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March 9th Organizing Workshop with Shanel Boyce and Salka Valerio

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March 9th Organizing Workshop with Shanel Boyce and Salka Valerio

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The street protests that flooded American cities have largely ended, and a new administration is settling in in Washington, but the Black Lives Matter movement that regained national attention last summer in response to a series of police killings last summer has not gone away.

In some places, it has simply moved into a new phase, such as Birmingham, Alabama, where Jilisa Milton, who co-founded the historic city's BLM chapter, started a coalition to gauge what people in her community think needs the most financial attention from local government.

"We started a coalition called People's Budget Birmingham," Milton told VOA, explaining that similar coalitions had been started by local BLM chapters around the United States.

The coalition held multiple in-depth conversations with members of the community before presenting to the local government collective opinions on how money should be allocated to police departments, libraries and other institutions.

Milton said the coalition was a "good way of making sure our message was heard."

Grassroots activists and organizers are mounting similar efforts around the country, seeking to maintain the momentum and heightened awareness of racial injustice that followed the death in police custody of George Floyd.

In St. Louis, Missouri, one such coalition - the People's Plan - was built years ago.

"We have a chance to reshape public policy, allowing us to shift outcomes and build a new vision for our city that is truly equitable, sustainable and inclusive. The People's Plan will allow us to do just that," the plan's website explains.

Aaron Rogers, a faith leader and activist in the St. Louis area, told VOA that through community efforts such as these, his city has seen significant systemic changes.

"We've seen radical movements for turning over incumbent power and putting young people into those positions. Cori Bush is one of the prime examples of that," Rogers said, referring to the social justice activist and nurse now serving as the district's congresswoman in Washington.

Rogers said changing the elected officials in his community has led to changing some policies.

In August of last year, after months of campaigning from local activists, a medium-security prison known as the "Workhouse," notorious for its poor living conditions, was closed.

"We were able to change that - a miraculous thing people didn't think would happen," Rogers said.

In 2014, Michael Brown, then 18, was fatally shot in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis. Rogers says changes that are happening now, seven years after the city made national headlines and erupted in protests, are built on years of organizing.

"The snowball is just getting bigger. And as long as the activists keep pushing, I think we'll finally round the curve," he said.

Similarly, Milton in Birmingham said that calls to defund police departments across the country, which became a well-known demand of the movement in 2020, have been discussed since she joined Black Lives Matter in 2016.

The phrase defunding the police, for most protesters, means a reallocation of police funding to social services.

Activists like Milton and Rogers say that it's vital to look at the movement for Black Lives from a local perspective.

"People don't always know that they can contribute in different ways," Milton said.

"There's so many really tangible ways that a movement can be supported," she added.

"For people outside of activist communities, it's voting. It's staying engaged and voting, not just on a national level, but also on the local level," Rogers said.

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After Protests, Black Lives Matter's Grassroots Work Continues

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The street protests that flooded American cities have largely ended, and a new administration is settling in in Washington, but the Black Lives Matter movement that regained national attention last summer in response to a series of police killings last summer has not gone away.

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Binghamton entered day four of protests and speak-outs. Hundreds gathered at Recreation Park Sunday afternoon, in what resembled more of a picnic than a protest, addressing issues plaguing the black community.

After three days of marches in Binghamton, protesters gathering for breakout groups talking about education, the housing crisis, criminal justice issues, substance use, and food justice. Also have the goal to make a list of demands to present to government officials. @SPECNewsCNY pic.twitter.com/cqMB38Tmya
- Krystal Cole (@KrystalColeTV) June 7, 2020

The gathering was titled the Community Liberation Forum and was held exactly one week after one of the largest protests in Binghamton's history.

"We're at a unique time in American history and I think people really need to remember that and notice that. We are primed for a change. Black lives have always mattered, but right now the spotlight is on communities to do the right thing," said Shanel Boyce, community activist.

The forum had hardly any police on-site as protesters focused their discussions on a new vision for the future of their community. This included addressing issues with the criminal justice system, healthcare, and the housing crisis.

