Scholars and other social commentators have developed measures and theories regarding the effectiveness of incarceration have been developed, yet little to no research exists on how state police affect incarcerated and FI (formerly incarcerated) people, leading them to activism. Through a series of qualitative information of testimonials, documents, and articles, this study measures participants’ perceived attitudes toward policies that result in incarceration, and how that has led to their involvement in current activism work dedicated to overturning the State’s ideology. Thus, they examine their experiences and understand their relationships to state policy through a set of theories by Antonio Gramsci, Achille Mbembe, and Oliver Cox. This research argues that these theoretical approaches provide a guide FI people are organic intellectuals because they experience a dominant understanding of prison and state policy, which are now engaged with activism work. The study participants have formerly incarcerated Californians targeted by state policies, recruited through social connections. The participants answered a demographic questionnaire measure: (1) Understanding of State (2)Perceived organic intellectual (3) Perceived state-hegemony within incarceration (4) Clarity and awareness led activism work of counter-hegemony (5) And disrupting the continuation of necro-politics. The results of this study can be used to guide future social equality for formerly incarcerated populations of interest in a way to decrease further criminalization.

This research project examines the effects of police training on police shootings of African Americans. The research question is, are state mandated de-escalation and diversity trainings correlated with lower rates of police shootings of African Americans? The variables measured within this project allowed me to test if state mandated de-escalation and/or diversity training affected the rate of police shootings of African Americans. The independent variable is state mandated de-escalation and diversity training. The dependent variable is the rate (the increase or decline) of police shootings of African Americans. The rate consists of the number of fatal force shootings using data collected by the Washington Post for the year 2020. The hypothesis was: states with mandated de-escalation and/or diversity training will have lower rates of police shootings of African Americans than states that do not mandate trainings. I can’t accept the null hypothesis because there was a declining effect observed within both training types in comparison with the rate of police shootings involving African Americans in 2020. However, I also can’t reject the null hypothesis because of the p-value and what is defined as statistically significant. I collected data from all 50 states.The states that had the least amount of fatal force reports also had the police training requirement to use de-escalation methods first.

Over the past decade media outlets have been the main sources for most people to stay informed on local and world-wide news. The manner in which information is presented correlates with public reaction to the events. This paper uses framing theory to analyze how media outlets reported events surrounding the killing of Breonna Taylor on March 13, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. This project examined over 100 headlines taken from CNN, ABC News, MSNBC News, and Fox News.

This project will address: To what extent does qualified immunity hinder the process of holding police accountable for their actions amongst our black community, and how does it, in turn, add to racially motivated policing? Taking into consideration the historical roots in which qualified immunity derived, to what degree is this doctrine maintaining white supremacy at an institutional and systemic level? Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that grants government officials performing discretionary functions immunity from civil suits unless the plaintiff shows that the official violated "clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.". Black Critical Theory (BlackCrit) and an afro-pessimism historical approach will be applied to examine the historical roots of the qualified immunity doctrine. These empirical approaches will be utilized to analyze the frequency with which appellate cases were granted or denied immunity. Furthermore, utilizing qualitative methods of semi-structured interviews and an analysis of public statements, this study will examine the voices of key interest groups like that of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), police unions, and Black Lives Matter (BLM). The expected findings will contribute to the scholarship regarding the movement of abolishing the qualified immunity doctrine.