A new initiative addressing interactions between young people and the police will become a permanent pillar of the Fort Wayne Urban Leagueapps work and movement, President and CEO Aisha Arrington said Thursday.
Arrington announced the initiative app Mothers for the Movement: Every Child Home Alive app nearly four weeks after 22-year-old Linzell Parhm died in an officer-involved shooting.
Parhm was a passenger in a vehicle with a gun nearby, and he failed to obey orders to keep his hands on the dashboard, according to a video the city released within days of the June 22 incident.
Arrington referenced Parhmapps death following a brief news conference about her organizationapps new initiative, which will develop training and language to educate youth about proper protocols when interacting with police.
appIappm sad to say that weappre starting this after the fact, but sometimes in tragedy it offers an opportunity for us to all do our good,app Arrington said.
The Urban League wants by Jan. 1 to create a video about the protocols to follow when interacting with police officers, Arrington said. She expects the development process will include research, advice from educators and collaboration with other Urban Leagues.
The initiative has another goal, Arrington said: organize opportunities for police to engage with the children and communities they serve. She hopes to have an event or two by the new year.
Arrington has seen the power of such interactions. In the spring, a Fort Wayne police sergeant and officer spent more than an hour with a student in the Urban Leagueapps tutoring program.
The student lived nearby and wants to be a police officer someday.
appIt was both encouraging and inspiring to watch that interaction,app Arrington said. appMore good can and will be done.app
The initiative, which had its first meeting last week, is purposely starting with a few goals.
appWe donappt want to take on too much and not be successful,app Arrington said.
Those involved with the local initiative are inspired by another mother app Mamie Till, who in 1955 demanded an open-casket funeral for her son, Emmett. The Black teen was murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman.
appHer courage galvanized the Civil Rights Movement,app Arrington said of Till. appToday, all the mothers of this new initiative stand on her shoulders. We also stand on the shoulders of other mothers who bore these children: Mike Brown, Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Jefferson, Stephon Clark, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Janisha Fonville, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, George Floyd.app
The individuals Arrington named were Black and died in nationwide incidents involving police since 2014.
Arrington said the Urban League doesnappt want to inflame a tragedy; it wants to be part of the solution.
appWe want to work together to make sure that weappre doing our part to make the community better and safer for everyone,app she said.
