This week, Aja is joined with Jasmine and Kwame of Community Movement Builders to discuss current events unfolding in District 12 as CMB continues to organize and build life-affirming solutions for residents. Organizers report they are being met with “misconduct, abuse of power, and failure to meet fiduciary duties” by local gentrifiers and members of the district’s neighborhood planning unit (NPU). CMB has shared with Mainline a letter on behalf of the organization to the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Association in a call for accountability and action, which the three discuss in detail in the episode.Over the course of their organizing, CMB reports to us that they’ve been met with various behaviors and tactics from local gentrifiers and residents, including weaponizing code enforcement, calling 911 on Black residents’ homes, getting a free fridge shut down during a global pandemic, harassing Black organizers and residents, and violating bylaws of the NPU.
Jasmine and Kwame discuss conditions in District 12 in more detail, discussing broad issues of gentrification and policing in hyperlocalized terms taking shape in real time.Organizers are calling on residents to join them this Sat., March 5, at 10 a.m. to join in these calls for accountability against local gentrifying tactics that directly harm mutual aid efforts and harm low-income and working class Black Atlantans. Follow CMB on Instagram & Twitter at @communitymovementbuilders for more details.
This episode originally aired on WRFG Atlanta 89.3 FM and has been republished with permissions.
To hear the extended version of this episode and access other bonus features, go to https://patreon.com/mainlinezine
