Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson shares her perspective amid national unrest over police brutality and racial inequality. Indianapolis Star

Editor's note:IndyStar, part of the USA Today Network, now capitalizes Black in stories and photo captions.

We do not capitalize white or brown because they do not describe a shared racial identity or culture. We already capitalize other ethnic terms, such as Asian, South Asian or Latino/a, as they are proper nouns. White is a physical description of people of European descent from a multitude of cultures.

America is at a crossroad.

The direction our local, state and federal leaders take over the next weeks and months will set a path for the future of a nation growing increasingly diverse, yet still burdened by the vestiges of centuries of racism and discrimination.

This is a moment of outrage and opportunity unlike anything on American soil since the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. Spurred by protests over a wave of African Americans killed by police and the broader implications of systemic racism leaders across the U.S. are being forced to listen and take action.

In Central Indiana, protesters have taken to the streets of downtown Indianapolis for more than a dozen days, as activism has spilled over into nearby predominantly white cities such as Avon, Carmel, Fishers and Greenwood. Thousands of people attended one Indianapolis protest, the city's largest against racial inequality and police brutality in at least 30 years.

Hackney:Join IndyStar for a virtual town hall on race relations at 2 p.m. Thursday

Some change is happening.

Indianapolis just adopted a resolution designating racism a public health crisis, and officials are reviewing the oversight of police and finally moving toward widespread use of body cameras.

Those steps are critical, but many advocates for reform say don't go far enough.

The tougher questions and the answers that determine where America goes from this crossroad need to address the deep-seated issues that foster racism and inequity.

There are no easy or one-size-fits-all answers. The potential solutions are as varied and complicated as the underlying issues. But the protests have made it impossible to continue ignoring the problems. They also have created a unique opportunity to openly discuss where we fall short and, more importantly, to enact meaningful solutions.

As Indianapolis and the rest of America looks for a path forward, IndyStar reached out to a diverse cross-section of the community for their ideas and recommendations. We asked everyone the same question: How do we capitalize on this moment to make Indianapolis a better place for all of its residents, and what does that new vision entail?

Here, in their own words, are ideas and suggestions from some Hoosiers with skin in the game:

Executive Director, Indiana Federal Community Defenders, LLC

Monica Foster, executive director of Indiana Federal Community Defenders, poses for a portrait at her office in Indianapolis on Monday.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

We should end prosecution by zip code. Currently in Indianapolis, the federal government, through the United States Attorneys Office, is implementing a program shrewdly called Project Safe Neighborhoods that targets certain zip codes in predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods on Indianapolis eastside. The program focuses increased law enforcement and prosecution on these communities in a vainglorious attempt to reduce violent crime. Cases that previously were handled in state court are now prosecuted in federal court because of the higher sentences available there. The federal government shows no mercy.

The numbers tell the story. The United States Sentencing Commission reports that in 2019, 67.24% of firearms cases prosecuted by the federal government in the Southern District of Indiana (roughly the southern half of Indiana) were against our Black and brown citizens (78 of the 116 total prosecutions). Similarly, of the federal drug prosecutions in 2019, 72.73% were against persons of color (104 of the 143 total prosecutions).

Persons of color constitute roughly 10% of the population of the Southern District of Indiana. In a justice system that is supposed to be colorblind, these prosecutions are not tolerable.

Monica Foster, executive director of Indiana Federal Community Defenders, shares her perspective amid national unrest over racial injustice. Indianapolis Star

The program is a replay of the failed war on drugs that targeted Black and brown communities and resulted in repeated congressional attempts to rectify the sins of those programs. The failed war on drugs destroyed Black and brown families by sending generations of Black men to prison to serve severe sentences often 100 times as long as those imposed on white folks charged with similar offenses. It has been called the new Jim Crow because of these pernicious effects. The current Neighborhoods program results in racially disparate prosecutions every bit as insidious as those we now condemn. It is time to take the federal boot off the necks of our brothers and sisters of color.

If the $20 million dollars spent on the Neighborhoods program ere pumped into our failing public school system, giving the kids in those neighborhoods a fighting chance at jobs other than drug dealing, perhaps all our neighborhoods would be safe enough not to require the carrying of firearms.

Cumberland United Methodist Church

The Rev. Ronnie Bell(Photo: Submitted)

Im Black and my church is mostly white. Im fairly young (31), and most of them are senior citizens. I love them and they love their pastor. These recent times have revealed the difference in our history and our social locations.

Cumberland UMC, on Muessing Street sits on the eastern edge of the city of Indianapolis. My church was founded in 1851, which is a time where in many parts of the country, an African-American like me could be considered someones legal property. 169 years later, American society has progressed, but as we have seen this past month, clearly not enough.

COVID19 changed our local churchs calendar significantly, but it also changed the calendar of the entire global denomination to which I belong. George Floyd was killed on May 25. In a non-COVID19 world, I would have been just returning to Indianapolis after a 10-day gathering of United Methodists (May 5 - 15) known as General Conference, where we would have been attempting to find a way forward on the issue of LGBTQ inclusion and the UMCs position on human sexuality. I was prepared to lead my congregation through difficult conversations this summer in the aftermath of the conference. Difficult conversations continue; the subject is a little different.

Maybe the fact that I would have been in Minneapolis in May makes Floyds tragic death hit a little harder for me. I have taken the video of his violent death down from my social media page, because its traumatic for others, and Im realizing, traumatic for me.

For many law enforcement officers, a large Black man like me is a threat. Unfortunately societys respectable titles like ordained pastor, UM General Conference delegate or college-educated do not change that. Nothing that Ive done or achieved stops my heart rate from going up when I see a patrol car when Im doing nothing at all to break the law. Sharing small pieces or vulnerabilities of my racial experience with my congregation has helped to awaken the social consciousness and need for anti-racism. Its a long road ahead.

And in this long road, it is easy to question areas we havent questioned before. Part of my reputation is being friendly and having a nice smile. Lately, however, Ive noticed due to wearing a facemask to keep myself and others safe, when Im taking walks in my neighborhood my neighbors act differently when they cant see a smiling face. Is a smile a safety adaptation for a Black man in America? Does a smile and chuckle keep my white neighbors from calling the police on me?

These words are hard to write, but theyre even harder to live. As people of faith, I believe, we are called to bear each others burdens, even the ones that are difficult to put into words.

We cannot legislate our way out of racial prejudice, but it doesnt mean we should stop working for better laws. On top of laws, quite simply we need an accompanying shift of the heart in white people to see and fight for the sacred worth of Black people.

Body-cameras, like the ones that IMPD will soon implement and disciplinary action taken against police brutality are helpful measures. Things wont change for the better until people care more about loving the image of God in their oppressed, villainized, bloodied, bruised, suffocated and violated Black neighbors morethan they care about gathering for worship in a building. I pray for a day when churches realize that a protest is an act of worship. Demanding justice for Dreasjon Reed and Breonna Taylor is an act of worship.

For white friends and allies, I have no other words, but just keep praying, donating to organizations working for structural change and keep calling out racism and violence when you see it, listening to the stories of those who are oppressed and sharing them, using your platform and privilege to amplify voices that are often silenced. Also, there is clearly an intense anti-racist energy right now that will likely soon dissipate. Keep this fighting going even when it is no longer trendy.

And if youre Black, weve known this reality for all of our lives. Thank God that society is stepping up and no longer denying the realities that we live daily. Dont always feel like you need to try to make meaning of this or try to interpret some deeper truth or make some immediate plan to work to make things better. For now, our pain, our grief and lived experience of Blackness is enough. And we so are beautiful the way God made us.

Executive Director, 100blackmenindy.org

From right, Ontay Johnson, executive director of 100 Black Men of Indianapolis, and James Duke, president, along with fellow members and volunteers, hold a high five rally to surprise students as they enter for the first day back to school at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis on July 31, 2017.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

Have you ever heard the term Canary in a coal mine? In the early days of coal mining, mines did not offer ventilation systems. Miners would bring a caged canary and release it into the atmosphere of the mine. Canaries are especially sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide which made them perfect for detecting toxins in the environment. As long as the bird kept singing, the miners knew their air supply was safe. A dead canary signaled toxins in the environment.

Like the canary in the coal mine, African American Males are singing to our nation and world for that matter. What is unfortunate is the songs that my brothers are singing in most cases are not songs of celebration but songs of despair, heartache, and pain.

The title of these ballads we hear on the radio, watch on television, and read in the newspaper daily Mass Incarceration, Unemployment Rates, Education Disparities to name a few. Unlike a song of inspiration and motivation which uplifts and creates wonderful emotions; these ballads invoke hostility and a sense of hopelessness. We must listen to these songs and take action; the Canary realizes that if the mine is filled with toxins no one is safe.one side of the mine cant flourish and the other side is barren. So it is with African American Males, we cant live barren lives and everyone else flourishes. We as African American Males are still singing, we are not extinct! We will not quit, we are resilient, we will stay the course, we will prevail!!!

Attorney

Attorney Jorge Rodriguez poses for a portrait at his law office in Indianapolis on Monday.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

I'm not Black so I can't fully understand the Black experience in America. But I am an ethnic minority and as such have experienced discrimination over the years both as a youngster and even now as an attorney. I know some people in Indiana do not call or hire me simply because I have a Spanish name Jorge Rodriguez despite my many years of experience and accomplishments as a defense attorney.

Indianapolis Attorney Jorge Rodriguez shares his perspective amid national unrest over police brutality and racial inequality. Indianapolis Star

Ive been an attorney for almost 30 years both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney in the criminal justice system. Almost half of those years were spent here in the juvenile courts of Indianapolis. Ive seen good cops most of them and Ive seen bad cops very few of them. And Ive seen a level of professionalism in law enforcement beyond the Marion County line that commands respect. Why? Our supervisors wont stand for anything less, a deputy sheriff in a neighboring county once told me. The code of silence among police officers that allows bad cops to remain and go undetected must end. It cant wait for the next George Floyd to die. It must be rooted out from within. Abuse of police powers must be ferreted out, exposed whether due to discrimination because of race or ethnicity or against the powerless anywhere. Such persons cannot be allowed by the government to wield police powers. The way we defund the police is one by one. We get rid of the bad ones one by one.

Senior Pastor Purpose of Life Ministries, Baptist Ministers Alliance, National Action Network of Indiana and the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis

The Rev. David Greene Sr., senior pastor at Purpose of Life Ministries, poses for a portrait at the church in Indianapolis on Tuesday.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

The City of Indianapolis can capitalize on this moment to make Indianapolis a better place for all of its residents by addressing the health deserts, education deserts, food deserts, public safety deserts, and economic deserts across the zip codes that continue to be a part of the most negative categories in the state and in the country. There must be intentional actions that generate true changes and not continue to have conversations that lead to no substantive changes in the community.

It will take positive concrete actions that will generate a hope and trust that will span multiple areas in the minority community. There is a lot of disbelief and distrust because there has been so little action with a lot of dialog that appears to have been worthless.

Concrete actions would include items such as development of economic empowerment zones in our poorest areas; mandatory commitment to African Americans for access to city contracts that the mayor and city pass out; provide all children in poor neighborhoods with technology and mentors; development of the Black Agenda for Indianapolis.

The concrete actions that are taken need to be communicated with the community on an annual basis. Currently, there is no report that provides the State of Black Indianapolis. The issues need to stay in front of the community, so things do not get lost!

Rev. David Greene Sr., senior pastor at Purpose of Life Ministries, shares his perspective amid unrest over police brutality and racial inequality. Indianapolis Star

Executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana

Jane Henegar, executive director at the ACLU of Indiana.(Photo: Provided by ACLU of Indiana)

Indianapolis must reimagine the role police play in our city and that role has to be smaller, more circumscribed, and funded with fewer tax-payer dollars.

