A groundbreaking new vision for public safety that overturns more
than 200 years of fear-based discrimination, othering, and punishment
As the effects of aggressive policing and mass incarceration harm
historically marginalized communities and tear families apart, how do
we define safety? In a time when the most powerful institutions in
the United States are embracing the repressive and racist systems
that keep many communities struggling and in fear, we need to
reimagine what safety means. Community leader and lawyer Zach Norris
lays out a radical way to shift the conversation about public safety
away from fear and punishment and toward growth and support systems
for our families and communities. In order to truly be safe, we are
going to have to dismantle our mentality of Us vs. Them. By bridging
the divides and building relationships with one another, we can
dedicate ourselves to strategic, smart investments—meaning
resources directed toward our stability and well-being, like
healthcare and housing, education and living-wage jobs. This is where
real safety begins.
We Keep Us Safe
is a blueprint of how to hold people accountable while still holding
them in community. The result reinstates full humanity and agency for
everyone who has been dehumanized and traumatized, so they can
participate fully in life, in society, and in the fabric of our
democracy.