BIPOC residents are targeted for more policing and experience an uneven rate of scrutiny and surveillance. When community members who were imprisoned are released, they often fall back into criminal activity due partially to a lack of community services available to them.
We would like to kick off Black August with this interview with Je Amaechi, our Community Safety Manager. In this interview, she breaks down the narrative portraying BIPOC communities and how the current system works against them. She also explains her vision of community safety and a way forward and away from this vicious cycle.
Je will also give a presentation about Black August on August 22nd (6-8 pm). She will talk about the legacy of black resistance against the prison industrial complex.
Register for the webinar here.
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