WEBVTT - Defend the Atlanta Forest Interview 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:07.560 Helloo the SISS it could happen here daily. I'm Garrison, 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:12.680 and today we have a special emergency release episode. I 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:14.640 know a lot of news has happened in the past week, 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.120 and we will be covering that later on in this week, 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.680 but this episode is going to relate to some current 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.480 events happening today as of the release date of this episode, 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:28.360 and stuff that could be affected in the future. So 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:32.080 I had the opportunity last Thursday to interview some people 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:35.519 working with the Defend the Atlanta Forest Coalition. It's a 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:39.040 coalition of activists who are working to prevent the deforestation 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:43.040 project going on in Southeast Atlanta. Now, in the interview, 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.000 they mentioned some actions on Friday that have already happened. 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:48.520 As of recording, they did not happen, so they mentioned 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.000 those as actions coming up. But there's also actions coming 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:56.720 up on Tuesday, September seven, because that's also the day 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:59.480 that the city Council is going to vote whether to 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:03.920 can tinue with the deforestation project or not. So this Tuesday, 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:06.400 there's gonna be actions that if you're in Atlanta, you 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:08.320 can be a part of that gets talked about in 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.080 the episode. So just just a heads up for timelines 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.399 in case that gets a little confusing. Anyways, Uh, that's 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.080 enough of me talking. So here is the interview with 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:23.480 people from the Defend the Atlanta Forest Coalition. Hello, and welcome. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:26.520 Today we are going to be interviewing some people who 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:31.959 are working with and help with the Atlanta Forest Defense 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:36.520 project that is ongoing. UM. If you're unfamiliar with this, 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.640 we'll learn about it here in the interview. UM. But 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.759 first off, I have Chris here to help to help 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.399 me today, and I'd like to introduce the people we're 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:49.120 talking with. Jamalti one of the start Yeah. So actually 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.840 my name is jamal um Working. I'm an organizer with 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.880 Community Movement Builders. We do our main goal of building 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:58.560 self sustainable black communities. UM. We have a base or 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:01.560 a place based organization, at least for the Atlanta chapter 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.200 in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Atlanta. We do have different 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.079 chapters across the country, all doing place based work in 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:12.120 their respective areas. UM. We are we we've gotten onto 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:18.320 this coalition UM with Atlanta Forest Defense. But particularly because 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:22.720 with this particular area, you know, it's uh, while they're 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.440 just showing three eight acres of land, what the the 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:29.760 purpose of doing it is to UM build a mock 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.720 cops city, right, It's a mock city of of Atlanta, 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:36.960 in order to essentially practice militarized warfare on the Atlanta's 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:41.560 residents and so. UM. While you know, all of us 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:46.000 are extremely concerned about the deforestation that's happening, the other 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.040 layer of of what we're what we're dealing with is 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:52.680 also an immediate threat to particularly the black communities UM 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:57.040 in Atlanta. The point working class black communities here in Atlanta. Yeah, hey, 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:00.600 thanks for having me on. I'm Chassa. I I'm one 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.320 of the help coordinators of the Atlanta chapter of the 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:07.080 Sunrise Movement, which is a movement of young people working 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:11.000 to stop climate change and create good jobs in the process. UM. 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.400 I think that you draw said it really well and 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:18.320 that UM this issue with forced defense, with stopping UM 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:23.080 this facility from being built, it really is. UM. It 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.720 really does have two prongs. It's an issue very uniquely 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.880 at the intersection of racial and environmental justice because on 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.760 one hand, it's an expansion of policing in a city 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.080 that does not need more police, and on the other hand, 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:39.800 it is systematic of unfettered capitalism and greed and exploitation 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:44.480 that causes all this environmental devastation. So I'm really excited. 