Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #BuildAfricatown
Most recents (9)
Today, we and @DecrimSeattle are encouraged to see the @SeattleCouncil—emboldened by the support of tens of thousands of BIPOC community members (that's y'all!)—resist @MayorJenny ’s bullying tactics and anti-Black obstructionism.
Specifically, @SeattleCouncil upheld their decision to divest from the SPD by 3 million dollars—less than 1% of SPD’s annual budget—and invest modestly in Black communities.
As we head into the 2021 budget cycle, we expect @SeattleCouncil to maintain their conviction, elevate Black lives and uphold their public commitments to divest from policing and reinvest in Black communities.
1/ @CMLGonzalez pledging to divest from police & invest in community
“I think it’s important for me as an elected official, as an elected official who is a non-Black Mexican American in this country, to say that I take personal responsibility for every vote that I have taken...”
“I think it’s important for me as an elected official, as an elected official who is a non-Black Mexican American in this country, to say that I take personal responsibility for every vote that I have taken...”
2/ “...vote that I have taken that has contributed to the expansion of law enforcement and those legal systems at the expense of community based investments.
And I owe it to all of you to say that I am sorry for those votes.”
And I owe it to all of you to say that I am sorry for those votes.”
3/ “I now have an opportunity, and so do my colleagues, to reverse and correct those past votes. Those past choices. Because we know that the current public safety model does not produce safety for Black, Indigenous and Brown people.”
Featured Member Organization: Wa Na Wari
“The whole premise of @KCEquityNow is in the name: equity. People talk about equity as if it has to do with equality but equity has everything to do with ownership.
(Continued in thread) #Unity #FreeTheLand #EquityNow #BuildAfricatown
“The whole premise of @KCEquityNow is in the name: equity. People talk about equity as if it has to do with equality but equity has everything to do with ownership.
(Continued in thread) #Unity #FreeTheLand #EquityNow #BuildAfricatown
“It has everything to do with the inherent value of agency, of being able to be self-determined. That’s what Wa Na Wari is about. It’s about ownership. It’s about self-determination, it's about agency. It’s about being able to imagine the future we want and actively creating it.
“To join a coalition that embodies that those values in communities, none of this is doing this work alone. We’re more powerful together…We don’t want to be alone out here doing what we’re doing.
THREAD: Senait Brown's open letter to son Malcolm:
"One day you will look back & find the footprints your mother has left behind...I hope you will see the revolutionary fire that sparked my audacity to become a Black mama & bring you into this world."
southseattleemerald.com/2020/09/01/opi…
"One day you will look back & find the footprints your mother has left behind...I hope you will see the revolutionary fire that sparked my audacity to become a Black mama & bring you into this world."
southseattleemerald.com/2020/09/01/opi…
Liberation requires that we "divest from inherently racist institutions like the New Youth Jail [& policing]," & "develop a collective 'sense of empowerment' & consciousness in our community; plant seeds, build & invest in an infrastructure rooted in our own self-determination."
"That infrastructure is what I look to today to survive and secure our future...everything depends on what we build for ourselves."
There's been a war waged against Black people since our ancestors were forced to this land in chains. But time is still young. We honor those that came before us and those that fight now. A better world is possible.
#EquityNow #BuildAfricatown #Glory
#EquityNow #BuildAfricatown #Glory
Video | Remington Wilcox, Juneteenth Freedom March
Artist | Josephine Howell, Umoja Day of Unity
Artist | Josephine Howell, Umoja Day of Unity
Political Education of the Day, a thread:
Check the racist paradigm of experts v. so-called "non-experts."
Entrenched power, when threatened, will appeal to its inherent "expertise" – which is often a veiled dog whistle for white supremacy...
Check the racist paradigm of experts v. so-called "non-experts."
Entrenched power, when threatened, will appeal to its inherent "expertise" – which is often a veiled dog whistle for white supremacy...
For example, the Mayor's office current posturing:
"how on earth could these Black communities possibly repurpose the bloated SPD budget into pro-community initiatives?! Its so complicated! I mean, golly, I guess they do include esteemed educators & community healers…
"how on earth could these Black communities possibly repurpose the bloated SPD budget into pro-community initiatives?! Its so complicated! I mean, golly, I guess they do include esteemed educators & community healers…
national experts…and technical wizards….brilliant visionaries…generational activists...and the collective wisdom of their elders."
So, to be clear: what would we do without the City's failed leadership and policies, and SPD’s "expert" oversight?...
So, to be clear: what would we do without the City's failed leadership and policies, and SPD’s "expert" oversight?...
KCEN’s efforts are grounded in a love for Black peoples, and include: reintegrating folx preyed on by the carceral criminal punishment system, caring for & nurturing at-risk youth, developing affordable housing, driving City-wide anti-gentrification efforts...
...cultivating artistic expression & providing resources for creative development, or simply finding time and space for the Black community to fellowship, heal and thrive in place—to name a few.
We reflect thousands of Black folx.
The member organizations standing behind KCEN know each other well, through a myriad of community relationships and shared history of service, frontline work and accountability to local Black communities....
The member organizations standing behind KCEN know each other well, through a myriad of community relationships and shared history of service, frontline work and accountability to local Black communities....
A thread:
"Black study and resistance must begin with love.
To love all is to fight relentlessly to end exploitation and oppression everywhere, even on behalf of those who think they hate us.
To love this way requires deep study and relentless struggle."
"Black study and resistance must begin with love.
To love all is to fight relentlessly to end exploitation and oppression everywhere, even on behalf of those who think they hate us.
To love this way requires deep study and relentless struggle."
According to Black legal scholar Robin D. G. Kelley, Black resistance involves an endless cycle of love, study, & struggle. But we think it's equally important—as we toil for liberation—to pause intentionally and revel in the small and large moments of celebration...
Today is one of those moments.
Its been reported that a veto-proof majority of Seattle City Council publicly pledged to repurpose 50% of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) budget for pro-community initiatives, in support of @DecrimSeattle & our joint budget proposals.
Its been reported that a veto-proof majority of Seattle City Council publicly pledged to repurpose 50% of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) budget for pro-community initiatives, in support of @DecrimSeattle & our joint budget proposals.
FACT: In the legal field, there is the very basic concept of an "indispensable party." Basically, an indispensable party is so essential to an issue that if you leave them out, you can’t reach a real resolution...
...Think of it like this: you and your neighbor are fighting. To resolve the issue, you must engage your neighbor in the dialog...
NOW, in Seattle, @DecrimSeattle & KCEN—coalitions representing the support of 100s of community groups & 10s of thousands of community members—have been spearheading the call to defund SPD by at least 50%.
