As if being Black and walking down the street wasn’t hard enough, the Atlanta Police Foundation is funding a training facility that's going to make it damn near impossible to breathe while being Black. A training facility that is as large as 85 NFL football fields combined. B-F-F-R.
If you haven’t heard of the Stop Cop City movement, it began back in 2021 when the Atlanta City Council proposed building a training facility for cops and military personnel alike. While I’m sure we can all imagine multiple issues with this, the two most important at hand are these: 1.) This “Cop City” would be built quite literally right next to a community of lower income Black residents and 2.) The City of Atlanta has leased 386 acres of Weelaunee Forest for this “training” center. We’ve all witnessed the harmful effects of police brutality from the murder of Tamir Rice to George Floyd to Manuel Esteban Paez Terán. The production of this training facility would increase the targeting of Black and Brown communities alike and ultimately lead to more arrests, more fear, and more deaths. Communities of which have lived and continue to live through decades of police induced trauma are now living in the fear of losing the peace they have within the comfort of their own homes. Majority of ATL residents are Black and we know more cops in the city will lead to the targeting of these minority individuals.
Not only that, the amount of green space in cities is scarce enough and even more so in the lower income areas of the city. I think we all can agree green spaces are crucial areas for our physical and mental health. With the extreme fluctuations of weather patterns we’ve been experiencing, the deforestation of Weelaunee Forest would have an extremely negative impact on both the residents of ATL but the wildlife that resides in that forest. As if watching Bambi wasn’t devastating enough.
That’s why we’re looking to you to support the Stop Cop City movement. Remember your Titi Veronica who’s not really your Titi because she’s your moms best friend from high school? Well Titi Veronica’s sister lives in Atlanta and she’s going to want to make sure her sis knows this information. Believe it or not, word of mouth can go a long way. If you live in the City of Atlanta, please take the time to check the requirements and SPRINT down there to sign the petition.
The pressure is on with the requirement to get at least 70,000 signatures by August 14th.
Raising awareness and taking a stand is key to helping the residents of Atlanta maintain their security and freedom.