No More Cop Cities & No More Family Policing: Durham County Commissioners Meeting – November 12
By Jupiter N. Mars & Funky Fairy
The Durham County Commissioners meeting two nights ago was a shitshow. Community members showed out after a post went up on Instagram from Durham Beyond Policing, Triangle Stop Cop City, Charlotte Stop Cop City, and Raleigh United Mutual Aid Hub. The post pointed out that a proposal was on the agenda to give 16 million dollars to building a police training center in Durham.
The beginning of the meeting was filled with awards and appointments. Durham County Commissioner and Chair Nida Allam pointed out that with the new changes in commissioners, the board would be completely “female-led” (a moment that re-solidified my agitation towards identity politics as a Black woman). Lots of time was given for pictures, accolades, and useless proclamations.
One of these sections was a proclamation for National Adoption Awareness Month. Sitting in the front row was Amanda Wallace, founder of Operation Stop CPS, an organization focused on abolishing the Child “Protective” Services system in Durham. Their work has involved advocacy for Black mothers who have had their children kidnapped by the state, organizing court support, and agitating against the Durham County Department of Social Services. While the proclamation was being read, Wallace held up a sign that said, “CPS IS GENOCIDE. BLACK CHILDREN ARE TAKEN FROM THEIR PARENTS MORE THAN ANY OTHER MINORITY GROUP.” Wallace has been supporting families impacted by family policing and surveillance for years and has consistently pointed out the horrors that Child “Protective” Services brings to children and their caregivers. Despite her consistent advocacy, Durham has failed to engage in any meaningful dialogue with Wallace and other concerned citizens. The other night was no different.
Chair Nida Allam noticed the sign and decided that rather than engaging with Wallace’s concerns, the physical sign was the issue. Allam said that the sign had to be put down or Wallace would be removed from the meeting. She also boldly proclaimed that “[the sign] is extremely disrespectful when there is an actual genocide occurring in this world…” There were rightful groans from community members as we were all appalled that Allam would say such a thing. Last time I checked, there is sadly room for more than one genocide to occur in this world. Our country was built on genocide, starting with Indigenous and African communities. You would think this would cause people opposed to genocide to support each other, no matter the specifics. It wasn’t lost on me that the same people that came to oppose the cop city proposal and who came to support Wallace, are the same people that support a liberated Palestine. The genocide comment made zero sense. Regardless, the meeting chugged along.
Right after the National Adoption Awareness Month Proclamation was a proclamation on Native American Heritage Month. The irony was sickeningly clear, especially given that Duke University, Durham’s shining star, was once a boarding school for Indigenous children. I also quickly noticed that the proclamation was focused on learning about Indigenous history rather than affirming Indigenous sovereignty. Centering inclusivity rather than LandBack isn’t that surprising for local government in Durham, but frustrating as always.
My least favorite part of these meetings is having to sit through all the bullshit just to get to the tiny parts of the agenda that will actually meaningfully impact people’s lives. Throughout the night, different commissioners voiced their annoyance that community members showed up that night, but no other time. The reality is that people called off work and rushed straight after school to come to that meeting. We came early so we could speak and be engaged in our community and were rewarded by spending half of the meeting being talked down to AND THEN also reprimanded for not doing more. At one point in the meeting, a friend showed me the salaries of the commissioners. $200,000 to sit at a table and scold people for trying to be involved? They ought to question their own engagement with the community when they are clearly so detached that they would even consider a proposal of this magnitude.
After what felt like forever, (which in reality was like an hour and a half) it was time to discuss item 24-0645, “Capital Project Amendment No.25CPA022 Appropriating $16,555,735 of Limited Obligation Bond (LOBs) Funding to the Durham County Sheriff’s Training Facility Capital Project (4310DC091); and Authorizing the Execution of the Construction Manager At-Risk Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract with CT Wilson Construction for the Construction of the Sheriff’s Training Facility at a Total Amount Not-To-Exceed $15,929,463 (Base Bid, Alternates, Plus Owner Contingency),” a long title meaning building a cop city in Durham, clearly demonstrating the lack of accessibility around language in politics.
A speech from Vice Chair Nimasheena Burns was given explaining that the community members that came needed to “do more research”. She was patronizing and tried to imply that we were some kind of social media activists rather than concerned citizens wanting better for our community. She then stated that both of her parents were involved in activism in the past, as if that made her the authority on community engagement and organizing. Along with this act of ridiculousness, Vice Chair Burns then talked extensively about how gun violence was plaguing Durham, especially its Black population, and how it was an issue that more people needed to care about. I ask Vice Chair Burns, if we did not care about Black folks in Durham, would we have even been at that meeting in the first place? And funny how an individual can be so good at naming an issue as damning as gun violence and then sit by while a proposal for a cop city is floating about. Are police shootings and killings of Black folks NOT acts of gun violence???
