JustDane

Come down to the Hilldale Farmers Market to get your midweek pick-me-up of JB's baked goods!! 8:00-1:00

Join us next week for the Reentry Service Fair.
Connect with local vendors!
5:00-6:30pm in the community room at Madison College Goodman South Campus.

Today, Tuesday August 11th is primary election day in WI. Please vote. There is still plenty of time to research candidates. Polls opened at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. Here at JustDane we work with people who cannot vote, we are their voice. We work with children who are denied a voice because their parents cannot vote. We are their voice. Please don't sit it out, elections have consequences and can sometimes be decided by 1 vote.

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Under Graham v. Connor, the U.S. Supreme Court established that police use of force must be judged by an “objective reasonableness” standard under the Fourth Amendment.

Join the African American Council of Churches as Rev. Judge Everett Mitchell helps our community understand the law surrounding the use of deadly force.

Monday, August 10 | 6:30 PM
Atwood Music Hall

Know the law and seek accountability.

We hope to see you there.

Just Bakery is over at the Hilldale Farmers Market today, 8:00-1:00! We're fully stocked, but it won't last long!!

“Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn’t commit,” Eli Khamarov

After the July 22nd killing of Corey Ruiz at the hands of a Madison police officer, a community grew on the corner of Williamson and Baldwin streets in Madison. Brought together by the killing of yet another Madison resident at the hands of police, people came to the site out of deep pain, anguish, trauma, grief and love. Our neighbors holding that space focused on mutual care and support, on healing. It was Holy ground, sanctuary, a testament to what is possible when we truly care for one another. At the same time, the killing of Corey Ruiz also brought out the most vile, evil, and cruel side of other human nature as some people expressed that having a conviction history justified police killing someone. People making threats against the protesters at the site and calling for violence against them, forgetting perhaps that they will never look into the eyes of someone that God doesn’t love.

The encampment on Williamson and Baldwin offered hope that maybe, just maybe this time would be different. Maybe this time there would be a change in the status quo in Madison. City officials assured us that they were working on a peaceful resolution to relocate the encampment, to create a memorial site, to preserve a portion of the site, to make sure people had somewhere to go. The City officials met with clergy just yesterday to assure them there was still time. This morning, as many of us were just waking up, we heard the news, the status quo in Madison remains. This morning, under cover of darkness heavily armed police moved in in large numbers to remove peaceful protesters from the site causing more trauma, pain and more harm. So far there have been four arrests of people who refused to leave the site, possibly because they have nowhere else to go. A punishment for a crime they did not commit.

United Church of Christ theologian Reverend Willaim Sloane Coffin said “Let me suggest that we not look overly to our political leaders. As their ethical impulses tend to be so much weaker than their political ones, in order not to stand out they 'll do most anything to fit in. They 're right to think that politics is the art of the possible, but wrong to forget that politics is also the art of making possible tomorrow what seems impossible today.”

The encampment on the corner of Williamson and Baldwin demonstrated what is possible when people come together in support, love, and a commitment to care for one another. The sanctuary, memorial site refutes the argument that there are only so many resources and that we cannot do something different. It is possible to reduce racial disparities in our carceral system by addressing systemic racism, including over policing, police misconduct and incarceration rates. It is possible to reduce suffering in our community by ending the year after year increase in police, jail and prison spending and investing those funds in community based supports for our neighbors, housing, shelter, treatment, education, food.

Our elected officials must be held accountable. Tonight the Common Council will hear a presentation from Council President on the Office of Independent Police Monitor. We have the opportunity to register to speak in support of full funding for the OIPM. The presentation is Agenda item 2 and you can register here:

Written Comments: You can send comments on agenda items to [email protected] Register for Public Comment:

• Register to speak at the meeting • Register to answer questions • Register in support or opposition of an agenda item (without speaking) If you want to speak at this meeting you must register.

You can register at https://www.cityofmadison.com/MeetingRegistration. When you register to speak, you will be sent an email with the information you will need to join the virtual meeting.

Watch the Meeting: If you would like to join the meeting as an observer, please visit https://www.cityofmadison.com/watchmeetings. Listen by Phone: (877) 853-5257 (Toll Free) Webinar ID: 843 2988 1212

When you register you can state that you wish to speak on item 2, you can note that you are neither in support of or opposition to the agenda item since it is not a specific recommendation.

We are heading into budget season for both the City and County. For both entities law enforcement is the largest expenditure. Budgets are moral documents. We have to ask whether we, as a community are comfortable with the kind of morality reflected in budgets that exacerbate racial disparities in our criminal legal system, are we comfortable with the kind of morality that cages people 24/7 with no support services, with the kind of morality that argues we need more cages because more people will be moving here and we should be afraid of our new neighbors. Are we okay with the kind of morality that decimates the safety net, meal programs, housing programs, senior and community centers, mental health treatment, education programs, in order to build more cages for our neighbors. We’re seeing that at the federal level, we've seen it at the local level and it’s not working out very well for anyone.

In Dane County and Madison, we can reduce disparities, reduce incarceration, support our vulnerable neighbors and continue to see a reduction in crime. To do that we will need to be courageous, we will need to be honest, we will need to prioritize the common good over politics and individual political ambitions and power grabs. Madison and Dane County can make possible what we are told is impossible, and to our elected officials brave enough to work toward this goal, we are with you.

Join us at the Reentry Service Fair on Tuesday, August 18th from 5:00 to 6:30pm at Madison College -Goodman South Campus. Local vendors will be offering resources to people reentering the community after incarceration.

Rev. David Hart: W***y Street Cried | Madison365 W***y Street cried. Cried like a mother watching her child go off to a foreign war zone knowing in her heart that she won’t see them again. Cried weary and familiar tears.