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TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
A LOVE LETTER TO THE MOVEMENT by Dr. Ashley Marshall
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The Case for a Third Reconstruction Essay by Kimaya Davis
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VISUALIZING THE THIRD RECONSTRUCTION by Brittany Cheatham and Damola Akintunde with images made by AI
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REVIVAL AND 10 RESURGENCE
Mona Evans in conversation with Kimaya Davis
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THE DEMAND WE FOR LIVING DEMAND CHANGE. WAGES by Isaiah Withers and Ashley Mitchell
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CULTURE COMMENT REFLECTION CORNER
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RECENT EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY
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A LOVE LETTER TO THE MOVEMENT by Dr. Ashley Marshall DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FORWARD JUSTICE To our Beloved Community, Friends, and Allies, The past few years have brought us unprecedented experiences, emotions, battles, and victories- both individually and collectively. But, like so many generations before us, we stood together and loved, laughed, resisted, and survived through it all. Our community is beautiful because of its resilience, boldness, and deep rooted love; and we envision this journal, The Forward Star, to be a collective, physical expression of that beauty. When we began the process of creating this journal, we knew it needed to serve the heads, hearts, and minds of those on the front lines with us in the fight for full liberation. In a time where it is becoming dangerous to speak truth to power - it is our responsibility as advocates for racial justice - to raise the conscientiousness level of our community to the real plights and possibilities for our liberation. It has been our honor to work with the community to co-create this platform and give a voice to our rising tide of pride, vision, and purpose. The themes and concepts that we will explore together in this journal are all in service of our collective liberation, validation, education, and healing.
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This journal is our love letter to the movement and its people, a safe space to speak about our experiences, hopes, work, and dreams in our voices. We’re passing this microphone to those whose screams for justice and freedom have gone unheard for far too long. To all of us fighting systemic oppression, unchecked capitalism, an inhumane carceral system, environmental injustice, police violence, and generational curses- we see you, we are here with you, and this journal is for you. We invite you to join us in redefining resistance, reimagining freedom and safety, and creating brilliant visions of a shared future where we all have the opportunities and resources to thrive, the freedom to dream, and the safety to exist boundlessly and fearlessly as the most full and authentic versions of ourselves. We hope that the essays, artwork, interviews, policy analysis, and reflections you find in these pages will uplift and empower you; and, we invite you to contribute your voice, talents, and visions to future editions. From Fredrick Douglas’ The North Star, to W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Crisis, publications that tell our stories, and are for us, by us, have been essential in our movements. The Forward Star is our bridge from the past through the present and into the future. We hope that it will serve you as a resource, rallying call, inspiration, and safe space as we chart a path ahead together towards radical resistance, transformative justice, and true freedom.
Ashley Marshall - Ashley Marshall, PhD
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FORWARD JUSTICE
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Food for Thought
The Case for a Third Reconstruction ESSAY BY KIMAYA DAVIS Racism was a major part of America’s birth story and is baked into the very fabric of this country’s DNA. Throughout this country’s history, the federal government has responded to the mistreatment of African Americans with one approach: Reconstruction. The First Reconstruction era was a pivotal historical marker that redefined freedom for Black Americans and simultaneously exposed the division of these yet to be United States. Spanning a little over three decades, from the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and abolition of slavery in 1865 to the white supremacist-led riot in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, the First Reconstruction established a set of competing social and political frameworks regarding Black citizenship, Black life, and democracy. As the idea of Black freedom gained new meaning, this era was followed by decades of Jim Crow, cementing the principle of “separate but equal.” The “Second Reconstruction” occurred during the transformative period of the civil rights era— from 1954 to 1968. Key moments like the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and
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the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 expanded the rights of Black Americans. However, those wins were succeeded with persistent violence throughout the nation and the surge of structural racism. The First and Second Reconstruction show the pattern we continue to see today – the onset of Black advancement triggers white resistance. For Black America, Reconstruction remains unfinished business and the problems that required a federal response have never ended. The racial violence, systemic racism, political divisions, and narrative wars that emerged from both Reconstruction eras continue in our own time. Mass incarceration, felony disenfranchisement, voter suppression, environmental injustice, health disparities, police violence, and economic injustice disproportionately plagues Black communities across our country. We must embody the spirit of our ancestors as we usher in a New Reconstruction. Our communities are standing together to create new systems and policies grounded in love, equity, and collective care. We demand that our federal and local governments pass policies to ensure living wages, affordable housing, equitable access to healthcare, and an end to the criminalization of Black life.
We leave you to reflect on this questions: What does building a new world look like to you?
In what ways can America right the generational wrongs that impact Black Americans throughout the country, in your community, and in your family?
In this moment, we are calling for a New Reconstruction to address the failed promises of its predecessors and build a world where we all have an equal opportunity to thrive.
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by Brittany Cheatham and Damola Akintunde with images made by AI Reconstruction is “The historic period from 18611900 in which the United States grappled with the question of how to integrate millions of newly freed African Americans into social, political, and labor systems (Source: NPS.gov).”
The promises we’ve heard, like ‘40 acres and a mule’, were ideas that came out of that First Reconstruction, but they were never fully realized.
60 years after that, Black, Brown and poor people were still fighting for humane treatment, living wages, voting rights, and access to quality education- all basic human rights.
But since then, by and large our conditions have remained unchanged, inequitable, and unsustainable. In fact, many of the signature achievements of the civil rights movement, and those that came after, have been rolled back in recent years. F I R S T
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Instead of being met with social programs and financial resources, newly emancipated Black people were faced with campaigns of lynching and terror, Black Codes, and predatory sharecropping agreements. Only former plantation owners received any sort of payment or reparations from the US government after the abolition of slavery. (Source: Politico)
The Civil Rights (1954-1968) and Women’s Rights (1848-1920) movements achieved some policy gains in the form of voting rights, employment equity, and anti discrimination clauses;
It’s time for a NEW Reconstruction that fully realizes our birthright promises of equity and freedom, promises that have been centuries in the making. N O V E M B E R
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Right now in America, a single parent with two children earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour needs to work 252 hours per week to make a living wage. (Source: MIT)
For this NEW Reconstruction, we demand: living wages; equitable access to healthcare, employment, housing, and childcare; protected and expanded voting rights; and an immediate end to: systemic racism, the criminalization of poverty, militarization of the police, ecological devastation and injustice, and mass incarceration.
It’s time for us to have access to the resources we deserve, so we can thrive. F I R S T
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Revival and Resurgence:
Mona Evans in conversation with Kimaya Davis Mona Evans is the proud Founder of Bonded Families, a non-profit dedicated to reunifying families by providing support, resources, and guidance to strengthen bonds, rebuild trust, and create a loving environment for all families to thrive. Through her work at Benevolence Farm, Mona saw a need to support the successful reentry and reunification of women and their families.
Who is Mona Evans Kimaya (K) : Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Mona (M): I am a mother of three. I’m originally from Detroit, Michigan. I am formerly incarcerated. As of now, I do a lot of caregiver work on the side, helping out with the elderly. I work for an organization called Benevolence Farm; I’m the Family Reunification Advocate there and the Enterprise Assistant, and I am the Founder of Bonded Families.
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K
So I want to touch on a couple of things. You say you are formerly incarcerated. When did you get released?
M
I got released May 2, 2022.
K
And how long were you incarcerated?
M
I was sentenced to 51 to 84 months. But I got out with good behavior at four and a half.
K
Four and a half years?
M
Yes.
Mass Incarceration’s Impact on Motherhood K
Tell me a little bit about your experience being incarcerated and having children versus once you got home and what that experience was like reuniting with your babies.