Then, Commissioner Allam announced that discussion of this item would be moved to a work session. This meant there would be no public comment and the meeting would move on to the next item on the agenda. The work session was scheduled for January 6th, a Monday, at 9am. Although this time may work perfectly for the board, Durham’s citizens work jobs, attend school, and have to arrange for childcare. This meeting will be wholly inaccessible to the majority of the people who care about this issue. We were all outraged. People were yelling and asking questions. One parent frustratingly told the board how disappointed she was. She waited an hour and a half with her child to be there, only to be sent home when it was time for the community to speak. Why couldn’t this decision have been made earlier? Around 25 community members signed up to speak that night and we were determined to do so. The board attempted to keep going to the next item, but steadily were interrupted. The crowd was uniformed in an understanding that we didn’t need permission to voice our opposition. Around this time a few of us noticed that a renewal of Durham county’s contract with Cisco, a newer BDS target, was also on the agenda. This item had no opportunity for public comment, but a few people edited their speeches to reflect our opposition.
When it was clear that we’d be a nuisance until our voices were heard, Commissioner Allam brought back the opportunity for open comment, but shortened the time from 2 minutes per person to a single minute. Here is a link to the full board meeting. I encourage you to listen to the comments from community members and all the foolish things that the commissioners were saying.
I’ll give a highlight of some of the most impactful comments for me:
“Since I’ve moved to Durham, the following people have been killed by law enforcement officers: Jesus Huerta, Matthew McCain, Raphael Bennet, Terry Lee, La’vante Trevon Biggs, Dennis McMurray, Frank Clark, Uniece Glenae “Niecey” Fennell, Kenneth Bailey Jr., James Earl Stanten Jr., Jean Carolyn McGirt, Shaun Jeffery Christy, Deshawn Evans, Ondrae Levado Hutchinson, Darrell Kersey, Brittany Kittrell, Charles Walker Piquet , Stephanie Wilson, Rayshawn Jones, Erick Cano-Castellanos.”
“When it comes to Cisco, it is a company complicit in genocide. It has recently been identified as a target for the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions list. We must take a moral stance against genocide and find an alternative to Cisco. Please vote no on Cisco.”
“I would like to add that the rejections of concerns over Durham CPS’s treatment of Black families is ridiculous. We can recognize that more than one genocide is occuring at once and that all struggles against the state are connected. I want no more cop cities and no more family policing.”
“As a Black woman, it terrifies me to think that you guys are investing in an opportunity to kill people… this is a shooting range that you guys are trying to pass.”
“If you plan on having a training center here in Durham and you’re gonna undercover to invite the IDF in your training mold, we will stand against this and we will fight you tooth and nail. If you want to bring this city down with a mass protest, you can try it on our turf. We will no longer stand for this in light of what’s going on in [the] Gaza and Lebanon.”
“16 million is a lot of money. You could send 160 dollars to 1,000 Durham residents and that would be a better use of money.”
“If there’s one thing we know, it’s that cops don’t protect us. The heart program does, expand it.”
“[a cop city] will permanently pollute the land with toxic lead. The kind of lead we’re currently trying to get out of our parks”
It is absolutely shameful and disgusting what unfolded two nights ago. To say that I was furious, fists clenched with an urge to tear that room apart, would be the understatement of the century. Let this be a testament to anyone who cares about their community and the systems of oppression that plague it: YOU. SHOULD. NEVER. TRUST. ANY. POLITICIAN. OR ELECTED.OFFICIAL; your life depends on it! They will smile and offer sinister grins to your face and then return your valid concerns with further pain and angst. In my book, each of those commissioners owe Amanda Wallace an apology for the way they shamed her for SHARING WHAT WAS TRUE! But an apology would never rectify the harms a potential cop city or further family policing would bring the Durham community. But you want to know what would? Burning that shitty proposal into fucking ashes and burning DSS and CPS down to the fucking ground.
But, until then, I urge y’all to come to the work session on January 6th, 2025 at 9am at the Durham County Commissioners building (200 E Main St. Durham, NC) if you can. And if you can’t come, send an email with your questions and concerns about the cop city proposal to theoutsideagitator1@gmail.com. In addition to this, it is your duty to care about the lives of Black children and their families everywhere, especially in Durham. Show up to court support with Operation Stop CPS. Attend their protests and disruptions. And most importantly, get to know the parents and children obstructed by the hideousness that is this country’s anti-Blackness.
Power to all the people! It’s fucking free Palestine ‘til it’s backwards motherfuckas WHILE its free all Black folks from the cages that hold them, in DSS, at the hands of CPS, and in the prisons and jails that litter this nation (and yes, I’m talking to you Nida). Oh, and read about the Civil Rights Corps’ (CRC) lawsuit against District Court Judge Doretta Walker and Sheriff Clarence Birkhead for blocking CRC and Operation Stop CPS from monitoring dependency court hearings.
