Ten Lives, Demands: Life-and-Death Stories, and a Black Activist's Blueprint for Racial Justice

Told through his perspective as an activist, acclaimed commentator Solomon Jones tells the stories of real people whose lives and deaths pushed the Black Lives Matter movement forward. He explains how each act of violence was incited by specific instances of structural racism, and details concrete and actionable strategies to address crimes committed by our “justice” system. These stories and strategies are a critical resource for social justice activists looking to further their anti-racist education. These 10 demands form an actionable plan that is necessary to repair our racist past, change the racist present, and bring justice to the future: 1. Pay financial reparations to Black communities that have been damaged by legalized racism. 2. Use consent decrees to reform police departments that demonstrate a “pattern or practice” of racism and police brutality. 3. Offer compensation for all those who are wrongfully imprisoned. 4. Require functioning body cameras and ban no-knock warrants. 5. All police disciplinary and dismissal records must be made public. 6. Change federal law to allow prosecution of flagrant lawbreakers within police departments. 7. Use independent prosecutors to eliminate prosecutorial conflicts of interest. 8. Eliminate stand-your-ground laws. 9. Defund the police and move funds to trained social workers, mental health professionals, and conflict resolution specialists. 10. End racial profiling.