John,
This week, I sat down with Justan Fields -- not the Chicago Bears' new quarterback -- the protest organizer and leader, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Lehigh Valley, and candidate for Allentown City Council.
Justan had never
really been involved in politics before -- it had run in his family, sure, but he'd never been too engaged.
But when the police shot and killed Philando Castile back in 2016, Justan decided to try and organize a protest in his hometown of Allentown, PA. Not too many people showed up, but it was an important moment for him. A few years later, when George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, Justan tried again --
and this time, hundreds came out to show their support for Black lives.
He learned to understand the power of protest and of organizing people to stand against systemic racism as a collective. He took these learnings and is now fighting for a seat on the Allentown City Council where he could become the first gay Black man to serve.
As Justan puts it "While there's power in protest, there's also power in policy."
You can listen now on podcatchers everywhere!
Don't forget to subscribe for episode updates!
Thanks,
Amanda Litman
Co-founder
Run for Something
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Run for Something is a grassroots-powered organization that recruits and empowers young progressives running for local office, with the goal of winning permanent power for decades to come. We rely on support from grassroots donors pitching in a little to create big change. Please chip in now to help us continue running and winning.
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