LIVING LEGACY TOUR July 16 – 27, 2015
Black bodies are murdered every 28 hours in the U.S. Police officers are taking our people without judicial penalty. The prison system is largely privatized and depends on local and federal policies that criminalize, destabilize, and profit off of people of color. One in three Black men will be imprisoned in their lifetime according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Black women are three times more likely to be incarcerated than White women. The South is a hotbed for escalated repressive social and legislative attacks, on people of color, women, immigrants and refugees, lesbigaytrans people, youth and working class people. Felony disenfranchisement and a surge of voter disenfranchisement laws overtly designed to keep people of color and the poor away from the polls are sweeping the south. Nearly every southern state has passed restrictive voting laws in the last few years. These attacks have mobilized cross sector and cross-issue organizing efforts to stop this repression, work for progressive policies and build alternative infrastructure. We will combine Highlander’s methodologies to collectively develop strategies targeting the root causes and build intergenerational, cross-issue and cross-cultural connections and networks to organize and fight state sanctioned violence against low-income communities and communities of color. Our long-term goals include among others, embarking on tours of the South to connect fights, struggles, and victories of people working in the 1950s-60s on voter registration, civil rights, immigration reform, and lesbigaytrans rights to the work of young people fighting against the same injustices, in the South, today.
This summer, July 16 – 27, 2015 we invite Southern and Appalachian youth-led and youth centered groups organizing for social change to join us on the 2015 Living Legacy Tour. This includes two young people (ages 13-18) and one adult ally (ages 19 and up) from each group to join us on this tour. If you are currently organizing to address these issues or interested in learning and building support networks to organize in your community please apply to join us. This year’s tour will focus on the Eastern most part of the south and will end with a strategy session after the National Gathering for the Movement of Black Lives. We are looking for Southern and Appalachian youth and adult ally leaders to join the Seeds of Fire Living Legacy tour, an intergenerational group that will be strategizing to address issues of state-based violence. Applications are due by June 5th. For more information call or email Esme Baltazar at 865-933-3443 ext.242 / esme@highlandercenter.org or Kierra Sims at 865-933-3443 ext.232 / kierra@highlandercenter.org. 2015
LIVING LEGACY TOUR MAIL-IN APPLICATIONS
Seeds of Fire 2015 Application English Group and Individual
Semillas de Fuego Campo 2015 Applicacion Spanish Group and Indvidual
Each person in your group must fill out an individual application
LIVING LEGACY TOUR ONLINE APPLICATIONS
Seeds of Fire Legacy Tour Group Application” “https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pcbXIrtAf7_OAHuG0u6xcOh3lA2laZR2a-kaKndt1cg/viewform“>Click here to apply.
SEMILLAS DE FUEGO – APLICACION DEL GRUPO “https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CrduyH9Uwv3b3FBOSnkSulw2TZqsr-pDb0sqzJTcyBo/viewform“>Click here to apply.
Each person in your group must fill out an individual application
Seeds of Fire Legacy Tour Individual Application “https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1S67olLwxuYW0pLjE1O2-GY_G4CtZMPFNCOJ1VFmMXvQ/viewform“>Click here to apply.
SEMILLAS DE FUEGO – APLICACION INDIVIDUAL “https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TXuI7P8irngHSExfMCzZ1509b787y7yZ_AKXV8_K7T4/viewform“>Click here to apply.
In order to attend the tour we must have all the forms signed and returned to us. Send in forms to Esme Baltazar at esme@highlandercenter.org or fax to (865) 933-3424 Attn: Esme Baltazar.
Applications are due by June 5th. For more information call or email Esme Baltazar at 865-933-3443 ext.242 / esme@highlandercenter.org or Kierra Sims at 865-933-3443 ext.232 / kierra@highlandercenter.org