#StopCopCity is part of the legacy of justice won and lost on Southern soil
For the past few weeks, Side With Love has been organizing UUs and other supporters in the Cop City Vote referendum campaign. This effort would allow Atlanta voters to decide if the City of Atlanta can lease 381 of forested land for a $90 million police training complex backed by corporate interests that will cost over $30 million in tax dollars.
It feels good to be working on such a deeply meaningful campaign. Here in Southwest Atlanta, the Cop City Vote referendum campaign operates from the American Friends Service Committee office. The walls are covered with posters from past campaigns emblazoned with powerful messages that proclaim the dignity of workers, the right to housing, and the end to war. Also on this wall is a wood turtle with a painting of Tortuguita, the climate activist killed by police on January 18th of this year in the Weelaunee forest. Tortuguita was protesting the harm and environmental degradation caused by the planned development of this vast, militarized law enforcement training compound.
In this room, each poster, each weathered clipboard, and boxes of t-shirts are quiet reminders of the life, love, and legacy that make this space powerful.
In this space, we are surrounded by a legacy of activism, community building, and radical hope that makes justice movements unstoppable. In this space, we seek to create collective care, mutual support, non-carceral solutions to conflict and harm, and cooperative economics. In this space, we answer the call of our ancestors and defend the future of our descendants.
Neighbors drop by after work to sign the petition. Canvassers funnel in and out with clipboards and “LetAtlantaDecide" t-shirts to talk to voters in torrential downpours and intense summer heat. Artists, fathers, data managers, youth, trainers, grandmothers, community organizers, and faith leaders all huddle in different corners of the office, strategizing on how we will protect democracy. We talk about what $30 million dollars could do for this community and the communities surrounding the Weelaunee forests that do not include giving money to the private Atlanta Police Foundation.
This community is an embodiment of resilience. They’ve been on the front lines of resisting gentrification, housing displacement through eminent domain, and police violence. It is the home of beautiful cultural events in Adair Park, local businesses, historic churches, and public art memorializing community members, proclaiming Black Lives Matter, and demanding to #StopCopCity.
Supporting the campaign reminds me that politics are not only what you do at the voting booth or even who holds elected office. We exercise our political power when strangers share experiences of using public transit, or how they unionized their workplaces. It’s neighbors showing photos of their children talking about their hopes for their schools. It’s walking in to be greeted with a warm and familiar welcome, and leaving hearing “Thank you, sis.” This campaign is a fight to defend the forests, to take back power and let voters decide, and to resist growing investment and militarization of the police. And the reason this city has erupted with activity to collect 70,000 signatures is simply a love that is rooted and cultivated in the legacy of struggles for justice won and lost on southern soil.
Unitarian Universalists are showing up in beautiful and creative ways. We are knocking on doors and talking to folks at supermarkets and parks. Volunteers enjoy fresh fruit provided by High Street Congregation in Macon, while climate activists connect with our Northwest UU Congregation to print zines for a mobilization this weekend. Our Side With Love staff, Rev. Cathy Rion Starr and Racheal Myslivy are building systems to help Atlanta voters fix errors in their petition signatures and joined a team of 20 UUs as we canvassed at the Day of Action on August 5th. It is an immense honor to co-lead and collaborate in this work.
We have 4 more days to get on the November ballot, but the relationships we've built and the commitment we have made will continue beyond this campaign. The love we have for one another is felt in our commitment to show up and preserve our collective well-being.
I know there are many struggles our fellow UUs are fighting right now. This referendum campaign, like the Floridians Protecting Freedom campaign and Ohioans’ rejection of Issue 1 is a struggle to return power to the people. It is not just about a single issue, but the expression of love and care for our communities. I ask that you take a moment to witness the transformational love that is moving through your communities, your work for justice, and your hearts. Thank you for your love and support of Side With Love.
In faith and solidarity,
Nicole Pressley
Field & Programs Director
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