PAST EVENTS

PAST BLACK HISTORY MONTH ART COMPETITION WINNERS

2021, 2022, 2023

FEBRUARY 2021 - Black History Month Art Contest

In celebration of Black History Month, we are holding our first Visual Arts Competition. View all of the amazing entries here.

january 7, 2021 - a statement from aarj leadership

What a day we had yesterday! First, we want to thank you for your dedicated and very hard work on behalf of anti-racist candidates who won! You rallied, wrote postcards, registered voters, answered voter questions, redirected voters to new polling places, displayed signs, texted, called, and knocked on doors. AND WE WON! WE TURNED NOT ONLY GEORGIA, BUT THE SENATE BLUE! And just in time. Thank you! You should be proud of doing what you could in these difficult, pandemic times. We are so happy for Warnock and Ossoff to represent us.

 Secondly, we didn’t even get a full day on January 6 to celebrate when an angry, extremist, far-right mob was incited by President Trump to storm the Capitol building and invade the halls of Congress. If you want an example of white supremacy, compare how these white, insurrectionist domestic terrorists were treated compared to peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrators, Indigenous water protectors, or Latinx activists. Where were the tear gas, the rubber bullets, the tanks? Why were most of the lawbreakers allowed to just walk away? Why were only 33 people arrested during the takeover? Note, more were arrested later, mostly for breaking curfew and more will be arrested when identified from photos and videotapes. Why weren’t there plans for the National Guard to be there all day when they came out in force for BLM demonstrations? 

What a tragic day for our democracy. How horrifying seeing Senators wearing gas masks and hiding on the floor as angry mobs broke into our hallowed halls of government. The mobs and Trump were also enabled by Republican Representatives and Senators repeating the baseless lies that the election was stolen or irregular. The lies have been shown to be baseless by investigations and ruled as such by courts all over the land and by our elected Secretaries of State. These mobs included members of extremist, far right, white nationalist militias such as the Proud Boys, Confederate flag bearers, and an assortment of other white Americans who felt empowered and emboldened by Trump and his white supremacist rhetoric and actions. 

There are political leaders and groups who will stop at nothing to keep the systems of white supremacy, systemic racism and economic oppression firmly in place. The network of lies about our elections is designed to encourage more voter suppression and white nationalist policies.

The work of AARJ and other anti-racist groups has never been more important as we work to dismantle racism within ourselves, our community, our state, and our nation. We will need to support the new administration and legislators and hold them accountable for passing legislation that ends the structures of systemic racism in our country.  We also need to be vigilant and active locally, as Georgia is continuing to make moves to disenfranchise more BIPOC voters in future elections. One of our goals for 2021 is to work with local and state government officials to support racial equity in Georgia. If you would like to be a part of our efforts, please email us (aarjleadership@gmail.com) to receive ways in which you can assist us.

AARJ Leaders also encourage you to consider contacting your Representatives and Senators and demanding that they impeach and remove Trump immediately or urge the President’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment for being unfit for office before more dangerous, treasonous acts can occur. To find the contact for your representatives, please click this link. We also encourage letters to the editor and attendance at any safe, peaceful rallies demanding immediate removal of Trump from office.

You have worked hard to get us to this point. We knew there would be resistance - but it still shocks and breaks the heart. At the same time, the best changes in our world have been made by those with broken hearts. Thank you for being part of our Alliance. If you are passionate about racial justice and racial healing, you can become more involved and let us know if you would like to join our leadership team.

-Avondale Alliance for Racial Justice Leadership

political rallies & tabling: november 21 - january 2

AARJ has had great success in two areas:  1) rallies drawing attention to elections, and 2) voter registration/assistance booths. We therefore organized volunteer opportunities throughout the past two months for these activities. The rallies were similar to the previous ones we've had with signs and handouts. The booths were "pop ups" in nearby commercial areas and involved registering voters and answering questions. We conducted training for those interested. 

ae get out the vote rally: sat. sept. 19, 10am - 12pm

At the Avondale Art Lot, we helped register people to vote and assisted with absentee ballot applications on site, as well as checking current voter registration as necessary- especially in light of the upcoming deadline for registration, October 5. Those who were already registered came and showed support for voting rights with signs and positive energy. Some examples of signs we held up:  "Your votes = power," "Vote for black lives," "Vote against hate," "Black votes matter," and "Vote for change." We all wore our masks and stayed socially distanced.

WELCOMING AMERICA INITIATIVE LAUNCH in ae - tues. sept. 15, 6-8pm on zoom

We are very excited that the city of Avondale Estates is partnering with Welcoming America to launch a Welcoming America initiative here in our city. Welcoming America leads a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by making everyone feel like they belong. One of our AARJ Leaders, Connie Bryans, will be nominated to the WA committee! Avondale Estates wants to become a Welcoming City that welcomes diversity in our city and our larger community. We appreciate our Commissioners and Mayor for working toward this launch for some time, even before COVID. At this meeting, Mayor Elmore and Commissioner Laratte did a presentation about the committee’s goals and answered questions. We want to support this initiative that aligns with our vision for our city and our mission.

ae peaceful protest: sat. august 29, 10am - 12pm

Protest to End Voter Suppression in Georgia. We lined N. Avondale Road, and our Legislation & Election team had signs asking people if they need voter registration or absentee ballot applications with print outs available. Water was provided, and we practiced social distancing while wearing masks.  Signs that were held included: "Get the Vote Out", "End Voter Suppression", "Voter Suppression is UnAmerican", "Fund the USPS", "Voting Rights are Human Rights", as well as "BLM". We received quite a bit of media coverage for this event thanks to the news release issued by State Rep. Karla Drenner - please see our “Press” tab for more details!

Full Group Meeting: Thurs. august 27, 7-8pm

Meeting was held on Zoom. Those who attended provided input and heard about our latest projects to fight institutional racism in Avondale. Members of our BOMC attended and provided details about some of the initiatives they have undertaken recently, and members were able to ask questions and voice concerns.

AE PEACEFUL PROTEST: SAT. AUGUST 8, 10AM - 12PM

This protest focused on our support of Black Lives Matters as well as our continued demand that AE City Government adopt the 21st Century Policing initiative that involves community input and oversight of policing and a community policing model. More specifically, we shared with Decaturish that our priority is to ensure a third-party consultant with experience in anti-racist practices be hired by our city officials to assist in the review of our current policing policy.

RACIAL HEALING EDUCATION WORKSHOP: THU. JULY 30, 7-8:30PM

Anneliese Singh, PhD, Avondale Alliance for Racial Justice member, professor, activist and author of The Racial Healing Handbook provided a 1.5 hour introduction to doing the work of racial healing for our Alliance members on  Zoom. If you wish to sign up for the small study groups being formed, please contact Lisa (lisacottrell@icloud.com).

BOOK DISCUSSION: TUES. JULY 28, 7PM

A group of AARJ members met to discuss So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo, led by Laura McCrodden.

AE PEACEFUL PROTEST: SAT. JULY 18, 10AM - 12PM

This protest focused on our demand that AE City Government adopt the 21st Century Policing initiative that involves community input and oversight of policing and a community policing model. Click here for more info.

FULL GROUP MEETING: TUES. JULY 21, 7-8PM

We were very pleased to host our very first full AARJ member meeting! On Zoom, we spoke about our mission, values, and projects. We presented what we’ve accomplished so far, what’s next, and how our members can be part of our newly formed teams to help with our action items. We introduced the leadership team and asked members for input on what they would like to see AARJ do in the future.