M4BL Uprisings: How to build a movement in a moment of the whirlwind
June 8, 2020
The Movement for Black Lives has made what many thought impossible, possible. Cities across the country are seriously considering defunding the police. Minneapolis city council members have committed to disbanding the police department, a testament to the power built by BLVC and the movement. Los Angeles is cutting their police budget by $100-150 million and reinvesting the money in communities of color. And hundreds of thousands are taking to the streets in cities across the world to confront white supremacy inherent in our institutions and systems. We’re seeing tremendous, unprecedented opportunity before us to reimagine a world without police, where community needs are met without police violence.
What’s this webinar about?
This webinar answers three major questions about the uprisings for Black lives in the summer of 2020:
Are the protests working? How can we tell if the movement is winning?
How long will the energy last? What can we do to support the movement?
Tons of people are being activated - what do we do with them?
We break down how mass protest works, how movements build momentum by using moments of crisis to spotlight issues, craft demands, reframe the fight, continue to grow and sustain, and more.
You can read more lessons on demands and metrics for movements on this Medium article as well: Movement Lessons to #DefundThePolice
Cicia Lee is the Training Director of Momentum. They formerly organized with Faith in Action (the PICO National Network) in Massachusetts for economic and criminal justice. They are also on the board of the Mystic Soul Project.
Makia Green is a queer fat black liberation organizer with Black Lives Matter DC and Working Families Party DC. She joined the movement by co-founding an activist collective in Rochester NY, during the aftermath of the Ferguson Uprising, and has since then led mass actions such as J20 Resist and BlockDevos. As an activist and organizer for the past four years, her passion is using radial honesty to give others the permission to be themselves, unapologetically so that we all have the power to manifest the world within which we want to live. A "NewYorker" living in DC, she coordinates events and campaigns centered in black joy, healing, and abolition.