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:47.760 I think we have two really good prongs of a 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:51.840 um of the of the conversation and the argument against 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.800 this ordinance. Yeah, and I think a lot of people 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.880 don't realize how like what I like, Usually when I 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:00.760 think of Atlanta, I don't think of as as a 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:05.360 very like forest dense city. Um, but it absolutely is. 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.680 Um that's just not something that really gets highlighted a 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:13.520 lot nationally, is how how green Atlanta really really is. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.680 And um, you guys want to talk about I've I've 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:18.720 never been to Atlanta. Do I want to talk about 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:20.360 kind of how like the city is like laid out 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:23.159 and all of like you know, how how the forest 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.520 intersects with with the city. Yeah. Absolutely so, I mean, yeah, 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.159 Atlanta is essentially a city that was built in the 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:32.160 middle of a forest. Like I live. I live in 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:36.599 the Pittsburgh neighborhood in Atlanta, and um, literally it's you know, trees, 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.279 green greenery all over the place. Um. I went, I 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:42.760 come home, I'll see on my screen door there's a 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.520 frog that's just chilling there. Um. So it's like it's 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.080 not your typical like urban city in a in a 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:50.160 sense of what a lot of people think of, like 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.400 particularly think of like cities in the northeast. UM. But 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.159 it really is just a city in the middle of 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:59.120 a forest. UM. And I think it also ties in 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:05.320 like again I'm talking about environmental racism, UM, intersecting with 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:10.080 you know, well talking about environmental racism period, right and deforestation. UM. 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:11.840 What we see is that because it's in the middle 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:13.479 of a forest, and what does the forest do. It 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.520 protects us from flooding. It protects and protects us from 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.360 all all these different natural disasters that we're seeing across 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.599 the world, across our country right now, for example, but 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.040 even locally which at Lanta didn't get hit very hard 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:30.800 by the you know, the hurricanes, but anytime it rains, 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:36.880 my uh, like my block floods, right because this because um, 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.039 you know, the forest has been removed to be able 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.039 to to make way for you know, different types of 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.839 infrastructure being built. From my perspective, it's been like a 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:49.880 lot of changes to Atlanta's kind of whole economy in 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:51.480 a in a lot of ways to pass like ten 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:56.560 fifteen years UM. Specifically with the film industry moving into 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.960 into Georgia and Atlanta specifically in the past like twin 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.080 any and this this does intersect with with what's going on, 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.440 does any does anyone want to speak on that? I 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.159 would say that, Um, you know, it's really good to 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:14.440 note that Atlanta has the most amount of tree coverage 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.960 out of any major metropolitan area in the United States. 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.320 Oh wow, I didn't I didn't know that either. And 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:23.200 when we say city in a forest, we mean city 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.560 in a forest. Yeah, that's definitely true. And we we 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.520 have green space we want to preserve it. But um, 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:33.760 the the forest Defense has also been highlighting like the 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:38.200 ties between policing and corporate elites and corporate CEOs and 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:40.840 people who want to move in and push development projects, 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.359 and something similar is happening, um black Claw studios. Like 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:48.000 you said, the expansion of like the media industry and 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:53.040 all of that into Atlanta, it leads to gentrification of communities. 