Collette Flanagan – Supports mothers seeking justice
Collette Flanagan founded Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB) after her son, Clinton Allen, was shot to death by a Dallas police officer in March 2013. She continuous to search for truth and justice for herself and other mothers – who have faced similar experiences.
Dallas Police Killed My Unarmed Son. Their Brutality is a Global Problem.
My only son was murdered by a Dallas police officer. It’s time we demand an end to the routine killing of Black people by the police in America.
Transcript: Collette Flanagan, Founder founded Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB) in 2013 after her only son Clinton Allen was extra-judicially murdered by a Dallas police officer. Clinton was unarmed. He was just 25-years-old. The officer shot her son seven times, once at close range in the back. Clinton’s death at the hands of police is far from uncommon. Rather, it is something almost commonplace in communities of color, and the public outcry against police violence makes it clear that the nation is waking up to that tragic reality more and more.
Each year, thousands of people are killed by U.S. law enforcement. For the most part, no one says their names except for their own family and friends. Every so often a handful of these thousands who have been murdered are cherry-picked as being worthy of attention for a variety of reasons: the killing was caught on compelling video; it’s particularly vicious; or because the victim is especially sympathetic.
The reality is that all people killed by law enforcement should have their names heard, and their stories told. Outside of the handful of cases that the public is aware of, the consistent loss of life at the hands of police is almost invisible. The lack of extensive media coverage of all police killings spreads the illusion worldwide that police brutality in the U.S. is an anomaly. We know that instead, it is the rule, and a source of fear, death, and anguish for communities of color in general and Black people in particular.
In America every law enforcement agency can claim its own standard for when they can kill a person as long as the officer says that he felt that “his life was in danger.” Unarmed suspect, shot in the back, driving away, running away? “Fearing for his life, the officer fired seven shots, killing the suspect.” No charges, no indictment, no trial, no conviction. It could only be more unbelievable if it weren’t true, but this is the reality of police brutality in the U.S.
The United Nations Human Rights Council recently adopted by consensus a watered-down resolution calling on the high commissioner to prepare a report on systemic racism and violations of international human rights law against Black people, to contribute to accountability and redress for victims. The report should be the first step in a series of meaningful international accountability measures to fully and independently investigate police killings in the U.S., and to provide effective remedy and compensation to victims and their families.
Superb Woman: Collette Flanagan
by The Garland Journal
October 9. 2022
The Founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB), Collette Flanagan is a former IBM executive. In November 2014, she led a delegation of Mothers to Washington, DC, where MAPB held the first congressional briefing to demand a national response to police violence and to press for federal reforms to end abusive, militarized, and biased policing, particularly of African-American and Latino communities. A popular speaker, she is the recipient of two Fellowships: Echoing Green and Black Male Achievement. Collette testified before the United Nations Human Rights Council, discussing “racial justice and equality in law enforcement.”
Mothers Against Police Brutality Founder Shares Powerful Message
By Alanna Quillen • Published June 19, 2020 • Updated on November 9, 2020 at 9:42 am
George Floyd’s death is sparking uncomfortable but necessary conversations about police violence.
But he’s not the first victim. And a Dallas-based group wants to remind us of that.
Collette Flanagan, founder and executive director of Mothers Against Police Brutality spoke on camera for the first time in a year. She sat down with NBC 5’s Alanna Quillen to share the tragically unique pain of losing a loved one to police violence.
“You’ve been robbed. Your child is gone. Your family is broken.,” she describes. “It destroys families. Mothers can’t heal. And then you can never get closure. And you are told that you just have to go on.”
In 2013, her 25-year old son Clinton Allen was shot seven times and killed by a Dallas police officer.
Allen was unarmed.
“When your child is murdered by the person that was supposed to protect them, that is an extra layer of grief and anger that becomes part of your grieving process. And then another layer gets added to that when you can’t get answers. And you can’t hold a cop accountable,” she said.