Pride Month and Juneteenth are upon us, so let’s talk about freedom!
Last week, I had the honor of attending the People’s Summit, a gathering of activists from across North and South America, to learn about our shared struggles and build a movement to liberate all people of color from exploitation. (You can rewatch all of the excellent panels here!) The idea that our fates are all bound together is one I continue to contemplate as I return home.
In this spirit, I was incredibly honored to introduce a resolution enabling us to fly the Pride Progress Flag at City Hall in honor of the newly-established Athens Pride Month, and commend Mayor Girtz for doing the same for the Juneteenth flag.
The Juneteenth flag will fly this week and next, and the Pride flag will return to the flagpole to close out the month of June. I hope these historic sights will remind passersby that none of us are free until all of us are free-- Black, queer, white, straight, Latino, our liberation must be collective. As well, I hope you’ll join us this Friday as we raise the Juneteenth flag at City Hall for the very first time!
As Commissioner Thornton noted in our voting meeting, flying a flag is not enough. I’m looking forward to continued collaboration with the Athens Pride + Queer Collective to improve our Human Rights Campaign score by implementing youth bullying prevention policy for city services, among other tangible measures, in the year to come. As well, central to me is building power with Black youth so that the next generation may define their own future.
Last week I also had the honor of marching with striking fast food workers calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to sign legislation affirming their right to collectively bargain-- and with it, the dignity of living wages and better working conditions. I was incredibly inspired by the bravery of folks often dismissed as “burger flippers” but who, in reality, keep our communities fed— a very noble thing!
All this, too, echoes a struggle we face here in Athens. Prior to this year, 70% of our public library staff made less than $15/hr; this year, the workers rose up. I believe that economic freedom is true freedom, and so I’m deeply grateful that, in this year’s city budget, we raised library workers’ pay to at least $15/hr, even as we reduced the millage rate.
But the fight goes on: almost 2000 people working for the University of Georgia -- and nearly half of the Black, full-time employees-- still make less than a living wage. Despite the average rent in Athens rising 33% from 2017-2021, UGA employees have not received a cost-of-living adjustment since 1990. I encourage everyone to sign this petition and stand with the United Campus Workers in pushing for thriving wages for our neighbors who make this campus and this city run.
As well, we are still in struggle against the bondage of incarceration; consider that, before Emancipation, ninety-nine percent of prisoners in Alabama's penitentiaries were white; within a short period of time after Emancipation and with the implementation of the Black Codes, the overwhelming majority of Alabama's convicts became black, and so it has remained since.
Incarceration traps not only suspects, but many families in our community into cycles of poverty and violence that we all ultimately feel. I frequently field phone calls from countless neighbors about the harms of family separation on our youth, of poverty driven by the loss of a second income when a family member is incarcerated, and the expense of merely staying in touch with their loved ones at the jail through a phone company whose profits ballooned from $70 million to $700 million during the pandemic, feeding off families could not physically visit their jailed loved ones.
Tomorrow, June 16th, the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement will be hosting a Father’s Day and Juneteenth Bail Out to help reunite families who are separated by incarceration— not because they have been convicted of crime, but simply because they cannot afford bail, which is the case of 67% of people held in our jail. Reach out if you know a family that could use the help or if you’re interested in supporting the effort.
I have been thinking increasingly of “freedom from fear” as the most foundational form of freedom. Housing for all as freedom from fear that you’ll be evicted, or fear that your partner might hit you and you can’t afford to move out, and freedom from fear of the homeless. Community gardens as freedom from fear you’ll get caught stealing food or pass out during your shift at work. Solidarity and collaboration as freedom from fear of people who aren’t like us, a fear that keeps working class people at war with one another rather than the forces holding us all back.
As I meditate more on my travels and prepare to represent new areas of Athens come January, I hope to gain greater clarity on the ways in which our struggles overlap and my role in bringing communities together.
Happy Juneteenth. Happy Pride.