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:59.560 Really really recently, Atlanta just became um just very I think, 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.120 like in the last like a few weeks, we just 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:05.520 got the data that said that Atlanta isn't the majority 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:10.400 black city anymore. And that's because black lawmakers and lawmakers 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.600 in the city have been making these decisions in conjunction 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.040 with corporations and developers that pushed people out of their homes, 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:19.520 under the streets and out of the city. So it's 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.840 a really big problem that our demographics have changed a 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:23.680 lot in the last TenTen seeing here is because of 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:27.560 that in Cops City, like that that this development project 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:31.480 is very reminiscent of all of this, And just to 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.600 piggyback off of that, I think it's extremely important for 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.680 us to recognize the connections between all these things. Right this, 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:42.800 like Cops City is a perfect blend of UM environmental 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:47.840 justice issues, uh, just flat out racism, police brutality, and 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.440 also gentrification. Right, it's not a it's not a mistake 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:52.920 that they're building this Cops City right at this moment 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:57.440 when UM Atlanta is also becoming for the first time 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:01.000 and I don't know how many decades, UH non no 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:04.920 longer majority black city because neighborhoods like Pittsburgh were located 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.640 out of and all across Southwest and West Atlanta have 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.840 becoming more like the black people have been being displaced 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.920 from the from our communities, right. UM. So a perfect 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:16.480 example is that with my organization, Community Movement Builders, we 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.320 UH purchased. We've we've been doing work in the Pittsburg 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:22.560 neighborhood for a while, but we purchased a community house 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.440 in the neighborhood about six years ago. Right at that point, 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:30.360 we purchased the house for fifty tho dollars. Right, UM, 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.680 Pittsburgh has been historically UH poor and working class community. 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.200 It was uh it was founded as a black community, 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.240 which is different from a lot of other other neighbors 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:42.160 in Atlanta. Was founded as a black community from UH 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:46.880 freed Africans UM who we're trying to escape some of 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:49.120 the more rural areas of the South and found work 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.600 in Haven in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Atlanta. And it's 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.800 been a poor and working class black community ever since. 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:58.679 But now UM, because of the gentrification has been going on. 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:01.719 How how has just sold maybe about a month and 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.199 a half ago, for seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.080 So the person's house at fifty thou dollars six years ago, 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:10.360 the house just sold UM just a few blocks away 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:13.959 from that house for seven fifty thousand dollars. Now it's 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:15.760 not every house is selling for that amount, but that 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:18.800 just shows you the rate of gentrification that's happening. And 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:22.559 then and we know that cops are on this necessary 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.240 part of being able to defer to displace people from 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.760 gentrifying communities. They play an integral role within gentrification. Yeah, 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:30.960 I'm just wondering, does any of you have anything like 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:35.080 even like anecdotal experience with like basically Marvel and Men, 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.400 tons of other industries like invading Atlanta. How is that 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.640 like affected specifically, Like you already talked about how how 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.160 you know, increased the increase in the film industry and 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.160 other things. Has you know, has made more gentrification? But like, 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:48.520 how has that even affected just like like other types 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.520 of stuff, including like policing, Like has has this type 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:55.800 of like growth um affected people or people you know 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:58.920 in in other ways? Yeah? Absolutely so. I think a 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.319 lot of this kind of got I won't say it 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:04.280 got started, but a lot of it went even uh 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.440 you know, escalated when Tyler Perry Studio opened up in 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.360 East Point Um and a lot of people, you know, 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:13.440 we're praising it's like, oh look at this, uh you know, 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:15.960 it's a black man. I was able to move down 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.600 and be able to start this thing within Hollywood. But no, 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:20.839 it's all that is one of the things that also 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.319 spurred the gentrification in East Point, which is you might 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:25.920 not be familiar with Atlanta, but East Point is like 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.839 literally right next to Atlanta, So it's a lot of 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.240 it's it's it's really close proximity. And so that also 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:35.679 spurs over to the gentrification here in the city as well. Um. 