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New Haven’s NAACP plans to take to the streets to protest the verdict in Ferguson — but not to rush out for the sake of protesting.
Last week the chapter had prepared to stage a downtown protest as soon as the news was released from Ferguson, Missouri— if a grand jury there decided not to bring charges against a white police officer who shot a black 18-year-old man to death.
When that decision was announced Monday night, sparking demonstrations across the country, the New Haven chapter decided to wait to stage an action until college students — many of whom are away this week for Thanksgiving break — return to town. They need to be the focus of a rally, and the rally needs to have a purpose, said Greater New Haven NAACP President Doris Dumas (pictured above).
“Our focus is young people,” Dumas said in a conversation Tuesday morning.
She said the announcement of the grand jury’s decision left her “not surprised, but very disappointed and heartbroken, especially for all the young people across America, people here in New Haven, people that we know don’t think that people value their lives. This is just another message about that.”
“The NAACP wants to take leadership. We believe in a nonviolent way, the way we’ve always done things. We want to have an outlet. We want to do it with a purpose. We want to want sure we ask for change. We can do it through legislation; we can do it where we hold police accountable. We can do it where there’s a voice being heard. We have power through our vote; there are things that can be done.
“Our young people need to know they’re not being profiled and preyed on.
“When we do it, we want to remain calm. What happened there is a tragedy, but it’s a national tragedy. We pray for the Brown family and the Ferguson family. But what happened there can happen anywhere. We want our young people to learn they have a voice. We want them to be organized and come up with some solutions and a plan for a change.”
Specifically in New Haven, Dumas said, Mayor Toni Harp and Police Chief Dean Esserman “want the police department to have a relationship and community policing. New Haveners know there’s a relationship and trust. I like that. We need our young people to know. …
“They are making steps. I think they are trying. It is going in the right direction. It’s still far from where it needs to be.” The NAACP, she said, has a role to play in helping to get it where it needs to be.
Click here, meanwhile, for a recent discussion at WYBC over the black community’s next steps after the Ferguson decision.