In May, People’s Solidarity Hub had the privilege of being a one-day host site for the 40th Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) cohort. Organized by the Center for Third World Organizing, this cohort “is a paid summer intensive training program that provides Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other people of color with the opportunity to develop skills and experience in grassroots organizing.” The program’s success lies in its ability to “bring motivated young activists together from all over the country to teach them the science and art of organizing communities around their most salient issues.” In preparing to host the 13 fellows that came to Durham for the day, SVA’s Frontline Funds and People’s Solidarity Hub teams were gifted an opportunity to create a brief snapshot of the historical and contemporary landscape of Durham and NC as a whole.
The day started with a tour of the campus. The PSH team took the cohort through the teal building, then gave them a glimpse of the concrete pad that will soon become the outdoor PSH Pavilion. The tour ended in the white building, and cohort members were invited to take a brief gallery walk to absorb and contemplate pieces from the “Against the Machine” art exhibit.
Afterwards, a member of the Frontline Funds team wove a brief but illustrative timeline of major political events that shaped the NC organizing landscape. MAAP cohort members were provided space to listen and reflect on the impact of major events like the Wilmington Coup, Black student organizing during the Civil Rights movement, the Greensboro massacre, and current political campaigns which have varied from fair wage struggles to funding for policing alternatives.
With this context placed before the attendees, PSH and Frontline Funds invited 3 community members to share wisdoms and struggles from their current political battles. These community members gave sharp political critiques about the violent and racist policies coming out of the family policing system, the lack of protection for HBCU students organizing for fair housing, and the need to mobilize community members in the struggle against imperialism and colonial violence. The conversation was evocative and gave the cohort members plenty to discuss during lunch.
After their meals, the cohort members were briefed on the Durham Rising campaigns, which aims to organize Durham residents around a campaign to push Duke to set aside money for community led initiatives as apart of a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (or PILOT) program. After the briefing, the cohort members got on-the-ground field organizer training by participating in a blitz at a local grocery store to inform and engage community members about the campaign. After the blitz, they made their way back to the host site in Eastern NC.
The MAAP crew left behind a clear sense of the importance of intersectional organizing. Their visit created space to reflect on the importance of convening the powerful organizers that frequent and use the PSH and whose work has been supported by Frontline Funds.