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:40.040 Property values have gone up since that point, even more. UM. 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:43.240 Even my tax bill has gone up a thousand dollars 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:46.320 a year per a year UM for the past like 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:50.920 three years, right, UM. So it's yeah, it's it's definitely 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.960 we definitely see the effects and you know, and just 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.079 talking to you know, we do, we do do a 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:59.320 lot of work around gentrification. UM. And I think this 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.360 is intend them with you know, because we have COVID 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:05.080 nineteen out here now, with the Vision moratorium which has 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:09.760 now been you know denied um by the Supreme Court. Um. 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.160 But even when there wasn't a Vision moratorium, there were 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.000 still people that were getting evicted from their homes. And 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.800 I think all of this in tandem when Atlanta specifically 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:21.920 has already been going through a gentrification crisis, and um 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:24.800 with COVID nineteen, where people have been losing jobs, left 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:26.439 and right or not been able to go to their 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.240 jobs that they've had um and look and having us 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:32.400 salaries cut. People have been hurting. And the response from 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:34.800 the city has not too been that has not been 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:38.120 to provide more resources to people. It's been too fund 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.640 cops city to be able to get more peace out. 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:44.640 Who are the ones that execute the actual evictions themselves? 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.000 And I think it all, it all, it all is 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.920 connected in that in that type of way. Yeah, I mean, 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:51.600 like I think if people don't know, like the reason 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.960 why so many filming projects have moved to Georgia in 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.800 the past decade and a half, it's because basically, UM, 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.520 Georgia instituted a pretty substantial tax cut for production companies 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.400 to film in Georgia, so they would they would like 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.120 not even just get a tax cut, but also at 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:07.920 tax credit you would actually get like you would actually 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:12.160 get money for filming in Georgia. UM. And theoretically, this, this, 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.360 this can be good things, right, this, this could strengthen 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.800 local film film industry and hire people who already in Georgia. 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.640 But in a lot of cases they are hiring a 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:23.600 lot of out of state workers to come in and 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.360 do these big productions. Um, including you know, Marvel and 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.360 and various other film studios. I think, uh, just looking 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:34.280 looking at something like it was in about in twenty 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.520 six there was they were supposed to have around like 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:41.520 um jobs created, um, but only of those went to 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:44.800 people actually living in Georgia. So there is job creation, 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:46.480 but it's a lot of people moving in from from 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.080 from people getting flowed in from like New York from 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:53.600 California two then, but both are taking the jobs in 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:55.360 in the city, but also they have to live there, 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.080 so they're also eating up housing. UM. And this housing 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.360 is getting paid for by big corporations, which is making 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.319 prices go up and up. And it's this kind of 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:06.560 cascading problem which is now you know, even even led 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:11.280 to this deforestation project. UM. You you've mentioned what the 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.640 deforestage project is and you've called it like a cops city, UM. 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.240 And I think this is this is an extremely fascinating, 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:22.000 um and horrifying like dystopia like idea of don't explain 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.079 like what they're actually trying to do with this, with 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.360 this section of force and what they're trying to build. 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:31.720 I do want to take a second and just kind 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:36.400 of make a point really quickly that I think is important. UM. 