What does security and safety look like for Black people? What wisdom do our ancestors who resisted and found new ways to live in community, have to teach us? How do we think beyond policing, to a world where security, safety, justice, and mutuality exists and serves all communities. We look to communities of Africans and people of African descent who have created communities and who have had to grapple with this complex issue: safety vs. freedom. These societies have done a lot to think about what safety, policing, dignity and justice would look like from a community perspective rather than policing based on a culture steeped in anti-Blackness and with the purpose of protecting property and subduing Black subjects.

This virtual event, organised by the UN Antiracism Coalition, aims at providing the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER) and OHCHR with a pathway that is grounded in the experiences and perspectives of people on the ground.