On December 4th, my groupmates and I hosted Ashley Coneys at our school who taught a “Know Your Rights” Workshop. Ashley is the Project Organizer at P.r.o.p, or Police Reform Organizing Project, which is an organization that specializes in creating awareness about the current wasteful, unequal and racially biased, police activity in our city and throughout the country. During adviorsy period, the entire 8th grade met in Mommii’s room and listened to her speak on various topics concerning the “Know Your Rights” workshop. One thing, that I learned was that if I don’t deny a search, I am giving the Officer a green light to search. By saying “I do not consent to a search,” the officer has absolutely no ground to search. I also learned that there is a difference between a search and a frisk. In a search, a police officer is not allowed to move any part of your body nor any article of your clothing. By doing either of those things, they have technically frisked you and escalated the situation. I found this to be a very educational experience for me, and it held a large value for me, morally, because I am a male of color and will unfortunately most likely have a negative experience with law enforcement in the future.

She is speaking about “knowing your rights”