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:40.319 The Atlantic Police Foundation, which is basically the ther machine 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.520 that works with the Atlanta Police Department. UM, if you 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.000 look at their website, if you look at their goals, 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.680 if you look at their objectives, they always say and 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:52.920 purport UM that like, Hey, we're looking to protect the city. 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:54.599 We're looking to do all of these things. And I 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.480 think it's really interesting because they're also looking to expand 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.160 their police force as this cop City then would allow, 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.840 which would take about five years to develop, but is 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.800 still going to be a massive expansion of policing if 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:09.000 it were to be passed. Um, do you have these people, 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.240 you have these police for saying that we are looking 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.079 to expand the work that we do. We're looking to 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.600 hire more officers, We're looking to put more people on 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:18.120 the streets streets. And at the same time, you have 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.680 an eviction moratorium that is putting people on the street streets. 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:25.680 And it's just really interesting that their jobs and their 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.600 livelihood rely on the existence of poverty, in the existence 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:34.480 of crime in order to have in order to have 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.640 a need for more police, you need more people on 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:38.920 the streets. In order to have a need for more police, 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.560 you need more people whose doors need to be knocked 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:43.840 on to be told, hey, you're getting evicted, You're getting 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.240 pushed out of your home. So I think that is 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:49.280 very reminiscent of the fact that police do not protect 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:54.160 us because they're the existence of their jobs rely on 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.200 our poverty. Yeah, they're not. They're not actually trying to 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:01.920 help regular people who are living in Atlanta and trying 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:04.520 to make other people happy, who have a lot more 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:08.160 money and who have other other things that stay. Yeah. Absolutely, 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:11.000 and that definitely intersects with a lot of this stuff. 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:15.240 Another point to make is that who as sits on 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.920 the board of the Atlanta Police Foundation, right, It is 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.920 all of the CEOs of the big businesses that are 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.560 in the city of Atlanta. The CEO of Coca Cola, 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.440 the CEO of Chick fil A, the CEO of Home Depot, 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:31.720 all of these, the major corporations, the Fortune five, Fortune 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:35.520 one d for most of them, corporations that are that 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.200 run the city of Atlanta. The corporate elite are the 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.520 ones that are sitting that are on the board of 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.800 this of the Atlanta Police Foundation. Who are the ones 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.480 that are building this and are are funding this project 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:51.000 so that they can protect their property UM, and so 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:52.920 that they can expand the police force that and what 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:54.800 we know is that police doesn't don't protect people and 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.560 protect property UM, and they protect the corporate elite. So 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:00.600 I think all of those things are it comes full 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:05.040 circle as a great Michael Cosum of racial capitalism that 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:10.160 UM is exploiting uh, poor and working class black folks 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:23.720 in particular. Yeah, and if if people are unfamiliar, does 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:28.360 anyone want to explain what the what what the project 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:30.120 that the police are trying to build is And they're 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:31.680 I know they're teaming up with like different like prison 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:33.880 firms and stuff as well, like like what is what 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.720 is the actual project? Sure, so I can kind of 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.200 give a broader overview and wall if I miss anything, 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.720 if you want to add it in, that would be great. UM. 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:45.000 So basically they want to take UM ownership of three 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:49.280 hundred and eighty one acres of forested land in unincorporated 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:54.080 to Cobb County. UM. This land was once the old 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.080 Atlanta put Prison Farm. Before that it was Key Plantation, 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.480 and before that it belonged to the um Miss Scogee 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.880 Nation and it was stolen from them and then folks 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.040 were enslaved on it and then forced into unpaid labor 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.200 for prison work on it as well. So it's a 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.000 land with the very scarred history. What the APF wants 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.840 to do essentially is UM bulldoze a great deal of 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:19.280 it and then build this training facility and mocks city. 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:23.320 UM it's going to The plans currently include plans for 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:29.520 explosives testing and weapons testing and like all of that stuff, 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:32.480 and then UM, I think this is a good point 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.320 to make is that there have been a lot of 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.040 attempts to kind of placate the public on the facility. 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:38.840 So they say, oh, we're not going to destroy all 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.200 of the land. We're gonna do a hundred fifty acres, 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:42.720 or we're gonna get it where, We're gonna cut it 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.520 town to a hundred and twenty acres, or we'll leave 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.600 this part or um we'll create some green space as well, 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:50.960 and we'll have like a food farm as well. But 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.080 there was this really great environmental impact report that was 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:57.520 done that kind of showed that UM a lot of 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:01.760 the impacts that this would actually in terms of UM, 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:05.000 the runoff from all of those explosives testing and things 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.600 like that would um end up polluting the South River 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:11.320 and would pollute the very urban farm that they proposed 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.520 to exist on the land itself, so that food, that 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.760 those fish, all of that would become destroyed. And it's 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.480 really really, I think helpful to just point this out 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:25.159 as a really specific instance of environmental racism because the 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.600 people who are going to be affected by that are 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:29.520 people who lived there. And of course this is being 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.879 lived there, this is being built near marginalized communities, so 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:37.040 that's kind of what's happening. They want to, UM, I 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.120 live on Georgia type campus, just to give an example, 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:44.280 And this facility would be larger than that, or about 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:46.280 the size of that. This facility would be about the 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:51.639 size of UM Disneyland in California. UM it is huge. 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.840 It's a huge. Yeah, And I'm guessing they're they're They're 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:58.359 not going to be building there explosives and military testing 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.960 facility next to where all the rich people live. They're 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:03.920 not going to be like testing out bombs where all 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:07.320 of you know, the upper class people are. Of course not. Yeah, 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.320 people get saying Buckhead wants the facility, but they don't 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:14.080 want it in Buckhead. They wouldn't do it there. Of course. 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.240 It's not a mistake that UM all of like and 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:22.040 even with UH so, you know, with city council, people 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.960 who have gotten a little bit scared and nervous about 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.800 our past and our current um efforts again to be 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.000 able to raise awareness about this because the other part 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:33.440 of this is what isn't that it should be highlighted, 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.200 is that, you know, city council talks about how they're 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:38.360 trying to make this a more uh you know, they're 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:41.280 getting the input of people. All this was done before 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:46.000 organizers exposed it without anybody knowing, right there was no advertisement, 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:48.959 There's no like, no calls made or no in public 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:53.080 input about any of this happening until organizers started, you know, 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:55.560 blowing it up, and that's what's gotten them scared at 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:57.879 this point. But even and then now that people do 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:00.679 are aware of it, some a few certain in UH 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:02.879 city Countis members are saying, Okay, we're gonna backtrack a 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:04.640 little bit. Maybe you don't want it to be here 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:07.240 because of this forest we want. We might want to 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:09.719 put it in a different location, but it's important that 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:13.240 all those proposed locations. One, I think it's pretty much bullshit. 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:15.359 They're gonna build it there at that location. They've already 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:17.480 had the plans for it. But even if they were 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:20.159 to move, all those other proposed locations are all south 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:24.840 of anywhere. Anybody that lives or is from Atlanta, um 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:27.199 knows that south of I twenty is where all of 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.680 the black people live basically, and so and all of 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.159 the poor and working class people of Atlanta, uh in 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:36.560 the city live. So this is so it's it's a 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:40.800 so yes, they like just just like she was saying, right, 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:46.080 um Buckhead wants this, Midtown wants this. Um, the richest 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:48.200 areas of the city want this, but they don't want 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:53.960 it for them. They wanted to uh police, uh, poor 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:56.720 and working class people. Yeah, I mean like be even 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:01.760 beyond the disastrous en mental effects and building this giant 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:05.240 but tearing down forest and building this giant concrete structure 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:09.399 would have like it's just this is gonna and and 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:13.280 even beyond like the increased problems with gentrification. Just like 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:18.080 the further militarization of the police is like, this isn't 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:19.879 like a niche problem you gets talked about anymore. Like 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:22.000 this is like a widely and this is generally think 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:23.720 that's something that's talking that got talked about a lot. 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:27.560 Is how militarization of police is bad um. You know, 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:30.720 even for like more like softer liberals is something that 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.720 even they can like you know, say that they agree with. 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:38.040 Yet they're building this giant compound to make their police 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:45.679 like some like super like swat team, military tactical training unit. UM. 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:48.040 And Yeah, I think another point is that even if 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:50.320 wherever it's built anywhere like it, it shouldn't be built like, 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:52.399 we don't you don't need this in the first place 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:56.119 at all. You don't, you know, beyond the forest being 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:58.680 being you know, torn down, which is horrible, you don't 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:01.639 need this built anywhere, right, Like That's so like in 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:05.040 organizing against this, is is it kind of split up 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:08.440 in between protecting the forests and organizing against the facility 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:11.200 or or are these things kind of just so combined 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:15.160 that these struggles are still linked that there's really no no, no, 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:17.880 no difference between between the two. Yes. So I think 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:21.760 the initial coalition came pretty naturally because everybody that was 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:24.960 in the coalition UM, in one way or another, was 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:27.800 against this project. Right. We had folks that were more 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:30.399 so on the environmental side of things. We have folks 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:35.160 that were more so on the police brutality side, and 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:40.480 UM and the police abolition side of things. Um, however, 0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:44.000 I think all of us have in some way or another, 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:45.520 you know, we have interests in all the all these 0:22:45.600 --> 0:22:48.320 issues are all overlaying right. So the coalition formed because 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:52.320 even while we might have our specialized interests in different areas, 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:57.159 this particular project is one that was a microcosm of 0:22:57.200 --> 0:22:59.600 so many different things that we could unite behind all 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:01.159 of these things to be able to find a coalition 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:05.679 to fight against it. Right. Um, And I think, uh, 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:09.520 to uh your point, Christopher, I think one thing that's 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:15.840 also really significant is that so my city council person 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:21.200 for his district twelve, Joyce Shepherd, Um, District twelve is 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:26.240 where Pittsburgh is, where Summerhill is, where several of poor 0:23:26.280 --> 0:23:30.919 and black working class neighborhoods of Atlanta are located. There 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:35.280 are also the areas where they're the most gentrifying areas 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:38.720 of the city as well. And it's in in in 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:42.840 city Council District twelve. Joyce Shepherd. She is the person 0:23:42.880 --> 0:23:46.560 who brought this proposal forward, right. She is over the 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:49.560 quote unquote public safety. Um, you know they ain't keeping 0:23:49.560 --> 0:23:56.640 ship safe public safety? Um, you know commission And Um, 0:23:56.720 --> 0:24:00.280 she brought this forward. And she has been since she's 0:24:00.280 --> 0:24:06.680 been in office, she has been a even uh, she's 0:24:06.720 --> 0:24:10.120 been a champion of gentrification, right, she's been a champion 0:24:10.160 --> 0:24:13.359 of over policing as well. Um. And I think it's 