To discuss the fight for our future, ESSENCE Political and News Director Yesha Callahan, Movement for Black Lives Matter organizer Charlene Carruthers and Black Lives Matter – Toronto founder Janaya Khan came together during the Wealth Power experience of the first-ever virtual edition of the Essence Festival of Culture.

Lemon asked Khan about the skepticism that shades conversations around defunding police in this country, to which Khan responded:

“Really what is built into the American consciousness…is the idea that Black people must have done something to deserve what happens to them,” they said.

“Because if you live in a white and wealthy neighborhood, you live in a community that is almost virtually police free…the real fear in this country when it comes to policing [is that] they are no longer going to keep people like us where we belong, in the ghettos and the projects.”

What does it mean to radically re-imagine what our communities could look like when not occupied and targeted by police forces who pretend that their goal is to keep Black people safe?

“We’re not just simply talking about moving resources into more institutions that act as police by proxy,” said Carruthers, who is also the author of Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements.