Jitu Brown talks with organizers Sharon Smith of Newark NJ & Jalida Bennett of Chicago IL. Listen & learn as they share the nuts and bolts of parent organizing and building a committed base of people to win campaigns against powerful corporate interests.

On The Ground: Why is That?

In 2019, a Black person can walk in Walgreens and they cannot refuse you service because of the color of your skin. We can run schools, organizations and corporations. Delta Airlines cannot say, "we don't serve Black people." We can attend any college or university that we like and they cannot openly deny us access because of our race. Why? The answer is simple. As Black people in the United States, every right that we have is a direct result of community organizing. Community organizing is the people directly impacted by a problem, strategizing and building power to win policy change, or resources to improve their quality of life. For our entire history in this country there is a long and committed record of people speaking power to power in order to change their living conditions. Today, we see a resurgence of black led grassroots community organizing. Community organizing is not activism. Join the On the Ground family to learn the difference. This podcast hosted by Jitu Brown, National Director of the Journey for Justice Alliance, is dedicated to "spreading the gospel" of community organizing to the public. We are not in an ivory tower, intellectualizing about what Black people need to do. We are in these streets, waging our struggle for liberation. We are ON THE GROUND.