Democracy Wire

The pandemic demonstrated how necessary broadband is for our jobs, our schooling, our health, our civic dialogue, even our practice of religions. To see the Biden Administration and many in Congress making broadband a national priority is truly encouraging. Tens of millions of households are waiting for their tickets to a better future.

In the wake of this conviction, so much more must still be done to bring about equal justice for Black Americans. Unchecked police brutality continues to claim the lives of far too many Black and Brown people and it must be ended.

Policing too often reflects a double standard, and people of color continue to die at the hands of law enforcement officers in absolutely unacceptable numbers. The tragic pattern must end now.

It is vital that Congress start by enacting long-overdue reforms by passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Common-sense reforms can begin to bring about substantive changes and stem the tide of police racism and brutality in our nation.

I am encouraged by the decision in the Chauvin case but I am in no way relieved. The criminal justice system has a history of failure in similar cases. This one conviction does not absolve a system that has disappointed the families of Michael Brown, Antwon Rose, Breonna Taylor, Walter Scott and so many others.