M I want to be completely honest. So
I would say actually, when I was in prison, yes, it was hard being away from my kids, not being physically able to touch them and the stipulations on communication. What I mean by that, I mean not being able to talk to them when I wanted to due to the fact that the phones
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shut off at a certain time or if my pod was on lockdown, we weren’t able to have access to the phones. Then, also, I was incarcerated during the peak of COVID, so when I first came in visitation was already dwindling out. By the time I got to the midpoint of my sentence, they stopped full blown visitation, so no physical contact with my children was the hardest part. Reuniting with them, it was very overwhelming – but it was also something that I looked forward to because it was what I was working towards. I will say there were a lot of challenges and a lot of barriers as far as reuniting with them. One, because my daughters were in Michigan. Me and their father don’t really have the greatest relationship, so trying to transition and get them here was a difficult task. My son was a lot easier. It was all on my terms as far as how fast I could find a place for him to come live with me. So his transition was a lot quicker. But one thing that I noticed once I did finally reunite with them and get them back was dealing with the challenges of them trying to get to know me all over again and me trying to get to know them with learning how to discipline and just trying to get back into that parent mode [from] before prison is what I really struggled with. Because of us being separated for so long, it’s kind of like you’re reintroducing yourself to strangers. You’re trying to build those bonds, to get them to trust you, to learn each other and it’s a difficult process.
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The Work of Bonded Families K
Can you tell me more in detail about the work that y’all are currently doing?
M Okay, so as of now, Bonded Families
has housed five women and 11 children into homes. We do a lot of placement as far as finding a home, we do all the background work. Some of these women have been incarcerated for quite a long time. They don’t know how to navigate as far as getting their energy cut on, they don’t really have a clue about how to pay their rent online, so I assist them with things like that. I’ve also helped a few clients find job placements. Bonded Families operates on a client-need basis. Basically, whatever the client that I’m working for needs, is what I do. I have clients that I refer to clothing places for them to get clothes for their children and themselves. Also, we work with a lot of the furniture ministries in the community to help the clients once they get housing. We have meetings the second Thursday of every month and at these meetings we offer free childcare and free dinner. The childcare part was very important to me because childcare is very expensive. A lot of parents want to come to meetings to support themselves and to make social connections, but a lot of them don’t
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have babysitters or childcare to watch their kids during those meetings. It was very important for me to incorporate and to have that space where people can come in, get the help that they need, and know that their children are right next door being cared for. That was very important for me to offer that aspect of it. With providing dinner, there are a lot of formerly incarcerated people, depending on the drug charge and the level of the felony or misdemeanor, who are not able to receive SNAP benefits. So, that was my way to help with food insecurities for people who are struggling with putting food on the table. I wanted to incorporate that by making sure everyone is fed. I always feel like you’re at your best when all your needs personally are taken care of. I’m really big on women supporting women. That was another part of what I wanted to incorporate in Bonded Families – building those connections within each other and being able to have shared resources. The point of us learning each other, bonding, and building trust within the group is so that we can also establish resources within the group. For instance, if you have two women who are struggling with childcare and work separate shifts, maybe they can trade off and help each other out. That’s where I got the whole aspect as far as women supporting women. And then also, focusing on self-healing, getting our confidence and our dignity back.
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Final Thoughts Kimaya: Anything else that you want to share? Mona: I feel like a way to build our communities, this might be a little cliche, but we have to focus on our families. Our families are so significant to our communities and just giving families resources and strengthening them, that will also strengthen our communities. There are other ways to support these families other than just separating them. Start giving families equal access to the resources. I know in a lot of Black and brown communities, there aren’t equal opportunities when it comes to resources. Making sure that everyone has equal opportunities
to those resources is very imperative and important to help strengthen our communities.
