As the nation marks five years since the uprisings following the murder of George Floyd, Word In Black’s deputy editor Joseph Williams spoke with former Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria “Rondo” Arradondo about the moment that changed America — and the implications for race, justice, and policing.
Their discussion comes as Rondo releases his new memoir, “Chief Rondo: Securing Justice for the Murder of George Floyd.” The book chronicles his journey, from growing up as a kid in South Minneapolis with a deep sense of service to becoming Minneapolis’s first Black police chief. It also details Rondo’s hard-won lessons of leadership — from his early encounters with racism inside the force, including a 2007 lawsuit against the department for discrimination, to his decision in 2020 to fire the officers responsible for Floyd’s death.
In the interview, Arradondo reflects on what it means to lead a flawed institution while staying rooted in community values. But “just because I was a Black officer from the community didn’t mean that I got some sort of pass,” Arradondo says. And while Black folks in Minneapolis didn’t always agree with his decisions, “They knew that I was working on their behalf the best way I could to keep our community safe and to build that trust.”
Arradondo also discusses why we need racial justice, why the work of police reform must be both systemic and personal, and the deep flaws in a system that often shields police officers from accountability.
Watch the full interview above.
