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Black Lives Matter Movement Marches to Councilman Josh Mandelbaum’s Home with List of Demands
DES MOINES, Iowa — A day after the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington, the Des Moines Black Lives Matter movement held a march to fight to end systemic racism in Iowa.
The group started at the OfficeMax on Ingersoll Avenue and made their way to Councilman Josh Mandelbaum’s home in Des Moines. Organizers said he was the most fitting council member to share their new list of demands with.
“The council member claims to be or is said to be the most progressive member of the city council,” said organizer Matthew Bruce. “So we decided that if that is the most progressive member, to see and test the waters where the city council is at as far as racial progress goes and their willingness to work on racial progress.”
Black Lives Matter’s list of demands for the city council include:
- Defunding the Des Moines Police Department
- Putting another eviction moratorium in place
- Decriminalizing marijuana
- Creating a civilian review board to investigate the actions of DMPD officers
Mandelbaum said he does not believe defunding the police department is the answer to end police brutality in Des Moines. However, he did agree to work with Black Lives Matter activists to push forward other solutions, such as making social workers first responders.
Organizers said they were disappointed but were not surprised by the councilman’s response.
“We weren’t happy, no. We weren’t surprised either or necessarily shocked. But we understand there’s a lot of work to be done with the city council and Mandelbaum reflects that. If he’s the most progressive member of the city council, then we have a real problem,” Bruce said.