Year after year, our law enforcement budgets grow. But more policing isnt making our community more safe. The lived reality that white people take for granted is what we should provide for our entire community: an end to over-policing, an end to constant surveillance and harassment, an end to enforcement of non-serious offenses, and an end to the targeting of Black and Brown people.

The core problem does not lie in one officer or all officers, but in modern policing itself. From its inception, law enforcement has been tasked with protecting power and privilege by exerting social control over Black people. We have to seize this moment and recognize that only reimagining a new system will allow us to better serve the residents of our city.

IMPDs budget makes up more than 30% of the city's budget. As Mayor Hogsett and the City-County Council work on the 2021 budget, we must shift resources away from adding officers and militarized equipment and toward Black and Brown community-based initiatives that support true safety, health, and well-being.

The ACLU is working to support Black- and Brown-led community organizations to implement changes such as:

Stop enforcement of a range of non-serious offenses and eliminate many of the unnecessary interactions between the police and community members. Police should not be the ones responding to mental health crises. Reinvest savings from a reduced police force into alternatives to policing that will keep local communities safe and help them thrive. Implement common-sense, legally-enforceable constraints such as a civilian-led Use-of-Force review board so that there are very rare instances in which police officers can use force against community members.

Indianapolis mayor

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett is introduced to speak during a demonstration for racial justice at the Indiana Statehouse, Saturday, June 6, 2020.(Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)

I will never forget watching the video of George Floyds killing. This moment, captured on camera, was horrifying not only because of what it depicted the murder of a citizen at the hands of his government but also because it was impossible to avoid.

For far too long, white Americans have been able to justify turning a blind eye to the ways in which our Black neighbors face racism and discrimination. Suddenly, that wasnt possible.

The results of this reckoning have been equally inescapable: anguished voices singing in chorus; solemn heads bowed in prayer; fists raised in resistance; overflowing tears from eyes exhausted by the sight of pain.

We have also watched people who feel like justice has been denied through delay. Neighbors who are fed up and angry. Who feel that they are not heard when they are peaceful, and this leaves them no choice but to act out.

Indianapolis has been forced to confront the reality of our countrys original sin: government that was designed to privilege one race at the expense of all others. Time will not heal these wounds after four centuries, that should be apparent.

It is not enough to acknowledge systemic racism. You dont get a participation ribbon in the fight against injustice for identifying the problem. And this isnt just about outdated policies; we wont dismantle institutional racism through bureaucracy alone.

What we need in Indianapolis is a process of healing that is not implemented but lived. Lived especially by white residents. A personal responsibility to dedicate our daily existence to change that begins within and flows forth in every way we can.

Then, and only then, can we begin the process of lifting the yoke off the backs of our Black neighbors and assume the weight of our own obligation to reconcile and rebuild.

Marriage and Family Therapist, Managing Director of Project L.E.A.S.T., Family and Community Partners, LLC

Thaddeus Shelton(Photo: Submitted)

First things first, the use of the word "minorities" to discuss people is absolutely the language of oppression, and it does have psychological bearing on the outcome of your inquiry. Secondly, the structure of racism and white supremacy has historically relied on brutality and mistreatment against all racial and gender locations to maintain itself. Thirdly, it seems as if the need to use labels to describe these differences in the human family is also problematic. Though your question proposes to look at solutions, it definitely has a problem focus at it's root.

In this moment we should seek to eliminate the need to "capitalize" and seek to "cooperate" with one another. So to answer the question, we need to learn to value people in community versus staunch individualism, competition and privilege which has caused the demise of the great experiment spoken of at the founding of this nation. The great competition has caused destruction across global ecosystems and now threatens to cause even more damage as we go about "getting ours". As much as we say this dynamic creates "winners" it always leaves behind a vast field of "losers" more than anything else.

