Maine East High School sent out instructions to teachers this past Monday to watch a video advocating defunding police as a Black History Month Activity.
The person sending out the email provided to Illinois Review is the high school's Associate Principal for Human Resources and Instructional Operations Rebecca Stewart.
Stewart links to Trevor Noah's The Daily Show's "What Does it Mean to Defund or Abolish the Police?" caught on June 10, 2020 – during the height of the Defund the Police and Black Lives Matter riots that destroyed businesses throughout the US.
In the discussion hosted by Noah, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors calls for psychiatrists and social workers to be called upon more than police, and provide counseling for those caught up in crime. Cullors criticized the City of Los Angeles' budget priorities – unhappy that 52% of the city's budget went to fund law enforcement.
Homelessness is a prime example of how that money is spent, she said. "Police are at the helm of criminalizing the homeless," she said. "We need mayors to show up and put dollars towards those that are homeless and in need of shelter."
"We mean to abolish the police when we say 'abolish the police,'" another panel member, Mychal Denzel Smith, says in the interview.
Illinois Review reached out to Stewart, and asked if Maine East High School was supporting defunding or abolishing the police.
Stewart has yet to respond to our query.
