Touched by loss, families lead fight against police violence

Mt. Vernon Street and Flower Street in East Bakersfield connect sites where four men were killed in recent years in fatal encounters with police. Family and other supporters of the men killed have become activists in this nationally prominent issue. The conversation has moved beyond basic protest into a more nuanced understanding of the forces at play when cops are responsible for the deaths of unarmed citizens – those leading the gathering are trying to make sure that communities don’t accept these incidents as the inevitable fallout for people of color. “I don’t want other families to feel what we do, to struggle every day like we do. We want to get people involved and aware …we want to wake the community up.” Read coverage of the event on South Kern Sol.