Our biggest transition this month:

After co-facilitating the Ominira teen program at Assata’s Daughters for the past year, we’re shifting gears and training some recent Ominira graduates to become facilitators in their own right. Through the Azubike program, these graduates have the opportunity to educate other AD youth about Black feminism, history, and community organizing, while strengthening their toolkits as facilitators. Young people teaching curriculum to young people is a new venture for AD, and we’re excited to help support this evolution of their already-amazing program, and to continue working with some of the baddest, Blackest, young women and femmes in the city.

We published a short piece in the upcoming issue of In These Times magazine, titled “There’s Nothing New About Not Calling 911”, part of a larger series of essays engaging current discussions on alternatives to calling law enforcement in moments of crisis. In it, we outline examples of community safety already exhibited by oppressed communities that don’t rely on police, and strategies for challenging our current justice system that look to poor, Black, and undocumented people for inspiration. Lookout for the print and online versions of the essay later this month, and consider subscribing to In These Times to receive their monthly magazine.

We’re having a great summer with undergraduates in the Engage Chicago program, visiting various organizations around the city, and thinking more deeply about the community organizing tactics our political moment most calls for. Last week we visited American Friends Service Committee to learn more about the #NoCopAcademy campaign, as well as AFSC’s work around ending youth detention in Gaza. This week we’re checking out Organized Communities Against Deportations on the West Side, discussing the long fight to #AbolishICE which has recently entered mainstream discourse. Later this month, we’ll visit other groups like Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago—all organizations you should support!

Our Patreon page is getting so close to its $200 mark. Please consider becoming a monthly donor if you haven’t already. Every dollar makes a big difference in keeping our work sustainable.

Stay posted here for more updates—especially as we get closer to the fall season!

BH