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The Demand for Living Wages B Y A S H L E Y M I T C H E L L /STAFF ATTORNEY & I S A I A H W I T H E R S /SENIOR ORGANIZER
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o you find it concerning that people who Asia Moore, also a Food Lion worker in Raleigh, work full-time jobs for minimum wage North Carolina said, “The wages do not equal up cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment to how we were really living, everything literally 1 in any state in the country? Here in North went up but … the wages are just not livable.” Carolina, the 2023 statewide minimum wage is “You need two or three jobs just to make ends only $7.25, making the monthly income roughly 2 meet,” said Vivian Covington, an employee at a only $377 . The current Fair Market Rent (FMR) Raleigh, NC Food Lion”. for a two-Bedroom rental home in this great state is $1,120 per month- a whopping $743 The growth of hustle culture throughout the difference. Without even factoring in a car state and nation speaks to the ongoing lack payment, gas to commute to work, childcare, of access to living wages. No matter the time medical expenses, or any other necessary of day, whether you’re expenses to live, these ordering a late-night unsustainably low meal for dinner through wages usher in several GrubHub or UberEats, challenges for people or need a ride to the trying to make a living; airport through Lyft, Vivian Covington Raleigh, NC Food Lion especially in popular you’ll find a driver cities like Raleigh, who has a very similar story of taking on that Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Greenville, job just to stay afloat. In 2022, there were 1.3 Jacksonville, Wilmington, and Winston Salem million North Carolinians — including 388,000 where the cost of living is higher than the state children — living below the poverty level, which average. is $15,000 for an individual adult or $30,000 for a family of four4. More than 30 states and Washington D.C have
“You need two or three jobs just to make ends meet,”
raised their minimum wage since 20093, but North Carolina maintains the same minimum wage that’s been in place since 2008. North Carolinians making the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour must work 119 hours per week to afford a 2-Bedroom rental home at FMR. While states like California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington have raised their minimum wage to $15 per hour, the federal minimum wage hasn’t changed since 2009. It too remains a mere $7.25, even as the cost of living soars.
https://nlihc.org/oor https://nlihc.org/oor/state/nc
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WE WANT CHANGE. Are the laws and policies not changing because we are not proposing change? NO. In 2023, THREE BILLS were proposed that would raise the minimum wage and provide support and security for working North Carolinians.
https://raisingwagesnc.org/2023-press-release https://www.wunc.org/news/2023-09-15/child-poverty-rate-joe-biden-tax-credit-north-carolina
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HB620/SB447 Was introduced on March 30 2023 in the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA).
THIS BILL WOULD: 1
Increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025
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Adjust the minimum wage automatically each year by increases in the cost of living-and end the subminimum wage for persons with disabilities
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Phase out the subminimum wage for tipped employees
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End the exemption for agricultural, domestic, and incarcerated workers 5
HB 817
Were any of these bills passed during any of the 2023 legislative sessions? NO. Why? Because our legislators do not seem to find it important that the people of their state are able to afford to live above the poverty line. Their priorities appear NOT to include ensuring that all hard working North Carolinians are able to afford the home that they lay their head in, and necessities like child care, medical expenses, transportation, etc. They seem to think that loosening gun laws should take precedence over ensuring that the hard working citizens they are sworn to represent do not lose their jobs during times of medical need, in an already devastating economy.
WE DEMAND CHANGE.
The ‘Healthy Families & Workplaces/Paid Sick Days Act’- was also introduced in the NCGA and promotes healthy families and healthy workplaces by ensuring that all workers have earned paid sick days to address their own health needs, and the health needs of their families, without fear of losing their jobs due to time missed.
SB418 The ‘NC Paid Family Leave Insurance Act’ was introduced in the NC Senate on March 29th. THIS BILL WOULD ESTABLISH A PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE INSURANCE PROGRAM FOR WORKING NORTH CAROLINIANS WHICH WOULD: 1
Allow working North Carolinians to access up to 12 weeks of paid time off when they bring a new child home or care for a family member with serious health conditions
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Provide up to 18 weeks of paid time off due to a worker’s own serious health conditions
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Provide up to 26 weeks to care for a family member who incurred an injury or illness in the armed services
BUT HOW? How do we change a system that seems set on ignoring and disregarding us? We have to: 1
Advocate for policies that provide living wages and worker protections
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Support the officials who support those policies
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Hold state leaders accountable when they repeatedly discount the will of the people by disregarding the needs of the people
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Organize for change right where we are and support frontline movements
https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S447v1.pdf
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In September 2023, Durham sanitation workers collectively went on a six-day strike, leaving trash cans full to the brim in Durham neighborhoods, demanding a $25 per hour minimum for city employees6. In March 2023, the University of Chapel Hill’s housekeeping workers demanded, and have been organizing for, raising the wage to $20 an hour7. In both cases, these workers clock in everyday and put their bodies on the line to upkeep many things that state officials seem to take for granted. Across the south and the nation, we’re seeing fed up workers standing together, organizing with a fist in the air refusing to take anymore.
