UConn professor William Jelani Cobb delivers the keynote address at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration on January 20, 2014. The mayor created “community street teams” of activists to address citizen complaints and introduced weekly community roundtables. Their conversations became part of the 2016 FRONTLINE film Policing the Police, set in Newark. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation, the Park Foundation and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. Jelani Cobb is an award-winning writer for The New Yorker on issues of race, history, justice and politics. AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Jelani Cobb narrating this really important documentary on Whose Vote Counts. On Sept. 15, in a documentary called “Policing the Police 2020,” FRONTLINE and New Yorker staff writer Jelani Cobb examine the realities of race and policing in America. “I think defunding’s necessary, right? FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. … People keep talking about ‘defund and abolish.’ It has not developed into, ‘What are we going to do with the money; how is this going to roll out?’”. Black Lives Matter protests were sweeping the country after the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The correspondent is Jelani Cobb. Tues., Sept. 15, 2020 The Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism at Columbia University, Cobb was previously an associate professor of history and director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, from 2012 to 2016. After Floyd’s death, crowds marched to a police precinct in Newark, but they did so with the mayor’s blessing. Support for Policing the Police 2020 is provided by The WNET Group’s Chasing the Dream initiative on poverty and opportunity in America, with funding by The JPB Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Now, Policing the Police 2020 traces how the reform effort has played out in Newark — where prior to federal intervention, approximately 75 percent of stops by officers were found to have no documented legal justification — and how President Trump’s Department of Justice has largely abandoned federal efforts to compel systemic change in police departments. “There’s a police car for each of us,” Cobb remembered. The co-producer is Megan Robertson. Jelani Cobb to be Featured in Upcoming Spielberg-produced Documentary Series for Discovery. We recently reconnected with Jelani Cobb and Trey Ellis.Cobb is the Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism and a staff writer at the New Yorker.Ellis is a Professor of Film and Co-Executive Producer/Interviewer for the Emmy-award-winning HBO documentary feature, King in the Wilderness, which “chronicles the final chapters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, revealing … Visit pbs.org/frontline and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to learn more. We want a positive interaction with the community. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath. The Justice Department found that about 75% of police stops in Newark at the time had no legal justification. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. And, every institution in America has the same values that the police department has in America. “The police department systemically has been used as a weapon against working people and poor people in this country,” he told Cobb in 2015. And then we can have better relationships with them, because we’re not putting all of this pressure on our cops to do things.”. 'The Healthcare Divide,' a new documentary from FRONTLINE and NPR, explores the growing inequities in American healthcare exposed by COVID-19. Over the last three decades, each has followed an independent path, pursuing questions about racism, policing and justice. It aims to provide a deeper understanding of both economic and structural inequality, what has happened to the age-old dream of striving for a better life, and what is working to bring people out of poverty. www.facebook.com/frontline | Twitter: @frontlinepbs William Jelani Cobb (born August 21, 1969) is an American writer, author and educator. Cobb, a historian by training, has written extensively about politics, race and culture, and he recently helped produce a pair of frontline documentaries, one on police reform, the other on voter suppression. traces how the reform effort has played out in Newark. Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes is a 2006 documentary film written, produced, and directed by Byron Hurt.The documentary explores the issues of masculinity, violence, homophobia and sexism in hip hop music and culture, through interviews with artists, academics and fans. Today, Ras Baraka is the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. The streak was soon broken, when police killed a suspect on New Year’s Day, but it seemed a sign of short-term gains. Web Site Copyright ©1995-2021 WGBH Educational Foundation. That would be unique, but election-related violence wouldn't as The New Yorker writer and Columbia University Journalism School professor Jelani Cobb points out in The New Yorker. He writes frequently about race, … See What FRONTLINE Is Working On Now. The odds are different in Black America — of dying of COVID. Jelani Cobb is a writer and producer, known for Frontline (1983), A.M. Joy (2016) and Toure Show (2017). Against the backdrop of a pandemic that is disproportionately killing Black people, the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police sparked a renewed push for racial justice and calls for change. The police just got guns.”