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The UC Davis community will come together over the course of the next academic year to examine public safety and policing through the 2022-23 Campus Community Book Project: Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons, and Punishment<\/em> by Zach Norris.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The year of lectures, discussion and other events will culminate in <\/span><\/span>the author speaking at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 16<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNext year\u2019s book project will showcase research, initiatives, and innovations in police and criminal justice reform \u2014 from restorative justice to crisis response to data transparency and accountability \u2014 where we can share dialogue and learn collectively as a community,\u201d said Megan Macklin, who oversees the Campus Community Book Project<\/a> as associate director of Campus Climate and Inclusion Initiatives in the Office of Campus Community Relations. \u201cOur theme and selection embolden us, in the words of Zach Norris, to institute game-changing \u2018imperatives,\u2019 because a strategy of \u2018alternatives\u2019 falls short of reimagining policing and public safety within a comprehensive and inclusive \u2018culture of care.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Publisher Beacon Press describes the goal of the book as moving discussions on public safety toward finding ways to support and build strong communities.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBy bridging the divides and building relationships with one another, we can dedicate ourselves to strategic, smart investments \u2014 meaning resources directed toward our stability and well-being, like healthcare and housing, education and living-wage jobs,\u201d <\/span><\/span>the publisher says on its website<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThis is where real safety begins.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Norris is the former Executive Director of the <\/span><\/span>Ella Baker Center for Human Rights<\/span><\/a> and co-founder of both <\/span><\/span>Restore Oakland<\/span><\/a> and <\/span><\/span>Justice for Families<\/span><\/a>. He is also activist in residence for the <\/span><\/span>Abolition Democracy Fellows Program at UC Berkeley\u2019s Black Studies Collaboratory<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Defund Fear<\/span><\/span><\/em> was chosen to represent the 2022-23 theme of police reform and transformative justice after months of conversations.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The book was originally published in 2020 under the title of We Keep Us Safe: Building Secure, Just, and Inclusive Communities<\/em>. Laci M. Gerhart, an assistant professor of teaching in Evolution and Ecology and a member of the selection committee for the Campus Community Book Project, or CCBP, said the new title sparked a lot of discussion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe word \u2018defund\u2019 can be polarizing, and it is important to the CCBP selection committee that we pick a book that the entire community can engage with regardless of their personal perspectives or background knowledge on the topic,\u201d she said. \u201cNorris\u2019 use of \u2018defund\u2019 does relate to financial investment; however, he pushes the reader to think more broadly about how we invest in what he calls a \u2018fear-based model of safety\u2019 which underpins the policing and prison system we have today.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n She praised the book for offering both personal anecdotes and academic discussion while not being too focused on the past. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI personally wanted to select a book that pushed us to consider what policing could or should look like in the future, a book that inspired us to ask ourselves what we think police and prisons protect us from, and what we really mean when we think of \u2018safety,\u2019\u201d Gerhart said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Macklin said she hopes discussion around the book can focus on the \u201ccentrality of community building in reforming safety and transforming justice,\u201d and encouraged all interested students, faculty, staff and community members to participate in planning events related to the theme.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Anyone interested in joining the program planning committee is asked to sign up online.<\/span><\/a> The group will hold its first meeting virtually at noon on July 5, and will continue to meet by Zoom periodically through mid-September.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This is the 21st selection for the Campus Community Book Project, which began in the aftermath of 9\/11 as a means of promoting conversation around a common subject, sharing and discussing all perspectives respectfully, in accordance with the <\/span><\/span>Principles of Community<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Last year\u2019s book was <\/span><\/span>How to Be an Antiracist\u00a0<\/span><\/em>by Ibram X. Kendi<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/span>A full list of past selections is available online<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Organizers are already looking ahead to the 2023-24 Campus Community Book Project, and this week announced the next theme: ethnonationalism\/global ethnonationalism\/white supremacy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur 2023-24 book project theme will interrogate the rise and perpetuation of ethnocentric ideology and conflict across global and historical lines,\u201d Macklin said. \u201cIn selecting this theme, the <\/span><\/span>UC Davis Campus Council on Community and Diversity<\/span><\/a> also acknowledged the present fatigue and trauma \u2014 especially among our BIPOC community at UC Davis and beyond \u2014 that continue to compound as we confront legacies of hate and violence.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The book project selection committee is currently accepting nominations for the 2023-24 book, with suggestions due by July 29. <\/span><\/span>A full list of criteria is available online<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span><\/span>book suggestions can be sent by email<\/span><\/a>. Anyone interested in helping to choose the next book can <\/span><\/span>sign up to join the book selection committee<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nGET INVOLVED<\/h3>\n<\/section>\n
Deep discussions led to book selection<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
How to get involved<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
2023-24 theme announced<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n