A local Black Lives Matter group in Wichita, Kansas planned to conduct a protest this past Sunday. When the organizers met with the local authorities to discuss, the group changed their mind and decided to have a community cookout in conjunction with the police department.
In the wake of the terrible incidents occurring all across our nation the two groups in Kansas decided, open dialogue was the best way to go about enacting the necessary change in police/community relations. The new event, hailed as the “First Steps BBQ,” was an important gesture on both sides. According to the USA Today, Wichita Chief of Police Gordon Ramsay said:
It takes two parties to make a healthy relationship.
Members of the Wichita police department played basketball with the kids at the event, served food and danced. The event also had a serious tone as Chief Ramsay engaged in a Q+A session with the attendees. Immediately following the session the chief offered to continue the conversation with community leaders. He also implored his peers across the country to follow his lead.
I do want to challenge other police departments and communities to do the same things with first steps community cookout.
This is all well and good and I applaud the BLM movement leaders in Wichita as as well as Chief Ramsay and his staff on this important step. But, that’s all this was, a first step. Important, yes. But not enough. It’s easy to say and do the right things when everyone is eating, dancing, playing and laughing. What happens next week, next month, next year? If this is indeed a first step, the improvement in relations will show with the subsequent actions on both sides. There needs to be a comprehensive plan where both sides come to the table and agree upon the measures by which the police and community will interact.