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Free Webinar: The Long Wait for Freedom & Global Reparations

REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/FORJUNE19

The wait for freedom was long. 

Juneteenth -- or June 19, 1865 -- commemorates what was considered true emancipation for enslaved persons of African descent in the U.S., since news of freedom did not reach slaves in Texas. (And in fact, emancipation for enslaved Africans in Brazil did not occur until 1888, more than two decades later.) But full freedom was never truly granted. Jim Crow, the New Jim Crow, the migrant crisis, poverty produced by international debt in Haiti, Jamaica, and other nations that experienced colonialism with peoples of the African diaspora -- the long wait for freedom has had continuing impacts through the generations. When Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched the Poor People's Campaign a half-century ago, he proclaimed the necessity of reparations in response to that devastating legacy, declaring, "When we come to Washington in this campaign, we're coming to get our check" ("The Two Nations of Black America," 1968). Register now to join a Juneteenth webinar with an international panel of experts on reparations, including: * Jodie Geddes: Community Organizing Coordinator, Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY), and Chair, Coming To The Table Project * Jumoke Ifetayo: Co-Chair, National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) * Chrissi Jackson (co-moderator): Co-Director, The Truth Telling Project * Rev. Lucas Johnson: International Coordinator, International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) * Dr. David Ragland (co-moderator): Senior Bayard Rustin Fellow, Fellowship of Reconciliation * Dr. Olufemi Taiwo: Assistant Professor of Philosphy, Georgetown University

#juneteenth #online #webinar #event #free #truth-telling #justice #reparations #The Truth Telling Project #Fellowship of Reconciliation #Coming to The Table #Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth

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The Revolutionary Values We Learn From Mothering

By David Ragland

Mother’s Day is an important day and it comes at a time in the year when new life emerges. On this day, we celebrate those who make our lives possible. Alice Walker writes in her poem Democratic womanism, “For who else knows so deeply how to share but Mothers and Grandmothers? Big sisters and Aunts? To love and adore both female and male? Not to mention those in between. To work at keeping the entire community fed, educated and safe?”

In these shifting times, women have made their voices heard in every sphere of human endeavor, showing us how we can do better in caring for ourselves and our communities. In this very serious political moment, we need the activists of #MeToo, #MovementForOurLives, #CodePink, #SafetyPinToolBox, and leaders like Pastor Cori Bush - speaking truth, nursing our communities to health; Mama Cat - feeding the body to nourish the soul in her anti-poverty work, Kristine Hendrix and Tishaura Jones working to secure the future generation through strong board leadership and well-funded education. We can’t forget the women of Woke Vote who pushed the election away from a candidate uninterested in issues of the most vulnerable.

The new life emerging from these and other important campaigns challenge the lens of scarcity, seeing the abundance of sharing. They stand in opposition to those in elite industries that profit from the misery of others through war, exploitive capitalism, the criminal justice system and every space they can find to exploit.Today is also the launch of the New Poor People’s Campaign and the Free Black Mamas Bail Out Campaign- reminding us, and hopefully pushing us, to understand the context of scarcity (that there is not enough- especially for the vulnerable despite the vastness of wealth in the US) disproportionately faced by Black and Brown mamas. Mothers, sisters, aunties and grandmothers, as Alice Walker suggests do the heavy lifting of making the scarce, abundant through sharing and supporting community. Despite the examples the mothering values of abundance in sharing, this nation engages in human cruelty and violence on the border, on the reservation, in the barrio and in Black and Brown neighborhoods for the sake of themselves.

The attack on the new generation of activism has no moral grounding, while those standing non violently against the emptiness of racist policing, ICE raids and gentrification represent the yearning for a new ethic that refuses to tolerate injustice just because the power holders wield it. Many have opened their eyes, understanding that police shootings and the proliferation of guns in our streets is part of the violent structures that must be dismantled.

The launch of our online learning platform reinforces the need to listen to the stories of those mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, brothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers- who lose loved ones to state sponsored police violence. It’s past time to listen to the truth from those stories, particularly through campaigns like #FreeBlackMamas, #PoorPeoplesCampaign and #ItsTimeToListen.

Alice Walker lays out the sad reality while asking an important question, “They murder humans and other animal’s forests and rivers and mountains every day they are in office, and never seem to notice it. They eat and drink devastation. Women of the world, Women of the world, Is this devastation to us? Would we kill whole continents for oil (or anything else)?”

What values might usher us away from such an unjust reality? The Rev. Dr. King argued more than 50 years ago, we need a shift in our values away from the three evils of war, racism, and materialism. The woman making films like A Wrinkle In Time, the women leading the campaigns like #BlackMamasBailout, #PoorPeopleCampaign, #RJOY, #ActionSTL, #DMVBlackLives, #ItstimetoListen, #M4BL, #TruthTellingFerguson, and writers like Adrienne Marie Brown have offered #EmergentStrategies to share, struggle, and build possibilities necessary for our survival and flourishing.

We only need to support them.

#mothersday #BlackMamasBailout #PoorPeopleCampaign #M4BL #ItstimetoListen #RJOY #ActionSTL #DMVBlackLives #TruthTellingFerguson #EmergentStrategies

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We Need Your Support!

Dear Truth Telling Family,

Everyday you are probably wondering if things can get any worse.  At the Truth Telling Project, we are keeping the faith and staying vigilant, watching and sharing the stories that inform the public about violent policing and human rights violations.

We need your support now to continue sharing the stories that impact our lives.

We’ve been busy.  Since we first launched our It’s Time to Listen - Learning Commons a year ago we’ve been partnering with communities and organizations across the U.S. to get people listening to underheard stories. In 2018 we have,

Partnered with Fellowship of Reconciliation to expand our community education efforts;

Launched an Activist in Residence program to deepen our relationships on college campuses. Pictured below are Activists in Residence Asia Dorsey and Kristine Hendrix and Rev Sekou at The University of New Hampshire as part of the Truth Telling Collective;

We have redesigned our website with to simplify and make our site more user-friendly www.TheTruthTellingProject.org;

Expanded our focus to work with communities in storm ravaged communities in  Puerto Rico including collaborating with them on a platform to elevate their voices and educate people on the themes of structural violence faced in Puerto Rico today www.VoicesofPR.org;

Work with indigenous women on Truth Telling in New Mexico including collaborating with them on a platform to elevate their voices and educate people on the themes of structural violence faced in indigenous communities www.VoicesofIndigenousPeoples.org;

Launched an archive and platform to elevate voices of people affected by police violence www.VoicesofPoliceViolence.org;

Connect with emerging social movement to make sure voices impacted by police violence are still being heard;

We continue to share stories that tell the truth about why our society needs social transformation.

Given the importance of this moment we are re-launching It’s Time To Listen because it is past time to listen to voices impacted by police violence. As the new Poor People's Campaign challenge poverty, and the March for Our Lives speaks truth about gun violence, the stories of people impacted by police violence reveal deeper truths about how those living in poverty are targeted by police, and are vulnerable to gun violence in marginalized communities. At the same time, state sanctioned police violence is excluded from the conversation about gun violence. Join us to hear stories from our communities. You can register by clicking here.

It takes a village to get Truth to the people. Your donations allow us to hear more voices, educate more people, and seek justice effectively.  To continue helping our mission, we’d like to urge you to become a monthly contributing member of The Truth Telling Project. Monthly contributions of $25 or more will be recognized with an annual Truth Telling Project Educational Membership including our Monthly Newsletter, Events Notifications, Optional Text Alerts - for events, protests, and actions, Educational Resources, Video Lectures and New Content Email Notifications. Thank you so much for your continued support!