Five Pillars of Black Liberation
Democracy Engagement
We are dedicated to connecting our people to the ballot box, but also by inspiring and training them to become the policy and decision-makers themselves.
Safety
We are dedicated to the de-carceration of our community members, police accountability and restorative justice. We’re working to redefine what safety really means.
Health & Wholeness
We are fighting for affordable healthcare, access to nutritious food, and an intentional commitment to addressing historical traumas.
Education Justice
We are working so that every Black child can have a robust and rigorous public education.
Economic Security
We are working to create a full employment economy for Black workers, reinvestment in marginalized Black communities, and support wealth creation and wealth stabilization for Black people.
We are writing the guidebook to Black Liberation while we are living it out, because authentic Black Liberation has never existed.
Current Campaigns
Budget for Black Lives
If you want to get involved, send emails here or contact Tanya Watkins tanya@soulinchicago.org.
Our partners at SOUL are leading the effort to cut Cook County Sheriff’s budget by $157 million and redirect this money to public services in Black and Brown communities to public services that keep us safe instead of racist systems of policing, jails, and prisons. It’s time to decrease the Cook County Jail budget to account for the 50% reduction in the number of people locked up over the past 7 years.
This could provide significant increases in funding for critical public services in Black and Brown communities that will expand community health, safety, and sustainability; and offset proposed cuts to the Public Defender’s Office and the Cook County Health system that are unacceptable, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more here!
Current Campaigns
Prison Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering: manipulation of the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class.
Prison gerrymandering: counting imprisoned people as legitimate residents of the prison in the US Census instead of their actual place of residence.
It’s important because these prisons are profiting from enslaving Black and brown people when that money could go to supporting the Black people in their home communities. That funding could be used to address the root issues of crime, which are largely due to the continuous disenfranchisement of our communities, instead of this violent carceral system.
You can find more information about the effort to end Prison Gerrymandering here.
We’re engaging communities in storytelling to encourage the reclamation of Black narratives outside of the dominant perspective. We also host an annual wellness event where people from the mental health and organizing industries gather to reflect and explore the intersection of the two through workshops panels and more!
Current Campaigns
Wellness
We believe that wellness is a critical point point on the path to Black liberation. In order to fully to show up to the fight and suffer from a quick burnout it is necessary to take steps to care for yourself and your well being.
As Audre Lorde said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
For more information, contact Victoria Stewart victoria@blackrootsalliance.org.
Current Campaigns
Criminal Justice Reform
Since 2015, BlackRoots Alliance has been dedicated to criminal justice reform. Much of the crime and current practice of dealing with it are rooted in anti-blackness. We believe that the root causes of crime in our communities are lack of financial resources, mental health services, and overall support that leads people to criminal activity just to get by in a society that is built against them. With the police’s roots in slave patrols their underpolicing/overpolicing practices with these same communities are less about serving and protecting and more about incucting them into modern day slavery: mass incarceration. We believe that a major step towards Black liberation is holding police accountable for their actions and the harm that they have committed against our community. We have taken action towards this through direct actions calling out the racist practices of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and other actions to ensure our communities are safe from abuse from law enforcement. Our vision for the future is the creation of a culture made of community safety and accountability; it is made of true justice instead of punishment that is our current system. We have a long fight ahead of us, but we are committed to making this vision a reality.
For ways to get involved, contact Tanya Watkins tanya@soulinchicago.org.
Current Campaigns
Pretrial Fairness
The Pretrial Fairness Act, led by The Coalition to End Money Bond and:
Ends Money Bond: No one will be incarcerated while awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford to pay a certain amount of money.
Ensures Faster Release: People with less serious charges will be released on their own recognizance from police custody as soon as possible.
Requires Courts to Provide Common Sense Pretrial Services: Courts will be required to send reminder calls and text messages and provide transportation assistance for low-income people.
Increase Government Transparency and Accountability: Clerks of the Circuit Court and Sheriff’s Offices will be required to submit monthly reports to ICJIA, which would then be made public.
Warrant Reform: People accused of violating their conditions of pretrial release will be served a notice to appear 48 hours before a warrant is issued.
Let your legislators know that no one should be locked up because of the size of their bank account by sending them a letter.
For ways to get involved, contact Victoria Stewart at victoria@blackrootsalliance.org
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