Journal of a Black Teacher

Consent Decree: These orders are usually called “consent decrees.” The term reflects that the order was negotiated and agreed to by the DOJ and the City that was investigated. A consent decree is a legally binding agreement where the court supervises the implementation of the agreement. By Don Allen, M. A. Ed./MAT #Fiction, #FutureCast Twin Cities, Minn…Once upon a time, in a city plagued by gun violence, there was a controversial agreement in place between the police department and the community. The agreement stated that the police would only use force as a last resort and would work to build trust and positive relationships with the people they served. At first, the agreement was met with skepticism and resistance from both sides. The police felt that their hands were tied and that they were being unfairly criticized for doing their jobs. The community, on the other hand, felt that the police were not doing enough to protect them and that the agreement was just a way for the police

Note: While this piece is fictional, the art is real-life. " Police killed a Black Army veteran outside his home. His family wants answers"  (Griffith, 2021) NBC News .  Not knowing he was born both a success and a target, 23-year-old Army veteran John-Terry Lucine returned home from the service ready to live his life to the fullest, unaware of what could happen to an unarmed man in today’s society. Life, so he thought, awaited him.   By Don Allen -  All Rights Reserved.       T he Army was great. I did my three years – got out, came back here. Captran County is hot, filled with people running from one side to another. Suburban neighborhoods with names like Mars, Lunar One, and Apollo have popped up out of thin air. This is the big city, not the city I left three years ago.       Momma put me to work right away. She asked me to get some paint and fill in the letters on the old wooden mailbox out front of the fence. It had been weather-beaten while I was gone, and the family n