FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 11, 2014 CONTACT: Erika Maye, [email protected], 678-478-1808 Cynthia Gordy, [email protected], 202-341-0555 On Zimmerman Verdict Anniversary, Young Leaders from Across the Nation Announce New Movement for Freedom “Freedom Side” Kicks Off Freedom Summer Campaign with Silent March to Highlight the Criminalization of Young People of Color NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today a coalition of young people, which initially came together in the weeks after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, marked the one-year anniversary of the somber occasion by launching a new movement for freedom. Known as Freedom Side, the network is comprised of leaders from the Dream Defenders, United We Dream, Black Youth Project 100, and more than a dozen other grassroots organizations based in communities of color. During a press conference today, Freedom Side announced they will kick off a summer-long campaign with a silent march tomorrow in Nashville, Tennessee to highlight the mass criminalization of black and brown youth. Tomorrow’s action is designed to dramatize the effects of policies such as zero-tolerance school discipline policies, racial profiling by police, and the mass criminalization of undocumented immigrants. It signals a clear intention for their message to be heard: their lives, their voices and their votes matter. “We came from Mississippi, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Arizona, New York, and many more places to walk together,” said Nelini Stamp, Freedom Side spokesperson. “We have been organizing to make sure that this summer – and not just this summer, but for the long term – we build a youth of color agenda that is not just for some of us, but all of us.” Throughout the next few months, Freedom Side will mobilize volunteers from across the country into key states to support local campaigns addressing the criminalization of young people of color, education equity, voting rights, immigrant justice. They are committed to developing new leaders, registering voters, raising political consciousness, and shifting mainstream perceptions of youth of color. With Nashville being home to the Corrections Corporation of America – the United States’ largest private prison company – the group chose to call attention to the mass criminalization of black and brown youth in this city. Additionally, with the National Governors Association Summer Meeting taking place this weekend, the group will also engage their lawmakers in a discourse on public policies that negatively impact young people of color. This summer, Freedom Side will advance its agenda of decriminalization, participatory democracy, and quality education by focusing on local campaigns in four states – Mississippi, Florida, Texas and Ohio. In Florida, organizers led by the Dream Defenders will focus on stopping the criminalization of communities of color, including the states Stand Your Ground defense law and schools that have become pathways to a flourishing juvenile justice system that is entirely run by for-profit corporations. “For anybody thats been asking about what young people are doing, this is just a sample size of what we are up to, said Philip Agnew, executive director of Dream Defenders. This summer we invite other youth to join us in voter registration and education, so that we can begin building a bloc of voters that moves not along party lines – but on our issues, values, and principles. In Texas, United We Dream, a national network of undocumented immigrant youth, will lead efforts to register, educate, and mobilize thousands of Latino voters with immigration policies in mind. We cannot vote as undocumented people, but make no mistake about it – we do have political power, said Maria Fernanda Cabello, civic engagement director for United We Dream. “Our charge as undocumented youth this summer is to make sure that people who can vote do vote, and that they do so with undocumented people in mind. In Mississippi, led by the grassroots organization Better Schools, Better Jobs, volunteers are mobilizing to gather signatures for a ballot initiative to make free public education a constitutional right, and to fully fund public education, in the state. “In 1963, Mississippi Freedom Summer organizer Charlie Cobb lamented that education in Mississippi is grossly inadequate compared to the rest of the nation,” said Amber Thomas, a field director and campaign coordinator for Better Schools, Better Jobs. “More than 50 years later, that statement rings just as true. This summer we will change that by collecting ballot signatures, and mobilizing those people to get out and vote.” The Ohio Student Association plans to build grassroots political power for young people in Ohio by organizing voters between the ages of 18 and 35 to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, and running education programs throughout the summer. “In Ohio there is a public policy agenda that is negatively impacting young people of color,” said James Hayes, an organizer with the Ohio Student Association. “From the school-to-prison pipeline, to the attack on voting rights, to low wage jobs, there are those who are profiting and benefiting from our problems. That’s because they have the power to do so, and the solution is building our own power.” To learn more about Freedom Side, visit freedomside.org and follow on Twitter @FreedomSide. For interviews, please contact Erika Maye at 678-478-1808 or Cynthia Gordy at 202-341-0555. # # #
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 21:45:01 +0000
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