The ultra left-wing ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s unveiled a new flavor, “Change Is Brewing,” in support of Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-MO) Black Lives Matter-approved policing and public safety act on Monday, contending it is time to “divest from systems that criminalize Black communities & invest in a vision of public safety that allows everyone to breathe free.”
The Vermont-based company made the announcement Monday, deeming the flavor as one “helping to transform the nation’s approach to public safety to one that prioritizes community needs, in collaboration w/ @Mvmnt4BlkLives.”
“Change is Brewing! Grab your spoon & dig into a flavor boldly celebrating safety & liberation for all. It’s time to divest from systems that criminalize Black communities & invest in a vision of public safety that allows everyone to breathe free,” the company said in the announcement, urging people to learn more about the “visionary” plan on its website:
“Together with a criminal legal system that criminalizes poverty and Black and Brown people, policing is tearing communities and families apart,” the company wrote in a blog post Monday, touting the new approach, which it claims is rooted in “respect, dignity, and caring.”
The far-left “Squad” member’s plan specifically aims to replace officers with “community-led first responders,” creating a Division on Community Safety within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which her office claims would “fund and coordinate research, technical assistance, and grant programs related to non-carceral, health-centered investments in public safety.”
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks at the National Council for Incarcerated Women and Girls “100 Women for 100 Women” rally at Black Lives Matter Plaza on March 12, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
It devotes research to what Bush deems “alternative approaches to public safety,” placing an emphasis on a “center health-based and non-carceral responses throughout the federal government.”
Bush’s act also devotes billions in grant funding. This includes $2.5 billion for a “First Responder Hiring Grant to create thousands of jobs and provide funding to state, local, and tribal government, as well as community organizations.” The purpose will be “to hire emergency first responders such as licensed social workers, mental health counselors, substance use counselors, and peer support specialists, in an effort to improve crisis response and increase non-carceral, health-based approaches to public safety.”
The approach very much lines up with the Defund the Police movement, which largely aims to replace police officers with social workers. Bush’s proposal comes as no surprise, for she has specifically said she aims to “defund our police departments” as crime soars across the nation.
People walk down 16th street after “Defund The Police” was painted on the street near the White House on June 08, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“Police officers—militarized, armed, primed for conflict—are not trained behavioral, medical, or mental health experts. We know what results when they respond to health crises: too often, it’s violence and death,” Ben & Jerry’s continues on its website.
“The People’s Response Act [PRA] will send unarmed, licensed professionals, not police, to help people experiencing a health-related crisis. Eugene, Oregon, has been running a successful program for decades that does just that, and other cities around the country are beginning to follow suit,” the company adds, concluding the PRA “will save lives.”
According to the Hill, “Ben & Jerry’s said some of the ingredients in the cold treat, including the coffee and brownies, are provided by Black-owned businesses.” Additionally, some of the proceeds will be given to “grassroots groups working to transform public safety in America.”
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