Support Black business/entrepreneurship, by making the requirements of access to financial resources counteract the historically skewed/racialized way that risk is assessed in lending. Realize that if so-called minorities have access the cities/countries economy will be much stronger. If a person in public service has a history of being racist they should be removed from their position. Stop propping up mediocre white men and grooming them for leadership while grooming the balance of the populous for service under them. Each citizen should notice their own biases, and do the personal work needed to evolve versus practicing the base, savagery of capitalism, and colonization.

Executive Director, Jewish Community Relations Council

Lindsey Mintz, executive director of Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council(Photo: Provided by Lindsey Mintz)

If this moment is going to lead into a new chapter in our countrys civil rights journey, and if Indianapolis is going to become a better place for all its residents, then the work of dismantling systemic racism must be sustained on both the individual and collective levels.

Organized activism and strategic advocacy that supports significant changes in laws, policies, and practices is obviously required. Calling for elected leaders to act with a sense of urgency is critical. National elections are important, but often structural systems are under the control of state and local authorities. Voting and ensuring the ready access to the vote are key.

Activism is an outgrowth of learning, and learning is the result of resilient listening. While some people may not see themselves as an activist, every person can work on listening to voices and honoring the experiences of someone not like themselves.

The Jewish community is not separate from the fight for racial equity because the fight for racial equity includes cherished members of our own community, which is why we are committed to lifting up the voices of Black Jews.

We each need to look inward and acknowledge our own prejudices, educate ourselves, and do the work to be anti-racist. This work is not easy, and it is not simple. It is a lifelong undertaking. Racism has existed in our country for hundreds of years and it cannot be eradicated in a matter of months

The Jewish community will work as long as it takes, both individually and communally, in public and in private, to fight for equity, justice, and the right of all people, regardless of the color of their skin, to live without fear and to thrive.

Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent

A day after laying his brother George Floyd to rest, Philonise Floyd testified before Congress and asked what a Black mans life is worth. The question of the worth of a life should trouble us all.

Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson poses for a portrait at her Indianapolis office on Wednesday, June 17, 2020.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

Here in Indiana, our different valuing of lives starts early. Black infants are more than twice as likely than white babies to die before their first birthday. Black and Latinx children are 2-3 times more likely to live in poverty than white children. And, heartbreakingly, Black children make up 13.1% of all youth in Indiana, but a staggering 32.8% of youth in state prisons.

In a recent conversation with my daughter, I tried to contextualize why protests were happening. I took us through a brief but powerful history of the societal treatment of Black people since we arrived to this land enslavement, Jim Crow, mass incarceration. She asked me: Mommy, what did we do to be treated like this? My answer, which was a simple and truthful Nothing confounded her even more.

So, in this moment, let us find the courage, the will, to face our painful history. To name the ways in which our institutions have, both past and present, perpetuated the myth that the lives of Black people arent as valuable.

What it will take is a newfound and genuine commitment to focus help, attention and resources on those in greatest need. To look at our fellow citizens and genuinely believe that liberty and justice for all is more than just a patriotic phrase. It will require us to sustain that commitment beyond a single, intense moment, into the months and years ahead. Im raising my hand to lead our schools into that challenge.

I hope youll join me. Learn how at http://www.myips.org.

Editor of Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper

To make Indianapolis a better place we need to be honest. That's the first step. We need to be honest about how we got here.

This isn't about making white people feel guilty about the past, but it's about acknowledging we don't live in a vacuum and today's issues didn't arise out of nowhere.

Oseye Boyd, editor of Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper and Indiana Minority Business Magazine(Photo: Provided by Oseye Boyd)

Once we take a hard look at our city, we can assess and work toward equity and inclusion for all. It's a simple concept but hard to achieve. Assessment means looking at every area business, education, government, policing and incarceration, etc. built on systemic racism and dismantling it.

It's nothing short of revolutionary and won't be done in a few years. However, it must be done if everyone is to fully participate in the American Dream. For African Americans, this is a long time coming. Not only do we deserve to be treated with humanity, we deserve to be fully included in the country our ancestors built through free labor.

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What prominent community members say should be done to make Indiana better for everyone - IndyStar