Equity

Atlanta Jail Task Force Recommends Razing Building, Creating Equity Center

June 22, 2020 By Raisa Habersham, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Create! Atlanta, Decarceration, Equity, Jail

Nearly a year after its creation, the Atlanta City Jail task force has recommended closing the jail, demolishing the building and replacing it with a Center for Equity that would support Atlantans’ needs. The 26-page report was delivered to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on June 12, giving suggestions on how the city can change the institution and convert it into a space to serve Atlanta residents, particularly those from communities most affected by the criminal justice system. The report described a center “that will advance racial and economic equity, promote restorative justice, and invest in the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.” The 52-member task force suggested any changes to the 11-story facility that can hold up to 1,300 inmates include addressing ongoing justice reform and the city’s employment and housing concerns.

The Boston Ujima Project Is Working To Create Economic Equity For Artists

November 2, 2018 By Nicole Rupersburg, Springboardexchange.org Create! Arts, Boston, Equity, New Economy

The Boston Ujima Project is a community-led organization with a mission of growing a people’s economy in Greater Boston, one that is controlled by the community with neighbors, workers, business owners, and investors all working together on a shared vision of collective work and responsibility. From Ujima’s citywide assembly “Old Roots, New Rules,” October 2018. The idea is to challenge poverty and develop local neighborhoods by organizing individual savings, businesses, and customers to grow their own wealth and meet their own needs. The word ujima is a Swahili word that refers to the Kwanzaa principle of collective wealth and responsibility.

LA Brings Social Equity To Marijuana Sellers

December 13, 2017 Thandisizwe Chimurenga, mintpressnews.com Create! Equity, Los Angeles, Marijuana

LOS ANGELES – Beginning in January in Los Angeles, individuals who are low-income and/or have had a conviction for a marijuana-related offense will enjoy priority status when it comes to applying for a license to legally sell the herb. Cultivators or manufacturers will also have such status, thanks to the Los Angeles City Council. On Wednesday the council voted to repeal a four-year-old ban on such businesses in the city, and that repeal is accompanied by what supporters are saying is the most aggressive and progressive “social equity” clause in the nation. In the movement to decriminalize marijuana, attempts to apply “social equity” standards to cannabis have been talked about but have not made much progress.

#WeChoose Equity In Education Campaign

September 29, 2017 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Democracy, Education, Equity, Privatization

By Popular Resistance. Launched just after Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss was appointed in February, 2017, the #WeChoose campaign is fighting for equity in education. They write: "We are not fooled by the 'illusion of school choice.' The policies of the last twenty years, driven more by private interests than by concern for our children’s education, are devastating our neighborhoods and our democratic rights. Only by organizing locally and coming together nationally will we build the power we need to change local, state, and federal policy and win back our public schools. School closings are a key issue now because if our communities don’t have schools, we will have little to fight for. But if we only fight against closings, we won’t succeed at building the kind of sustainable school transformation that will carry us forward.

The People’s Congress Of Resistance

August 9, 2017 People's Congress of Resistance, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Equity, Human Rights, Mass Incarceration, Sovereignty

By the Convenors of the People's Congress of Resistance. We are excited to release the Manifesto of the People's Congress of Resistance! Titled "Society for the Many: A vision for revolution," the manifesto sets out a bold and clear program for people's power, emancipation, equality and a society to meet human needs. In the introductory paragraphs, the People's Congress of Resistance Manifesto explains: "Without a revolutionary vision, change will not take a revolutionary direction. Resistance will remain rudderless, an exercise in activism for its own sake, or it will be co-opted into a vessel for the political elites. A vision for social, economic and political revolution is necessary. We need to know where we want to go. Our vision ties our actions to our goal by showing us what we are mobilizing for. It guides us in coordinating our strategies and tactics. It helps us build collective strength. Our vision tells us how we can win and that we will win."

How To Make City Budgets Racially Just

October 30, 2016 Paulina Phelps, www.yesmagazine.org Create! Equity, Governance, Participatory budgeting, Racism

By Paulina Phelps for Yes Magazine. The amount of money spent on hiring sworn law enforcement officers to patrol public schools shot up nearly 40 percent between 1997 and 2009, despite the fact that crime in school has steadily declined for decades. A coalition of civil rights groups, including the NAACP, argues that this policy funnels kids of color into the school-to-prison pipeline. But that debate doesn’t always make it into the process of setting the budget, which is where important decisions, like how much money goes to counselors in schools and how much goes to police, ultimately get made. Budgets are usually determined by elected officials and their advisers, while ordinary residents may only get a chance to comment at a public hearing.

DCTP Launches The Equitable Internet Initiative

September 16, 2016 Staff, www.alliedmedia.org Create! Equity, Internet

By Staff of Detroit Community Technology Project - The Equitable Internet Initiative will accelerate outreach, training and wireless broadband Internet sharing on the neighborhood level in Detroit. Led by the Detroit Community Technology project of Allied Media Projects, the Equitable Internet Initiative will ensure that more Detroit residents have the ability to leverage online access and digital technology for social and economic development.

Zapatista Solution To Food Sovereignty, Decolonization & Equity

August 22, 2016 Levi Gahman, www.thesolutionsjournal.com Create! Decolonize, Equity, Food and Agriculture, Sovereignty, Zapatistas

By Levi Gahman for The Solutions Journal - One of the biggest threats to food security the world currently faces is neoliberalism. It’s logic, which has become status quo over the past 70 years and valorizes global ‘free market’ capitalism, is made manifest through economic policies that facilitate privatization, deregulation, and cuts to social spending, as well as a discourse that promotes competition, individualism, and self-commodification. Despite rarely being criticized, or even mentioned, by state officials and mainstream media, neoliberal programs and practices continue to give rise to unprecedented levels of poverty, hunger, and suffering.

Fairfax Board Pledges To Weigh ‘Equity’ When Making Decisions

July 13, 2016 Antonio Olivo, www.washingtonpost.com Create! Equity, Virginia

By Antonio Olivo for The Washington Post - Virginia’s largest jurisdiction resolved Tuesday to approach decisions surrounding police, schools and even land-use through a prism of racial and social equity. A resolution unanimously approved by Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors aims to address disparities in the county of 1.1 million residents by allocating more funds in some areas and considering the importance of diversity in hiring and other decisions.

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