. In this scene, … We’ll be back with him in 30 seconds. Jelani Cobb is a writer and producer, known for A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks (2021), Frontline (1983) and Luke Cage (2016). There’s protests or rallies all the time, anti-police this, anti-police that. The crisis of institutional racism was in plain sight; how to fix it was less clear. “I think it’s necessary to begin to divert funding from police organizations to other kind of opportunity in a community: social services, other kind of things like that. By 2020, some of the efforts had produced success; others had been frustrated. Cobb has the perspective of a historian, and through that lens, he finds that policing is just one of many longstanding systems in America — from education, to housing, to health care — that need to change if the goal is racial equity. Press Contact: frontlinemedia@wgbh.org, 617.300.531. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. … That idea about policing, it was formative, and it was an example of exactly what we had been thinking about as activists.”, “I remember I didn’t go back outside either,” said Baraka. The protests were peaceful. Jelani Cobb talked about his new PBS Frontline documentary, Policing the Police 2020. FRONTLINE, U.S. television’s longest running investigative documentary series, explores the issues of our times through powerful storytelling. Jelani is prominently featured in Ava Duvernay’s “13th,” her Oscar-nominated documentary about the current mass incarceration of Black Americans, which … Even before he was elected mayor, Baraka’s life was intertwined with the history he would confront in office. You are fully responsible for your comments. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. We will take steps to block users who repeatedly violate our commenting rules, terms of use, or privacy policies. But, you know, everybody’s piling on, everybody’s against you. “The police aren’t going out there just looking for violent encounters or looking to, you know, physically impose their will on people,” Stewart tells Cobb. I’ve been arrested, stopped by police. In order to be effective, informants must be shrouded in secrecy. Entries that are unsigned or are "signed" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. As voters in the United States choose their next president, we spend the rest of the hour with journalist and professor Jelani Cobb. Rich in personal history, the interviews explore legacies of racism, violence and citizen’s distrust of police, seeking to answer the question: Will things ever get better? In 30 seconds, we’ll be joined by Jelani Cobb, the documentary’s producer [sic]. In the summer of 2020, Cobb returned to Newark. Latest Documentary American Voices: A Nation in Turmoil. Newark’s head of public safety, Anthony Ambrose, says the federal reform process has brought about positive change, enabling the department to get its officers new and needed training: “If that’s what it takes to get it done, then I’m for it.”. FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. A demonstrator raises his arms towards a convoy of police vehicles during a protest in Oakland, California in May 2020 after the death of George Floyd. Peter Harvey cautions that the national push involving defunding police should be weighed against the fact that reforming them costs money, too. With Sarah Childress, Jelani Cobb, Will Lyman. In many cities across America this summer, police met both protesters and members of the media with force. Read and watch the extended 2015 and 2020 conversations between Ras Baraka and Jelani Cobb and stream Policing the Police 2020 and Policing the Police. “Our new documentary asks the core question: Can policing be done differently — and is there the will to make the change?”. Jelani Cobb, a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine is the journalist behind a recent "Frontline" documentary "Policing The Police." “If you’re not going to give police agencies adequate resources for the components that matter — bias-free policing training, community engagement, use-of-force training… then you are asking for trouble.”. Take us to the present, Jelani, if you … Watch and read Baraka and Cobb’s extended 2020 conversation. Directed by James Jacoby. FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the growing inequities in American healthcare exposed by COVID-19. Five FRONTLINE documentaries have been named 2021 George Foster Peabody Award finalists. A group of students, all Black men, went on a hike. Jelani Cobb is prominently featured in Ava Duvernay’s 13 th, her Oscar-nominated documentary about the current mass incarceration of black Americans, which traces the subject to its historical origins in the Thirteenth Amendment. Jelani is the author of The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress. “And so that’s a recipe for what we see today. Jelani Cobb on His New PBS Documentary, Policing the Police 2020. As