Criminal in(Justice), Race, and Policing: Derek Chauvin, Mohamed Noor, and Beyond
April 18th, Spring 2021 Teach-In
For the second time in less than two years, the city of Minneapolis was in April 2021 site of a police trial that has garnered national and international attention. Given the temporal proximity of these trials and the centrality of race (and gender) in both cases, this teach-in will take a deep look at the Chauvin trial from jury selection to trial arguments and commentary and will do so in a way that helps our students and communities better understand how race, gender, policing, and police violence are adjudicated.
This Teach-In "Criminal (in)Justice, Race, and Policing: Derek Chauvin, Mohamed Noor, and Beyond," features four panelists, including Keith Mayes, Associate Professor, African American and African Studies, UMN and Michelle Phelps, Associate Professor, Sociology, UMN.
Meet our Panelists
Amber Joy Powell || Moderator
PhD. Candidate, Sociology, UMN
Amber Joy is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and current American Bar Foundation Law & Inequality National Science Foundation Fellow. Her work broadly examines how law, punishment, and gender-based violence impact racially criminalized communities. Drawing upon Critical Legal Studies and Critical Race Feminist Theory, Amber's dissertation work explores how youth experience and make sense of sexual violence in youth detention facilities. She has also worked with Michelle Phelps, interviewing Minneapolis residents about their perceptions of and experiences with local police. Amber also served as a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate in Milwaukee, WI.
Ian Taylor. Jr.
Law Graduate, University of Minnesota
Ian Taylor is a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota African American Studies program from which he achieved cum laude latin honors. As a student, he discovered a passion for addressing social inequality, inspiring him to attend the University of Minnesota Law School where he was Lead Articles Editor for the Minnesota Journal of International Law.
His legal career has involved work in criminal and civil rights law. He previously launched a podcast called “Breathless” which provided updates on the prosecution of the Derek Chauvin murder trial as well as a context for law and inequality in Minnesota.
Ian is passionate about contributing to his community through law and education.
Dr. Michelle Phelps
Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota
Dr. Michelle Phelps is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her educational background includes a B.S. in Psychology from the University of California-Berkeley, a M.S. in Sociology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy from Princeton University.
Dr. Phelps’ research focuses on the sociology of punishment, focusing on the turn towards mass punishment. Since 2016, she has been studying Minneapolis as a case study of community perceptions of the police, anti-police violence activism, and police reform/transformation. Her work has been published in numerous journals, including Social Problems, Annual Review of Criminology, and Law & Society Review. She also co-wrote Breaking the Pendulum: The Long Struggle Over Criminal Justice.
Dr. Keith Mayes
Professor of African American & African Studies, University of Minnesota
Keith Mayes, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of African American & African Studies in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota.
Mayes is an expert on African American history, primarily from the 1960s to present. He has special expertise on social and political movements and current issues of race and perception.
Mayes is available for media interview on the topics of race in the news, race and perception, Black men, civil rights commemorations, civil rights policies, Black Power Movement (leaders and organizations, e.g., Stokely Carmichael, Black Panther Party), Black History Month, Kwanzaa and other Black holidays, social and racial justice, and policy outcomes of the movements.
Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar
Special Participation
Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar is a community group dedicated to the fight for justice for those who have been harmed by police. Founded after the killing by MPD of Jamar Clark, on November 15, 2015, the Coalition has supported the families of victims of police violence and searched for solutions to prevent this violence ever since. In cooperation with many other community groups, we organize peaceful demonstrations and support those who are fighting in courts and committees to get justice for their loved ones. We have seen too much. The community has suffered too much. And the Mayor, the courts, and state legislators continue to allow these abuses of power. We want to take that power back.
Learn more about Protest, Policing, and Racial Justice
The ICW in partnership with Howard University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College organized two virtual summer teach-ins in response to the murder of George Floyd. You can access the recordings of these discussions, interviews with panelists, and more resources by clicking on the titles of these events below.
Resources
Racial Justice Resources
The Race, Indigeneity, Gender & Sexuality Initiative (RIGS) at the University of Minnesota has prepared racial justice resources for students, staff, faculty and community parners who are activists and are looking for support for their work, models from similar organizing efforts, and potential collaborators and coalition partners. Click Here.
Law Enforcement and Racial Justice
The Law School at the University of Minnesota has put together a book list, youtube videos, and articles on the topic of Law Enforcement and Racial Justice. Click Here.
Trial Community Support and Education
Here you can access a list of University of Minnesota-affiliated resources for students, faculty, staff, and community partners to connect with, learn about, and build upon our collective efforts during and after the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Click Here
In the News!
Recommendations from our panelists:
Simon Balto's "This much is clear: Derek Chauvin’s trial won’t change policing in America" in The Guardian This piece takes a deeper look at the meaning of the Derek Chauvin trial. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/15/derek-chauvin-trial-george-floyd-death-policing-america
Garrett Felber's "The Struggle to Abolish the Police Is Not New" in the Boston Review. This piece situates the latest calls to abolish police within a much longer historical context. http://bostonreview.net/race/garrett-felber-struggle-abolish-police-not-new
Naomi Murakawa's "Police Reform Works — For the Police" on Medium. This piece looks at some specific examples of police reform. https://level.medium.com/why-police-reform-is-actually-a-bailout-for-cops-ecf2dd7b8833
"What the Cops Off Campus Movement Looks Like Across the Country" in The Nation. This piece highlights the first person accounts of students and organizers who are connecting the broader struggle against policing to the struggles within universities. https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/campus-police/
Rage Is the Only Language I Have Left, in The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/opinion/us-police-killings.html?smid=tw-share
Daunte Wright and the grim financial incentive behind traffic stops, In Vox, https://www.vox.com/first-person/22384104/daunte-wright-police-shooting-black-lives-matter-traffic-stops
Black Security and the Conundrum of Policing, in Just Security, https://www.justsecurity.org/71418/black-security-and-the-conundrum-of-policing/
We're making progress on the 'what' of reimagining safety. But what about the 'how'? Image without a caption, in the Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/15/how-local-leaders-reimagine-safety/
These Are The Minneapolis Activists Leading The Push To Abolish The Police, In NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/26/882001628/these-are-the-minneapolis-activists-leading-the-push-to-abolish-the-police