So, how do we organize right here, right now, to force the change that we deserve and know is possible? It all starts with having a conversation. Talk with your co-workers about the issues in the workplace that are impacting you all, and find enough support and solidarity amongst staff to hold meetings around the main issues that are persisting. Once you all have an understanding of the issues you’re facing, this can move you into identifying and defining the win or solution that would meet everyone’s needs and best suit the situation. With each passing meeting, you’d also need to hold actions to attract the company’s attention and encourage a productive dialogue. The example above, of the Durham sanitation workers refusing to empty out the trash cans, is a form of direct action and frustration from
the workers to attract management’s attention. The rallies and protests the University of Chapel Hill housekeepers hosted were another form of action that got the attention of students and local stakeholders, to help them understand the issues that the workers are facing at the university. No matter where you are, both of these examples can serve as an inspiration for you to take action in your community, and a reminder of the ongoing fight for the rights of working-class people across this nation. History has shown us that power truly resides in the hands of the working class people. Voting and policy advocacy is only one tool in our arsenal.
We know that through organizing, we can build our collective power, eliminate the power of the corporation, and force change.
If you have questions about how to organize in your workplace or community, email iwithers@forwardjustice.org
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2023/09/12/durham-sanitation-workers-end-strike-without-demands-met https://www.ueunion.org/ue-news/2023/overworked-and-underpaid-unc-housekeepers-rally-again-for-20-per-hour F I R S T E D I T I O N N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3
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Recent Events in the Community
Forward Together Moral Monday Ten-Year Anniversary & Recommitment Rally April 24, 2023
Unlock Our Vote Community Teach In February 2023
Poor People’s Campaign Moral Poverty Action Congress June 23, 2023
Fed Up Friday Launch November 3rd, 2023
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Culture Comment Reflection Corner Thank you for reading this edition of the Forward Star Journal. We encourage you to use this space to reflect on the themes we’ve discussed here of freedom, resistance, and the third reconstruction. What do these things mean or look like to you? Scan the QR code below to unlock interactive content in the digital journal and share your thoughts with the editorial team.
EDITORIAL TEAM DAMOLA AKINTUNDE BRITTANY CHEATHAM KIMAYA DAVIS ASHANTI SCOTT IMAGE AND TEXT CONTRIBUTORS DAMOLA AKINTUNDE BRITTANY CHEATHAM DR. ASHLEY MARSHALL ISAIAH WITHERS ASHLEY MITCHELL STACEY SPRENZ GRAPHIC DESIGN WINNIE OKWAKOL
INSTAGRAM @FORWARDJUSTICE TWITTER @FORWARD_JUSTICE FACEBOOK @FORWARDJUSTICEORG TIK TOK @FORWARD_JUSTICE
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Resources from The Movement BOOKS
SISTERS OF THE YAM by bell hooks
SONGS
WHAT WE KNOW: SOLUTIONS FROM OUR EXPERIENCES IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, edited by Vivian Nixon and Daryl Atkinson
WE ARE CALLED TO BE A MOVEMENT by Rev. William J Barber II
AFENI Rapsody and PJ Morton
DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR Solange
FLORIDA WATER Crystal Paris Red
LEGAL SUPPORT FORM 415 - Do you or your loved ones have outstanding criminal legal fines & fees in North Carolina? You may be able to petition for relief using this form. FOR MORE INFORMATION visit endcriminaljusticedebtnc.org.
EXPUNGEMENT RESOURCES - Do you or someone you know need help getting your record cleared of old charges? Learn more about expungement eligibility on the NC Second Chance Alliance website. F I R S T
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FORWARDJUSTICE (919) 323-3889 INFO@FORWARDJUSTICE.ORG FORWARDJUSTICE.ORG E D I T I O N
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