students at Howard University in 1991, Jelani Cobb and Ras Baraka attended an activists’ retreat one weekend in rural Cortland, New York. Entries that are unsigned or are "signed" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. It will be available to watch in full at pbs.org/frontline and in the PBS Video App starting that night at 7/6c. In 2015, not long after Baraka took office in 2014, the city launched reforms mandated by the U.S. Department of Justice in response to a long record of police abuses and civil rights violations. Jelani Cobb is prominently featured in Ava Duvernay’s 13th, her Oscar-nominated documentary about the current mass incarceration of black Americans, which traces the subject to its historical origins in the Thirteenth Amendment. Find hundreds more documentaries in FRONTLINE’s online collection of films, on YouTube and in the PBS Video App. Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. Those wide-ranging conversations, five years apart, are being published for the first time by FRONTLINE in extended videos and transcripts. In his recently released documentary “Policing the Police 2020,” FRONTLINE correspondent and New Yorker staff writer, Jelani Cobb examines the enormous complexities and realities of race and policing in America. Baraka could claim some success. (Stephen Lam/REUTERS), Policing the Police 2020 In "Policing the Police 2020," Jelani Cobb returns to Newark to see how policing has changed since our documentary four years ago. For example, I think defunding is necessary, right?” he said. Web Site Copyright ©1995-2021 WGBH Educational Foundation. Against the backdrop of a pandemic that is disproportionately killing Black people, the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of the police this year sparked a push for racial justice and calls for change. Jelani Cobb is prominently featured in Ava Duvernay’s 13 th, her Oscar-nominated documentary about the current mass incarceration of black Americans, which traces the subject to its historical origins in the Thirteenth Amendment. Because if we making the neighborhood safe, then maybe we only need five and we need to deploy them strategically. “Our perspective is at a different level than other people’s perspectives. “We’re in a mostly white town in upstate New York. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. Policing the Police premieres Tues., Sept. 15. AMY GOODMAN: Well, we are going to do Part 2 of our interview at democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. As mayor, reforming the police department was high on his agenda. The producers and writers are James Jacoby, Jelani Cobb and Anya Bourg. “I think you have to invest in certain components of police agencies if you want high quality policing,” Harvey tells FRONTLINE. Jelani Cobb Discusses his New PBS Documentary "Policing the Police 2020" Program ID: 475751-4 Category: Call-In Format: Call-In Location: C-SPAN Studio, Washington, District of … Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by the Ford Foundation. See more awards » Of being abused — or even killed — by the police,” says Cobb, a historian at Columbia Journalism School who has written about issues of race and policing for The New Yorker for years. https://www.pbs.org/.../policing-the-police-2020-jelani-cobb-documentary The senior producer is Frank Koughan. Jelani Cobb is a historian and a writer for The New Yorker. The film explores that question through the story of Newark, New Jersey, which has been undergoing an experiment in police reform for several years. “The police represent a larger system … they’re enforcing these people’s values, right?” Baraka says. Jelani Cobb, Writer: Frontline. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Jelani Cobb, Writer: Frontline. Last year’s follow-up, Policing the Police 2020, traces how the reform effort has played out in Newark. William Jelani Cobb: a mild-mannered professor who ingested radioactive watermelon … He is the son of Amiri Baraka, a poet, author and leader of the Black Power movement. Both of Cobb's parents had migrated from the South, where they did not have access to high-quality schools. While reporting with the police department’s Gang Enforcement Unit, Cobb witnessed angry confrontations between officers and residents. Find the perfect Jelani Cobb stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. And what we try to do is go face-to-face, the police and the community, come face-to-face with those kind of realities.”. Of being poor. Ambrose also praises the work of the Newark Community Street Team, an alternative violence reduction program that enlists former gang members to defuse conflicts and work as mentors. That relationship has to be fundamentally changed.”. James Stewart, head of Newark’s largest police union, says that external scrutiny of officers’ use of force is unwarranted. In the new Frontline documentary “Policing the Police 2020,” historian and journalist Jelani Cobb returns as a correspondent, taking viewers inside a U.S. police department. Writer and historian Jelani Cobb examines allegations of police abuses and the challenge of fixing a … “And then we run into each other, and that trauma crashes, and then we have a huge explosion. 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