Red Emma’s

It’s evident that policing is a problem. But what is the best way forward? In BEYOND POLICING, distinguished scholar and writer Philip V. McHarris reimagines the world without police to find answers and reveal how we can make police departments obsolete.

BEYOND POLICING tackles thorny issues with evidence, including data and personal stories, to uncover the weight of policing on people and communities and the patterns that prove police reform only leads to more policing.

From colonization to gentrification, NOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD tells the intergenerational stories of the ways in which ordinary citizens respond to the policies, process, and institutions driving contemporary forms of spatial violence and gentrification in Cape Town, New York, and São Paulo. Winner of the Best Documentary Award at the American Black Film Festival. Official Selection at the Toronto South African Film Festival.

Philip V. McHarris is an assistant professor in the Frederick Douglass Institute and Department of Black Studies at the University of Rochester. McHarris was a presidential postdoctoral research fellow at Princeton University in the Department of African American Studies and the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab. He earned his PhD in sociology and African American studies at Yale University. He was named one of the Root 100s Most Influential African Americans in 2020. McHarris has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and PBS and in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and more.

Kurt Orderson is an internationally award-winning filmmaker and visual artist with over 20 years of experience in the film and television industry and more than 25 films to his name. His films serve as a creative pedagogy, drawing from historical, archival, political, and transnational solidarity traditions. He is the founder of Azania Rizing Productions, a boutique production company dedicated to reconnecting Africa and its Diasporas through a decolonial cinematic lens. His seminal film, “Not in My Neighbourhood,” has won multiple awards and screened at over 50 international festivals. He executive produced “What the Soil Remembers,” which won the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2023, and is producing “Notes from the Underground,” selected for Cannes Doc 2024, and “ApeTown,” selected for both IFFR Cinemart and IFP Gotham Film Market. Additionally, Kurt is a member-owner of New Day Films, which distributes social documentaries in North America and Canada.

Tirzah Sheppard is a Baltimore-based multidisciplinary artist, weaving together storytelling, filmmaking, photography, music, and poetry to amplify Black narratives. With roots in Caribbean and Southern cultures, Tirzah's work explores themes of Black joy, resilience, and liberation. She is currently co-producing 'The Mixing Bowl,' a documentary series spotlighting Baltimore artists, and has directed music videos and short films. Tirzah's dedication to social justice is evident in initiatives such as 'Through Their Eyes,' a Fulbright Alternate proposal employing PhotoVoice to delve into health, housing, and displacement issues in Colón, Panama. Her academic background includes research highlighting the parallels of displacement in Philadelphia, Colón, and Rio de Janeiro during her tenure in Columbia University's Summer Public Health Scholars Program. Her current project, the Black Love Archive, celebrates and preserves modern Black Queer Love through in-depth interviews and photography. Her artistry dreams of a world where Black people are free.