Letter from the Editor -- February

Letter from the Editor

(above: Anthony Williams, photographed by Xarí Rivera)

Hi there,

I'm Anthony Williams, Editor-in-Chief of the Afrikan Black Coalition blog and Prison Divestment Communications Director. As your editor, my job is to bring you the highest quality work from our staff writers, staff members, ABC members, and guest contributors to represent our mission of Black liberation. As a statewide Black youth organization based in California, we amplify and represent Black voices all throughout the diaspora. Please feel free to browse the archives of our blog to return to a particular piece from 2016.

 

January 2016

This inaugural letter from the editor is long overdue. In January alone we had a piece commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from our Deputy Communications Director Blake Simons, a conversation about revolution or reform from Staff Writer Alyx Goodwin, a meditation on #NotAllWhitePeople by Executive Administrator Kwesi, an exploration of the non-traditional student paradox by Guest Contributor Joel N Jenkins, and an investigation into the mistreatment of Black trans women like Deonna Mason by me.

 

What's Next?

February brings us the annual Afrikan Black Coalition Conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara, but also lots of new writing. Expect reporting on the conference from our new Staff Writer Delency Parham, voices from abroad, messages from alumni, reporting on our prison divestment campaign & petition, and a new feature that will help you get to know the Afrikan Black Coalition staff a little better. But what does ABC do, exactly? Well...

 

Top 10 Accomplishments of 2015

  1. Afrikan Black Coalition (ABC) staff was formally hired

  2. UC Berkeley launched a successful demands campaign

  3. CSU Los Angeles launched a successful demands campaign

  4. UC Merced, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz launched successful demands campaigns and are in the process of negotiation

  5. Black Student Leadership Training (BSLT) was a major success

  6. ABC is finalizing the induction of seven California State University campuses into our organization

  7. Assembly Bill No. 953--a bill supported by ABC that requires collection of stop data by police departments across California--was signed by Governor Jerry Brown

  8. Black Community Project (BCP) launched its first after school program at Bunche Academy in West Oakland

  9. ABC’s Communications Department significantly increased our presence across Facebook, Twitter, and popular media.

  10. The Afrikan Black Coalition pressured the University of California system to divest $25 MILLION from private prisons!

These accomplishments are also available in our new monthly newsletter, which you can sign up for here.

Thank You

As a current student and staff member myself, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Black organizers on our California campuses, but also all over the world. From #FeesMustFall in South Africa to #TraumaCenterNow in Chicago, and finally to #ConcernedStudent1950 in Missouri, we stand with Blackfolks all over the world in asserting that we will win.

Peace,

Anthony