Samiya Rasheed and Rosalyn Lucas attended an advocacy event together Tuesday evening, despite the 90° temperatures and no air conditioning inside the Ecumenical Campus Ministries building.
Luckily, Lawrence PRIDE brought enough paddle fans to help people withstand the heat. Similarly, it along with 14 other local organizations at “Loud & Local: A Summer Advocacy Forum” brought the heat to withstand what’s happening in the government.
“I think things like these are genuinely how I am coping best,” Rasheed said, referring to the event. “Because as much as there are these huge things that I feel really helpless towards, under any circumstance it’s good for me to remind myself that I do have whatever power I have, especially on a local level.”
Hosted by youth-led civic engagement group Loud Light, the forum Tuesday aimed to plug community members into organizations that celebrate culture and defend human rights.
“I think joy in this time is kind of a radical act,” Lucas said. “Loving your friends and family, loving your community and trying to build people up.”
The 15 organizations present hosted tables, sharing tangible action items and free social gatherings aimed at building community through tumultuous times.
Lucas said visiting with Lawrence Tenants on Tuesday piqued her interest about involvement.
The group is composed of renters championing safe, accessible and truly affordable housing for all and is currently pushing for countywide tenant right to counsel, which would guarantee legal representation for anyone facing eviction.
“I think especially right now, we’re all trying to have whatever agency we can,” Lucas said. “And right to counsel seems to be something that has a clearer route to approach and will really, really help the many people that are faced with evictions that are constantly unfair.”
Douglas County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is looking for volunteers, Program Director India Herman said, as the program seeks more innovative ways to meet the needs of kids in the child welfare system.
Alina Matejkowski operates the ACLU of Kansas’ social media platforms as the digital communications specialist. She discussed a new legal reform work and immigration advocacy folks can lend help to. She said the organization also serves as a resource.
“Feel free to always use that as a resource, because we try to be as responsive as possible,” Matejkowski told attendees. “Because these issues are personal. They affect you. They will personally affect you and your loved ones.”
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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