“Say Their Names” Billboard Observance Day
Scheduled for Saturday, April 1 in Columbus, GA.
“Say Their Names” Billboard Observance Day
Scheduled for Saturday, April 1 in Columbus, GA.
(March 27, 2023) – Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB) has launched We Remember, a national awareness campaign lifting up the relentless, ongoing devastation police violence through the voices and experiences of mothers who have lost their children to brutality at the hands of law enforcement.
The 6-month campaign centers on the stories of 10 Mothers who lost their children to police violence and brutality – Mothers who are turning their pain into purpose as members of the inaugural MAPB Fellowship Legacy Program.
Starting in Columbus OH (January) and continuing in San Antonio TX (February) now in Atlanta GA and Columbus GA (March – April), the billboards stay up for 1-3 months. Boards will appear in Houston TX, San Jose CA, and Oakland CA (April – May); and in West Palm Beach FL (May-June). Two additional billboards will appear, April – May, in Atlanta GA and San Leandro CA.
As part of this campaign, fellow Kathy Scott-Lykes, whose son, Jarvis Lykes, was murdered by Georgia State Police in 2017, is holding “Say Their Names” A Billboard Observance Day on April 1, 2023 in Columbus, GA.
“Say Their Names”
Billboard Observance Day
Saturday, April 1, 2023 ● 11 a.m.
3281 Victory Drive ● Columbus GA 31903
Next to Captain D’s ● Gather on the Sidewalk ● Under the Billboard
“They were forever silenced. Speak for them.”
“Does it have to happen to you?” said Kathy Scott-Lykes, mother of Jarvis Lykes, “Does it have to happen to you to matter to you? On Saturday, we are gathering to honor our children, lost to police violence. And we are honoring all those killed by law enforcement agencies in Georgia, and the thousands killed by police throughout the United States.”
“We remember our children every moment of every day,” said Collette Flanagan, who founded MAPB in 2013, after her unarmed son, Clinton Allen, was killed in 2013 by Dallas police. “We will not let this nation forget them. We know the struggles that families like Kathy’s face when they fight the criminal justice system trying to get some actual justice and accountability. We are proud to stand with them. We are strengthening our National Network of Mothers and families impacted by police violence to share their stories and advocate for change,””
The inaugural MAPB fellows and their lost loved ones are:
- Dalphine Robinson (Jabril Robinson): Atlanta, GA
- Deborah Bush (Marquise Jones): San Antonio, TX
- Rosie Chavez (Jacob Dominguez): San Jose, CA
- Sheila Banks (Corey Jones): Del Ray Beach, FL.
- Montye Benjamin (Jayvis Benjamin) : Decatur, GA.
- Anita Wills (Kerry L. Baxter Jr.): Oakland, CA
- Kathy Scott-Lykes (Jarvis Lykes): Columbus, GA
- Jeralynn Blueford (Alan Blueford): Oakland, CA
- Janet Baker (Jordan Baker): Houston, TX.
- Adrienne Hood (Henry Green V): Columbus, OH
Police in the United States have shot to death more than 8,000 people since 2015. “Every day in America, the lives of three people, like my son Henry, are stolen by police,” said Adrienne Hood.
These community leaders, from 10 different U.S. cities, were selected as MAPB Fellows out of more than 150 applicants nationwide. Each of these women has been directly impacted by police violence, and they have emerged as change agents for justice in their home communities.
Last year, the Mothers participated in a week of online dialogues, Voices of Struggle & Hope: Mothers Speak Out on Police Brutality, a series of discussions with policymakers, media, faith leaders and activists to provide the first-person truth about the crisis of fatal police shootings that devastates a thousand families every year in the United States.
The MAPB Fellowship Legacy Program is a leadership development initiative operating in 10 cities. The ten Fellows have a track record of advocating for their martyred children and organizing for change in their hometowns. Through the Fellowship, they are networking with other mothers, learning new skills, and gaining experiences that will help them to become leaders in the broader movement to change policing and, in particular, as part of MAPB’s growing national network of families directly impacted by police violence.
Mothers Against Police Brutality was founded by Collette Flanagan in 2013 after her unarmed son, Clinton Allen was shot to death by Dallas police. Our mission is to prevent police use of deadly force, particularly the killing of Black and other people of color; to change police deadly force policies and practices; to advocate for and with families who have lost loved ones to police violence; and to expand the concept of public safety with new policies limiting encounters between police and the public and making deep social investments in housing, health care, mental health services, employment, education, arts, recreation, and other presently unmet human needs. MAPB protests unjust policing, organizes communities most impacted, conducts research, and advocates for policy change in local, national, and international forums.
For more information or questions, please contact:
Collette Flanagan
John Fullinwider
214-683-2493