George Martin, who will be speaking at the upcoming Pace e Bene Conference, recently gave me some fascinating insights into the Black Lives Matter movement and the struggle for justice. George Martin began organizing for desegregation when he was a fourteen-year-old swim-team member who wasn’t allowed to practice in an all-white pool. When he was sixteen years old, he went to the Great March on Washington and stood within yards of Martin Luther King, Jr. during the delivery of the “I Have a Dream” speech! This has inspired him with foresight and courage throughout his life.  

George Martin works for racial justice, health care, environmental causes, and world peace. He was the national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice during the Iraq War. This effort involved 1400 organizations, and they held protests in Washington, DC with 500,000 participants on several occasions. He has also spent many years working against the Klu Klux Klan and the Nazis. He continues to teach, to write, and to protest by going to marches in his car during this pandemic. He is so proud of the marchers who are getting the message out and are not only refraining from violence, but also actively discouraging others from using violence as well.

The Black Lives Matter movement is experiencing great success because it is decentralized. There are thousands of young leaders around the globe including many people of color of the African diaspora joining in. Activists are working towards changing laws—including putting forth a federal anti-lynching bill—and looking at the connection between police violence and the trauma of war. A high percentage of police are former members of the military. George Martin states, “War makes good men and women bad.” Police chiefs must have systems in place to screen heavily when hiring, to have careful accountability, and to dismiss police officers who do not change.

George has worked with his city, Milwaukee, for seven years to ask for a patterns and practices review by the federal government. This has not yet been realized. George also advocates for reimagining the police department. The job descriptions of police could be slimmed down, and more money could go to mental health, education, and social work. George Martin has found that eighty percent of the coroners in this country have been coerced by superiors to give a wrong autopsy. We need to break down the old system and to build a new system!

Finally, George Martin encourages all of us to turn out in November to vote. Thank you, George, for your decades of work and for this dynamic conversation!