From October 16th through October 24th, the Dignity In Schools Campaign (DSC) members and allies participated in the National Week Of Action. The event is a time for grassroots organizations to raise awareness against school pushout. This year’s theme was Community Not Cops, and it perfectly illustrates the true solution to improve the success […]
Category Archives: Youth
Gwinnett SToPP Calls on Dr. Watts to Fix Student Discipline and Create an Equitable Learning Environment for All Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 18, 2021, Lawrenceville, Ga. – Gwinnett SToPP is thrilled with the departure of James Alvin Wilbanks as Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) superintendent and the opportunity for change. However, this replacement alone does not accomplish the goals of Gwinnett SToPP. Gwinnett SToPP demands tangible changes in our schools to address the […]
WAOK MB Interview with Juandolyn Stokes
Melody Brooks, Policy Manager and Coalition Coordinator for the Gwinnett Parent Coalition to Dismantle the School to Prison Pipeline (Gwinnett SToPP) and Juandolyn Stokes of WAOK discuss the serious issue of discipline disparities Black and Brown Students face in comparison to their White counterparts. Alternative schools, special education, under-funding of public schools and restorative justice […]
7 Demands for A New Vision of Safety for GCPS
Gwinnett SToPP has worked to end overly harsh and ineffective discipline at Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) since our founding in 2008. We won the demand to denote Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) violations in the GCPS Student/Parent Handbook that could result in a referral to a School Resource Officer (SRO) and possible criminal […]
Education System in Crisis Series
On November 9th, Gwinnett SToPP will be presenting our fourth installment to the Education System In Crisis series titled, “Native American Boarding Schools and the COVID Response.” We have been discussing racism in education including: the foundation of the education system, disparities in discipline and opportunities, and Police Free Schools! We educate the public on […]
WoA Kick Cops Out of Schools Virtual Event
Gwinnett SToPP went virtual for our 2020 Dignity In Schools Week of Action! Our ED, Marlyn Tillman joined three of our advocates (Amina, Rama, and Melody) to discuss Police Free Schools in Gwinnett County. We were also joined by civil rights attorney Adam Fernandez, Vice President of Policy and Strategic Engagement at Lawyers for Good […]
Queer Identities in the Classroom
TW: Suicide When we talk about policing in schools, the conversation is usually centered around race, which is an extremely important point to touch on; however, it is important to be intersectional in our approach, as stated before. Living in a heteronormative society, LGBTQ+ kids usually have such a difficult time navigating their identity and […]
Reimagining Safety in a Surveilled Community
A question I continuously revisit is if increased surveillance truly makes a population feel safe. Does the camera on every corner, police car in every lot, and metal detectors in schools actually make community members and students feel safer? I remember being in the 5th grade, and constantly worried about getting caught doing something wrong, […]
First Name, Last Name
I am sick and tired. Actually, I have reached a point where I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. Over the 4th of July weekend, there was an attempted lynching. If you did not know, the last “recorded” lynching, emphasis on recorded, occurred in Mobile, Alabama; Michael Donald, 19 years old, […]
Intersectionality, Intensification, and Introspection
Since the rise of COVID-19, we have seen a national push for responses in areas in which neglect has occurred nationally. COVID-19 in the United States has led to deaths, intensification of trauma, and the widespread recognition of the racial disparities within the United States. Although these disparities are nothing new, it has garnered a […]