Solidarity With #JT30 From the Former Members of Justice. That’s All

November 19th, 2015

We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with #JT30, the former State Directors of Justice Together, who penned this open letter. We are individuals who collectively are remnants of the organization called Justice. That’s All (JTA). JTA was formed by Shaun King shortly after Mike Brown’s murder in 2014. What began as a Facebook group expanded at King’s direction into an effort that was intended to create a decentralized national organization of grassroots activists with regional teams in every state committed to addressing local issues of systemic racism and police brutality. We can answer one of the open questions in #JT30’s letter: why “JusticeThatsAll.org” appears on Justice Together’s financial statements. King solicited contributions from JTA, which he explained would allow him to file for non-profit status. This was never done, and King unilaterally shut down JTA’s online collaboration team in December 2014.

What is remarkable about #JT30’s letter is that the story is nearly identical to how JTA dissolved. We, too, were a diverse, national coalition that formed out of admiration for King’s work and the desire to dismantle systemic racism. We, too, self-organized while we waited for an absent King to collaborate with us on a framework to work from. We, too, repeatedly asked King to participate in decision making with us, to provide direction, and to help us publicize our work. We, too, had our organization shut down without warning, with the flimsy and patently untrue excuse given that the group had been infiltrated by “trolls.”

In their open letter, #JT30 writes:

In fact, we understand now, more than ever, that to achieve justice we must embody the ideals we demand of others: transparency, accountability, and integrity. We understand that to increase police accountability and improve the criminal justice system in the United States we will face a great deal of scrutiny, particularly when we are in the public eye. We understand that the racist opponents of our movement are powerful, and they are organized against the work we are doing on a daily basis. We understand that the goal of these opponents is to fracture our cause and to maintain America’s existing system of social and economic control steeped in white supremacy.

We wholeheartedly agree with this statement. Many of us chose not to speak publicly about our disappointment with JTA’s dissolution and King’s mishandling of the organization because we know that the forces of white supremacy will attempt to exploit such disagreements to delegitimize the movement for black lives. We only had to witness the abominable, racist, manufactured pseudo-scandal regarding King’s parentage play out in the national news media to know this is true.

However, Shaun King has a history of organizational mismanagement which, left unaddressed, could damage the movement. The damage he has caused not once, but twice in two years now, is to squander the collective time, labor, energy, passion, and relationships created in the organizations he builds and then dismantles. King characterized his organization-building projects as “decentralized” while keeping ultimate decision making power to himself, such as the ability to cut off members’ access to the organization’s online collaborative space, or the choice to withhold information about finances and accounting. He refused to specifically account for where donations went in any verifiable manner. He used JTA’s organizational e-mail list to promote his book and solicit contributions for Justice Together. He dismissed people with legitimate criticism of his behavior as “trolls,” to the point that one member presented him with a cease-and-desist letter demanding an end to character attacks. We believe that King’s lack of transparency and accountability give rise to the appearance of impropriety and threaten to undermine the work we’ve accomplished.

Many of us came to Justice. That’s All as first-time organizers and activists because King has been so well-regarded within the movement. We were looking for a way to channel our energy into productive work, and Shaun King promised an organization from which to do so. However, we’ve come away from the experience having learned that we must create new national collaborations against racism built on personal relationships, principled organization, and shared values, not just charismatic public leaders. We believe it’s better to address unethical behavior within the movement proactively and prevent more wasted energy.

We applaud King’s writing and activism, which have been a force for change and have amplified the message that black lives matter. However, given the power imbalance between those like King with a national media platform versus those of us who work quietly in the background, we must clearly and forthrightly call influential leaders to account when that power imbalance is used to elevate an individual voice at the expense of the larger movement.

Co-signed in solidarity,

• Aaron Laramore
• DeMilo Young
• Ebony Washington
• Ivy Whisper
• Jacob Hospodar
• Jamela Carrell
• Johanna Pino
• Kimberly J Snyder
• Marcia Hart
• Monica Ringel
• Rachel McShane
• Reina Everett
• Sara Brink

Contact: jtaformermembers@gmail.com

Should any other former members of Justice. That’s All like to co-sign this letter, please contact us.