Russ Vie Brooks and Libby Earle represented Hopedale at the Meet Up 4 Justice workshop at St. John’s UU in Cincinnati April 9, 2016. Three local activists shared their current work. Troy Jackson of the AMOS Project frames his activism from a faith perspective:” being prophets of the resistance by confronting the Principalities of Power—those people in positions of power who refuse to see and acknowledge the people who are suffering. Currently the AMOS projects include (1) proposing Universal Preschool (any property tax should fund families at 200% o f poverty and provide living wages to workers), (2) addressing racial disparities in the juvenile justice system where a disproportionate number of AA youth are held to trial, (3) registering new voters, and (4) retroactively reducing non violent felony drug convictions to misdemeanors.
Pastor Ennis Tait from the Church of the Living God discussed the importance of outreach at the street level to address violence. Project Ceasefire has been successful in teaching conflict resolution in three schools, but Cincinnati is reluctant to provide funding long term to interventions.
Stephen Johnson-Grove presented OJPC ‘s efforts to impact policy by framing reform in terms of promoting the health of the community and police officers.
The workshop focused on Cincinnati, but could provide some direction for Butler County.
Social Justice Committee, HUUC 