Welcome to the new Ujima Staff WIRE! The Staff WIRE is an extension of our monthly #CO-DIRECT meeting, which happens on the first Wednesday of each month, meant to update and provide a consistent window of opportunity for Ujima members to see and participate in key activities led by staff within the Ujima Ecosystem. The Ujima Staff WIRE is a monthly publication.
A More Perfect Union Ujima
On September 30, 2020 6:30-8:30PM, in partnership with the Black Economic Council of MA (BECMA) and Mayor's Office of Resilience and Racial Equity, Ujima staff will present a lively panel and Q&A discussion on the past and current mechanisms of democracy, citizenship and voting in the United States.
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“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” -- Preamble to the United States Constitution
The preamble, or enacting clause, to the United States Constitution offers intentions, promise and purpose for the founding of our nation. These words introduce the mechanisms through which the framers sought to ensure the blessing of liberty and establishment of justice, among other things, for all people.
What would it mean to look at the quality of our engagement with the United States, as if it were truly an experimental project? What would happen if we viewed our country as a continually evolving concept rather than a fixed model? How can we think through, and co-create new ways of engagement? How do we understand power and governance through the ways it's enacted today, both in the Ujima Project and within the United States? Together, Ujima staff will reflect on our experiences and use the Ujima Project and the American Project as the lens through which we can compare and contrast citizenship and the performance of citizenship in 2020. This conversation proposes liberation not as an end point, but as horizon, exercise, praxis.
“[M]aking a revolution is not a series of clever maneuvers and tactics, but a process that can and must transform us” ― Robin D.G. Kelley, Freedom Dreams
PERSPECTIVES ON DEMOCRACY
Johnny Charles: Reimagining Race and Equity: Restructuring the Conversation about Wealth and Voting
James Vamboi: Democracy is a Relationship
Jenny Geffrard: Democracy is an Opportunity
Nia Evans: Shape the Parameters We Fight and Live In / Let's Be Our Government
The following quote is from the report "Get Out the Vote: Increasing Voter Participation at Boston Ujima Project" by Yohana Beyene and Karl Kumodzi.
This quote, from a Ujima member, about their experience voting with us, is so full. For me, the promise of experiments like Ujima and others is the ability to exercise real, positive power, in our lifetimes, not just on behalf of ourselves but also our communities. Knowing that we can have, taking and accepting control of decisions that heavily impact our lives are a huge step towards individual and collective well being.
Cierra Peters: Everyone's Work is Equally Important in a More Perfect Union
TONIGHT at 6PM: Alternative Education with Demita Frazier Part 2
Our next Ujima Financial & Political Education Workshop is tonight, Wednesday, September 23, from 6:00pm-7:15pm.
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- 6:00-7:15PM #CoLearn: This week we're joined, again, by Demita Frazier to discuss Alternative Education. Demita is a lawyer, writer, teacher, and activist. She is a founding member of the Combahee River Collective.
- 7:15-8:30PM #CoCreation: Business Support Member Team
PLEASE RSVP. Thank you!
- September 23rd Alternative Education with Demita Frazier
- September 23rd Business Support Member Team Meeting
- Join online: Register here for Ujima Meeting
Time: Wednesday, September 23rd, 6PM | Location: Zoom Only
#CoLearning Recap: Alternative Education
Last week we were visited by Demita Fraizer, who talked with us about alternative education and Black Feminist practice. Click here to listen to the chat and view our notes.
Upcoming Ujima Meetings
We hold Open Meetings every Wednesday at 6pm via Zoom. Check out our September Calendar below!
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#UjimaWednesdays Meeting Agenda:
6:00-7:15 - Community Building + Financial and Political Education.
7:15-8:30 - Member Team Meetings (Based on a rotating schedule; See calendar above)
