A local group of African-American students, artists and community representatives kicked off a GoFundMe campaign on Friday, Aug. 22 to raise funds to send five people to Ferguson, Missouri as part of a national effort called the Black Lives Matter Ride done in conjunction with the National Weekend of Action.
So far $1,940 has been raised for the group’s $2,500 goal. While five people from Tucson are part of the ride, the group hopes additional riders from Phoenix will join them. Upon return, the group plan to organize a Black Action Forum, and additional funds from the campaign will help cover facility, childcare and material costs for the event.
Tonight at 6 p.m., the group will hold a send-off and press conference at Cafe Desta, 758 S. Stone Ave., but over the weekend I had a chance to meet with some members of the group, including Matice Moore, UA’s African American Student Affairs program director, who said the local campaign allows representative from Tucson to participate in a series of non-violence training workshops in Ferguson—important training they can bring back to teach Tucson and share as part of a Tucson Black Action Initiative they want to develop to create a network and address the needs of Tucson’s black community.
With the UA Gender Studies Department, a Black Lives Matter conference takes place on January 15-17, with scholars, writers, artists and leaders from throughout the country and locally taking place to talk about “s WHY Black life matters and WHAT can be done about sustained racialized state violence.” For more on the conference, go their page here.
All good reasons to keep giving to the group, even once they reach their goal. Go here to their GoFundMe page.
Moore said the goal, while the national call is short notice, is to encourage people with many different skill sets to come to Ferguson and help the affected community, as well as improve organizing skills to take back to their own cities and towns. Youth organizing, and bringing people to work with youth, is one area, as well as those familiar with theater of the oppressed and medial and photography. Those with medical experience are also needed, she added.
Joining Moore for the trip is Thomas Martin a marketing senior at the UA Eller College, said that anytime a community gets a call like this is is “an obligation to respond to the call and work to stop these things from happening in the future.”
Poet Jada Boyd, who works at Bicas, had planned to join the group, but decided to stay in town to read at Words on the Avenue, on Sunday, Aug. 31, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Cafe Passe, 415 N. 4th Ave. The focus that evening is on Ferguson, Michael Brown and his family, and donations collected at the reading will go to the Brown family. Suggested donation is $5 per person.
Boyd said if she was going on the ride, she’d participate in local voter registration efforts. “Right now this community wants to change it’s representation. That’s something we should all get behind.”
Sitting next to Boyd is Beverly Makhubele, a South African emigre, who works in community planning and development, who said she hopes to learn in Ferguson. Not sure what particular skill she brings, but what’s important, too, is “learning as much as possible on how to use what we learn in Tucson when we come back.”
Javetta Clemmons, also leaving for the ride, said she agrees. The community in Ferguson has done a good job facilitating a conversation locally, but those going to Ferguson for this ride from across the country, like Clemmons, want to learn how to have that conversation in Tucson when they return.
One of the goals of the ride is to support the Ferguson community demands that their Missouri legislative representatives introduce anti-police violence laws that work to address excessive force and the militarization of police. The idea, Martin said, is to shrink the police force by half and put that money toward under-funded school and in the community.”
“When we come back we want to establish a training,” Martin said. “Part of the problem is that we might be treating this as an isolated incident. We need to be prepared for any response as a community and as a nation.”
This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2014.
Instead of shrinking the police force, how about getting Ferguson residents qualified to become police officers. Surely there’s enough residents there. What about the shop owner who was getting slapped around by this brute, think he wants less law enforcement? I guess if the citizens of Ferguson want less law enforcement, let them vote out the established police force. Let them police themselves like they do in south Chicago, that’s working great.
The group should include as a part of their mission to educate the youth in Ferguson to respect law enforcement in order to avoid the problems that plaque the community. Officer Wilson in the eye’s of the public has been found guilty without a trial. We don’t even know the facts, yet we’re ready to condemn his action’s. Why not wait to pass judgment after the officer is found guilty in a court of law. What kind of message is the group bringing to the community at this point in time. It could very easily be interpreted as a green light to have no regards or respect for those officers who risk their lives in a daily basis for our sake’s.
I would think they might want to wait for the evidence to see if this was a justified shooting. Otherwise aren’t they there based on incorrect assumptions?
I’m thrilled about the efforts of these young activists, and I’m appalled at the comments so far. Dave D says, “Why not wait to pass judgment after the officer is found guilty in a court of law”? And I ask, Why didn’t innocent-until-proven-guilty apply to the kid who was murdered on the street by a man with a badge and a gun? Where was Michael Brown’s court of law? What was he guilty of, besides walking in this country while black? Shame on all of you! The shop owner was not “slapped around,” shazam, and Michael Brown was not a “brute,” he was someone’s beloved son. The store owner has said in interviews that nothing wrong happened at the store, there is video of Mike paying for his cigars, and even if he HAD stolen something, shoplifting is not punishable by death-without-trial, and the cop/murderer hadn’t heard any police report about a crime anyway. Get some facts before spewing, all of you.
Blaze, was he murdered ? You don’t know that. Officer Wilson has not had his day in court.
Ok blaze, so like I said, how about using this money to train people to police their own community. This way, all the racist cops won’t be in your community. You really believe cops go around shooting people for ” walking in this country while black ” ? That’s really what you believe? You make assumptions about the police officer being a murder, well I’ll assume this wanna be gang banger, wanna be thug, ” beloved son, did something that warranted deadly force to be used, otherwise he would already be arrested. Anytime a cop uses force, any force, he is scrutinized to the fullest, because things like this did happen at one time in our country. You are right, my facts are distorted because I haven’t followed this case, because I don’t care what happened; however, I am tired of hearing of someone other than a black person killing a black person being national news, while blacks kill blacks by the DOZENS every weekend in south Chicago. I would be more than happy to donate to that if some people want to go to south Chicago and bring back some info on how to stop black people from killing little kids there. I do know that kids are being killed there, but I don’t know if it’s black people doing the killing, but I’ll assume it is. Could you imagine the outrage if white racist cops were killing nine year old kids every weekend? After the way everybody is acting there, you think the store is going to come out and something negative? Maybe this grounded trip is a go riot and loot trip.
again, Dave D — where is your sympathy for Michael Brown, who never had a chance for his day in court either? Do you agree that the cop should be questioned, arrested and tried? or do you think just cuz he has a badge he is above the law? Even if Mike was everything that you and shazam believe, he did not deserve to die in the street and lay there for 4 hours. It’s inhumane, cruel, and we should all be ashamed. As for the race of people who kill other people, shazam, FBI statistics consistently indicate that most white people are killed by other white people, and most black people are killed by other black people. So, stop talking about black-on-black crime as if it’s an anomaly. White people are killed by white people all the time (remember the Aurora movie theater? remember Jared Loughner? and I hope you notice that those killers were not gunned down by the police, while Michael Brown, who was just walking in the street, was shot at least six times). Are you going to start crying about white-on-white crime and how white teenagers should be gunned down in the street by law enforcement with no warning, no warrant, and no cause? I know you’re probably not big on facts, but I hope this link gets through. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime…
“Just walking down the street” after he robbed a convenience market and bullied the store clerk. This guy was no angel. Did he deserve to be shot ? We don’t know that yet do we ? Calm down and wait till we hear all the evidence before passing judgment. Blaze Let me give you a small quiz on our judicial system”A man is presumed innocent until …………… (Facts only please)
Rev Al says it best…http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chapman/chi-sharpton-on-blackonblack-crime-20140828-story.html