Racial Justice Action Team- What are We Doing?

Support AB 481- reducing militarization of police and sheriff departments, via enactment and implementation of national, California, and local legislation and policy.

Report of the AB 481 Convening in July 2025, submitted by Barb Atwell

Hello Friends,

The Racial Justice Action Team of this Berkeley Meeting has been participating in the AB 481 campaign since it was signed into law in 2021. Today, I want to report on a vital event that took place from July 20th to July 22nd this summer at the Quaker Center in Ben Lomond for activists across California. This convening was hosted by the American Friends Service Committee Healing Justice Program and supported by Berkeley Meeting through the Travel Justice Fund.

My desire is to convey the positive energy, joy, and inspiration that happened over those three days. It resulted in a strong sense of community with many passionate activists! I’m happy to give more details and answer questions as time permits.

I’ll first give some background, this is a quick summary, and then my perspective.

What is AB 481?

This law requires transparency and accountability for all California law enforcement agencies in using weapons categorized as “military equipment.”

Communities are working to bring transparency to militarized law enforcement gear and to push back on the widespread use of this weaponry, which has been disproportionately deployed against Black and Brown people, neighborhoods, and households.  

No matter what we look like or where we live, we want our families to be whole and our communities vibrant. But we have repeatedly seen the people who are supposed to serve and protect us treat our communities as spaces of war. Because of racial targeting, those harmed are disproportionately Black and Brown people. The fact that many police departments acquire and deploy militarized equipment in our communities makes the problem even worse.

The AB 481 project team continued to review the use policies, track the community engagement meetings, and analyze the required annual reports. We supported the statewide movement for demilitarization by gathering and organizing data and by helping draft statewide sign-on letters; we also supported AFSC efforts to contact Attorney General Bonta and the state legislature to strengthen transparency and accountability in the use of militarized equipment by California law enforcement.

Convening Summary.

Ø 34 attendees from all across California: Sacramento, Orange County,

Los Angeles, the Santa Cruz area, and all around the Bay Area.

Ø  Kicked off with a conversation to connect police militarization with police

violence and killings.

Ø  A healing circle at the Redwood Circle

Ø  Research results regarding police misconduct, mapping of military equipment,

and less lethal weapons in California.

Ø  Review of Local Support and Narratives work completed over the past year.

Ø  Keynote speaker from Amanda Majail-Blanco, who lost her brother to police violence.

Ø  An advocacy lab on effective advocacy.

Ø  Special Interest Groups.

Ø  Reflected on the current state of police demilitarization in California and how we can build together.

Travel Justice Fund

The Travel Justice Fund reimbursed the travel expenses of seven participants and provided a stipend to each person, enabling them to attend the event.

Barb’s Story

I was energized and inspired by witnessing these activists! The Healing Circle was one of the many ways we quickly became a community. Oscar Grant was killed in Oakland by police violence. In response to this, his uncle and aunt, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Beak, who were with us last year and this year, have started a nonprofit called Love Not Blood.

What was different this year is that we invited the Love Not Blood activists to the Convening, so several family members were able to attend. Aunt Bea led the Healing in the Redwood forest – I’ll show you a photo in a minute.  Each family went to the center of the circle and gave their story of the family members who had lost a loved one to police killings.  We honored each person, grieved for each person, and then celebrated each person. Aunt Bea closed out with instructions: “Taking joy is part of our work,” then hosted a dance party beneath the redwoods!

Healing Circle for families impacted by police abuse, held at the 2025 Convening.