Thursday (Oct. 15) we celebrated the formation of the Black Panther Party 54 years ago in Oakland, Calif. The Black Panther Party clearly showed the willingness of regular people to organize and take action to protect their communities.

Today, we find ourselves still calling for the changes that these brave people were fighting for in the 1960s: community control of the police, reparations paid to African Americans, and social/economic equality. As we have continued to see the murder of African Americans by police in 2020 – names such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, to name only a few – the conversation has to include the importance of community control of the police.

This isn’t a new idea. The time for this idea has already come and the need for this type of action to regain control of our nation’s police forces has never left. In fact, it has never been more necessary. Entire generations of minorities and their children have been seeing the news for their entire lives while also seeing the lack of action in addressing the racism and sadism in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

Yet neither major party is giving this matter the attention it deserves. This is why the Green Party/Socialist Party is so necessary.

Someone must spell out plans for how we end the abuse, misconduct and blatant murders being committed by police officers, who are then only given administrative leave as “punishment.” Someone has to say plainly that the way to fight crime is to fight poverty and, most of all, someone must act and act now.

It’s about coming together in solidarity to create the changes we so desperately need in this country and in our communities.