Others are calling for the defunding of police. One speaker says a lack of resources in the black community has a ripple effect pic.twitter.com/NE5wnWLtlP
- Vince Briga (@VinceBrigaTV) June 7, 2020

The black community makes up 6.7 percent of the county's population, but 32.7 percent face housing insecurity.

"Communities have the solutions to all the problems. We don't have to come up with them, so we know in a space like this, there's going to be a lot of solutions here, so we're really just here to listen to the community and document what they want so we can now put it on a wider platform," said Boyce.

When it comes to education, speakers hope to address issues with a lack of teachers of color and what they're calling unfair disciplinary actions.

"Right now, the spotlight is on making changes, and there are a lot of things that we can be changing in our own community as far as policy when it comes to the Binghamton city school district and all districts around here," said Salka Valerio, community activist.

Last week, a handful of members of the Black Lives Matter movement met with Mayor Rich David in his office, but many still feel their voices still aren't being heard by local leaders.

"We're not at that point yet and that's why we're going to keep doing this until we do get some answers, until all the different people that are empowered do say you know what, it's time for us to listen. Let's all come to the table. We don't want any more backroom deals," said Boyce.

While there's no set date for the next protest or speak out, protesters say there's plenty of discussions that still need to be had.

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Binghamton BLM Protesters Discuss Reform, Defunding Police

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Binghamton entered day four of protests and speak-outs. Hundreds gathered at Recreation Park Sunday afternoon, in what resembled more of a picnic than a protest, addressing issues plaguing the black community. After three days of marches in Binghamton, protesters gathering for breakout groups talking about education, the housing crisis, criminal justice issues, substance use, and food justice.

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Restoring Youth Civic Engagement | Noah Tesfaye | TEDxLAHS

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March 16th Civics Workshop with Joy Malonza, The Down Ballot

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March 16th Civics Workshop with Joy Malonza, The Down Ballot

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FIND YOUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER + DISTRICT!

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FIND YOUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER + DISTRICT!

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Gov. Kathy Hochul said her “No. 1 focus has been keeping the Buffalo Bills at home” with a new $850 million stadium deal, where is the allocation of all this money from?

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Gov. Kathy Hochul said her “No. 1 focus has been keeping the Buffalo Bills at home” with a new $850 million stadium deal, where is the allocation of all this money from?

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The funds to build this stadium would come from an $850 million dollar subsidy (the peoples money) while food pantry funding has been cut by 85%.

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Tim O’Shei and Jason Wolf News Reporters

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Buffalo Bills, New York State, Erie County reach ‘ironclad’ 30-year deal to build $1.4 billion stadium

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The new stadium will be built directly across the street on Abbott Road, adjacent to Erie Community College’s South Campus, in what Gov. Kathy Hochul called “the largest construction project

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Did you know about the Pipeline running through North Brooklyn? 

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Did you know about the Pipeline running through North Brooklyn? 

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Fracked gas, volatile and explosive running through urban communities.

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Right now, corporate utility National Grid is expanding a massive fracked gas transmission pipeline in North Brooklyn. This project is not a replacement of leaking pipelines, it is an expansion to charge us, the rate-payers, millions of dollars in rate hikes to fill their shareholders pockets, and keep us locked into fossil fuels when we want to move onto affordable and clean renewable energy like geothermal, solar, wind and energy efficient buildings.

National Grid's response to us is egregious. Instead of adhering to what the public demands, they restarted confidential settlement negotiations in the rate case that will lock out the public.

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Right now, corporate utility National Grid is expanding a massive fracked gas transmission pipeline in North Brooklyn. This project is not a replacement of leaking pipelines, it is an expansion to charge us, the rate-payers, millions of dollars in rate hikes to fill their shareholders pockets, and keep us locked into fossil fuels when we want to move onto affordable and clean renewable energy like geothermal, solar, wind and energy efficient buildings.

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All the resources listed in the YAH Linktree can be used to help structure your civic action project presentations.

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Coalition of young people united by the belief
that housing is a human right

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includes 311 housing help line and ANHD an organization recently started a coalition that aims its organizing toward banks to implement penalties against slumlords

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New Girl City - Clean up NYC Presentation.pptx

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New Girl City Agents of Change Final Presentation