Left and right converge on criminal justice reform

(NNPA)—While social change for some may appear to be inevitable, it does not happen by osmosis, and it does not occur without a focused effort led by those who are not restrained by the fears of social transformation. An effective reform of the system of laws, courts, policies and institutions defined as the criminal justice system in the United States of America requires more than a principled public debate.
What is needed today with a renewed sense of urgency, beyond the all-too-frequent expressions of justifiable outrage and protest in response to videotaped incidents of police brutality, is a committed, bipartisan, well-resourced nationwide criminal justice reform movement. Black lives do matter. In fact, all lives matter.
As President and CEO of the NNPA, the nation’s oldest and largest trade association of African American-owned newspapers, we reach more than 20 million readers per week through 205 affiliated local and regional print and digital media companies.