Boycott , Boycott. While in St. Louis we boycotted Peabody. In the middle of the highway stopping traffic-WE MEAN BUSINESS!! Especially when it comes to our people and our health. Now you may know Peabody as one of the largest coal producing companies, but what people near these so called multi-billion dollar companies and factories, know is that they are not at all as good as they seem. Because huge companies like Peabody refuse to get rid of harmful toxic fumes the proper way, many of our people are affected from chemicals that are let off. They choose the CHEAP way and-there goes our health! Emissions are released into the air causing a number of health problems! ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS MOVE COAL, GET OUT THE WAY COAL GET OUT THE WAY!!

A few hours later we traveled to Kentucky also to PROTEST against factories doing harm to their communities. So you see its not just in one place, these plants are taking over the world, our people and our health! But are we going to let that happen? NO. What do we want? Clean energy. When do we want it. NOW!! Check us out in action here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1elLHojbcA

The excitement finally pays off, the day of our departure. I am one of the thousands of people participating in the United States Social Forum and one of the many traveling on the People’s Freedom Caravan. From Jackson,MS to St. Louis,MO. A few minutes late but we’re ready to roll! In St. Louis we’ll meet new people and organizations from St. Louis along with SWU (SouthWestWorkersUnion) and SWOP (South West Organizing Project). We will also be involved in many activities including the Labor Justice Tour, Protesting, and Flyering in the St. Louis Community. Sounds like we’ll have of excitement on our plate!!St. Louis here we come!! Check In Tomorrow for photos and footage of all of our fun!

My best community organizing experience was out petition drive to get the school board meeting time changed in our community. I am from Indianola, MS which is a majority black community that still believes in segregation. We have five schools located within my city that makes up the Indianola School District. The Indianola School District consists of Lockard Elementary School, Carver Elementary School, Robert L. Merritt Middle School, Cassie Pennington Junior School, and Gentry High School. Our city is divided by a railroad track. The north part of the city belongs to the white and the south part of the city belongs to the black. Within this separation lies a school board of 5 members, four blacks and one white. Out of the entire school board none of them have children in the district. Where are the parents’ voice?!?!?! Keep in mind they are always talking about parental involvement. How can parents be involved and the school board meetings are during the day at 1:30 pm. The policies are being made and set by a group of closed minded individuals that does not have any connection or communication with the students or parents. After all the incidents, confusion, disagreements we have been pushing the issues to get parents, administrators, teachers, and community folks on the board. We started petitions to get the school board meeting time changed to 6 in the evening so everyone could attend. We presented the petitions with over 1,000 names to the board three different times before they voted on the new school board time. We had our first evening school board meeting on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 6:00 pm.

Grenada, MS. -We have currently been working with the 2010 Census. Volunteering is what we do, no fees included! Within this past month, i and others of a community organization (Activists With A Purpose Plus) have been out working hard in our community. We have been out knocking on doors, posting signs, walking through hard to count areas, hosting rallies, as well as attending our city meetings. We are determined to make sure our communities are counted in this years Census. The 2010 Census is a matter that everyone should address. Although it is sad that some people in my community do not know what the Census is or what it does. But it is my pleasure to educate, the United States Census counts every resident in the United States and is required to take place by the Constitution every ten years. Filling out a form that only contains ten (10) questions sent to your place of residence and mailing it back can help your community in many of ways. First, it will bring more than $ 400 billion dollars in federal funds for things that can and will help/assist you like schools, hospitals, jobs, recreation, and better emergency assistance, for more see Census 2010

One of experiences that I have encountered with  Nollie Jenkins Family Center, Inc. organization is visiting the illegal dump sites in my county. When we traveled on one of the roads, I noticed that there were homes not to far from the first illegal dump site. The dump site were unbelievable, I was amazed to see so much trash in one area, it was shocking.  As we captured pictures of these illegal dump sites and took notes of the items that were there,the thoughts that were running through my mind were reality shocking. I thought about the children and adults around these areas would be in danger. I realized that the days I started to work,were empowering. I also wanted to make a difference as a teen, and I realized that working with Nollie’s would be a step forward in doing that.I never thought that there was such change trying to occur in our community, until my friend told me.