The killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed added momentum to a growing movement across the nation calling for police departments to be defunded. In our "LIVE" season 1 finale one of our guests, Ijeoma Oluo, author of the best-selling book, So You Want to Talk About Race, gave an excellent explanation of why she thinks the police department should be defunded. Shortly afterwards, we decided to put together a three-part series with the Seattle Chief of Police Carmen Best, TraeAnna Holiday a community organizer with the King County Equity Now Coalition, and Seattle City Council President Lorena Gonzalez, to hear all sides of this debate. Part Three : On this episode, Seattle City Council President Lorena Gonzalez reacts to the surprising retirement announcement of Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best. Gonzalez also talks about the recent council vote to cut the police department budget, the chief’s opposition to the cuts, and the council’s move to re-imagine policing in Seattle
Listen to Ijeoma Oluo talk about the need to Defund the Seattle Police Department : HERE
0:58 - Episode Introduction
1:45 - Interview with Lorena Gonzalez
29:00 - Series Credits
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Lorena Gonzalez Born and raised in Washington's lower Yakima Valley to a Spanish-speaking migrant farmworker family, Councilmember González earned her first paycheck at the age of 8, alongside her parents and five siblings. She relied on scholarships and worked three jobs to attend community college and later Washington State University.
She moved to Seattle in 2002 to attend Seattle University Law School, where she graduated with honors in 2005. Since moving to Seattle, Councilmember González has lived in Capitol Hill, First Hill, Ballard, South Park and White Center. As one of two at-large (citywide) representatives and the first Latinx elected to serve the Seattle City Council, Councilmember currently lives in the West Seattle Junction neighborhood (District 1) with her husband and their dog, Hugo.
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Produced In Partnership With :
Town Hall Seattle (https://townhallseattle.org/)
The South Seattle Emerald (https://southseattleemerald.com/)
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Executive Producer + Host // Marcus Harrison Green
Executive Producer + Host // Enrique Cerna
Additional Production Support Provided By // Hans Anderson & JEFFSCOTTSHAW
Music Provided By // Draze "The Hood Ain't The Same" // http://www.thedrazeexperience.com/about-draze/