0:24:13.600 --> 0:24:15.520 it's a tie between even our city council or even 0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:19.159 representation has in their interests of being able of of 0:24:19.240 --> 0:24:21.399 gentrifying the city because that gives them more tax stars, 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:23.120 it gives them a way to be able to say 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:27.040 that they are decreasing their crime rates except and all 0:24:27.040 --> 0:24:29.040 those all these different types of things when it's really 0:24:29.080 --> 0:24:31.920 just dep deplacing poor folks. Um. And so I think 0:24:31.960 --> 0:24:35.040 that's an important about talking about how this kind of 0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:37.920 was established. That's an important topic to be able to address, 0:24:38.000 --> 0:24:40.160 is that even and she's a black woman, right so 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:45.480 even um, you know, even how like when people when 0:24:45.520 --> 0:24:49.439 when people might you think they might be representing your interests, Um, 0:24:49.480 --> 0:24:51.320 when they get to be in these positions, we have 0:24:51.359 --> 0:24:54.560 to recognize that they are not necessarily for the people. Yeah, 0:24:54.560 --> 0:24:57.320 we we had this in Chicago too with lightfoot, just 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:00.600 like for selected and that immediately, like do you start 0:25:00.640 --> 0:25:02.720 putting stops in the subways and swat teams are shooting 0:25:02.720 --> 0:25:07.200 people and disaster. Yeah, And I would just add to that, 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:09.960 like this is like in terms of like the question 0:25:10.000 --> 0:25:12.199 about the coalition and how these organizers and how these 0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:15.480 organizations came together, It's it's been a little it's it's 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:19.040 been really interesting because there's, like, like Jamal said, there's 0:25:19.080 --> 0:25:21.040 been so many groups that have come from all of 0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:25.000 these different interests, whether it's environmental or abolitionists or UM 0:25:25.000 --> 0:25:29.320 talking about um, you know, reimagining public safety and divesting 0:25:29.359 --> 0:25:32.439 resources from policing. You have all these people from all 0:25:32.440 --> 0:25:36.360 these different groups, and UM there was like there there 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:39.200 have been like different coalitions and different groups of people 0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:41.960 working together and like co sponsoring each other on events. 0:25:42.359 --> 0:25:46.200 And I have just seen that number grow so rapidly 0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:49.840 and just and I think that comes from a fundamental 0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:53.800 understanding that we're not fighting different fights. All of this 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:59.480 is intertwined. This is environmental justice is intersectional to racial justice, 0:25:59.480 --> 0:26:02.679 which is inter sectional to economic justice, which is just 0:26:03.040 --> 0:26:07.600 all indicative of, you know, the fight against unfettered greed 0:26:07.760 --> 0:26:11.040 and exploitation and all of these things. So I think 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:14.200 that and I would say that to an extent, there 0:26:14.240 --> 0:26:18.680 are more like quote unquote like moderate groups that I've seen, 0:26:18.800 --> 0:26:21.120 like do things, or there have been groups who's kind 0:26:21.119 --> 0:26:23.439 of whose hands have been tied a little bit and 0:26:23.520 --> 0:26:26.080 kind of have been approaching the issue through an environmental 0:26:26.119 --> 0:26:29.680 angle only to kind of avoid talking about polarizing topics 0:26:29.680 --> 0:26:34.240 like policing. But um, I think that hopefully by having 0:26:34.280 --> 0:26:37.360 coalitions like this one and by having conversations like this one, 0:26:37.720 --> 0:26:40.480 we are getting people closer and closer to the understanding 0:26:40.520 --> 0:26:44.440 that these are intersectional issues. These are issues that we 0:26:44.480 --> 0:26:47.639 should all tackle together and in the future when stuff 0:26:47.680 --> 0:26:51.199 like this happens. We're so much stronger when we work together. 0:26:51.280 --> 0:26:53.920 Like I can list like fifteen or twenty different organizations 0:26:53.920 --> 0:26:55.560 off the top of my head who are involved in 0:26:55.560 --> 0:26:58.120 this fight in some way, and that wouldn't be possible 0:26:58.240 --> 0:27:00.640 it was just the abolitionists or just being our mentalist. 0:27:00.640 --> 0:27:03.640 Because it's it all ties together and as we do this, 0:27:03.800 --> 0:27:07.080 as we're in this process, we learn from each other 0:27:07.160 --> 0:27:09.640 and learned that these things are true. I wasn't and 0:27:10.200 --> 0:27:13.719 I wasn't the like most well burst on gentrification and 0:27:13.760 --> 0:27:15.600 how it works in the city of Atlanta because I 0:27:15.640 --> 0:27:18.560 just moved here pretty recently, and like being able to 0:27:18.600 --> 0:27:21.560 have these conversations and going out and canvassing and talking 0:27:21.560 --> 0:27:23.440 to people and seeing what the streets look like and 0:27:23.480 --> 0:27:27.440 seeing what different districts look like has like vactually expanded 0:27:27.480 --> 0:27:30.359 my own knowledge of how all of this works, and 0:27:30.400 --> 0:27:32.960 it's made me like it's it's made me a better 0:27:33.119 --> 0:27:37.480 organizer and a more caring community member. So it's been 0:27:37.480 --> 0:27:39.320 really cool to see all these people from all these 0:27:39.320 --> 0:27:42.840 different backgrounds come together. And I think that, yeah, it's 0:27:42.840 --> 0:27:49.840 just been really great. Yeah, because the effort to the 0:27:49.960 --> 0:27:53.520 effort to save the forest um and prevent the construction 0:27:53.560 --> 0:27:56.960 of the facility, because it is such a coalition effort. 0:27:56.960 --> 0:28:01.240 It's it's multiple groups working together. How How is how 0:28:01.320 --> 0:28:03.960 is the process of taking multiple organizations and having them 0:28:03.960 --> 0:28:05.919 all work together on the same project, Because I know 0:28:06.040 --> 0:28:08.640 that can in my experience watching this happen in other 0:28:08.640 --> 0:28:12.040 cities that can be very difficult as getting different organizations 0:28:12.040 --> 0:28:15.680 to work together. Um how how How? How have how 0:28:15.720 --> 0:28:21.200 have people managed to to take all these different different 0:28:21.240 --> 0:28:24.640 organizations with different backgrounds and get them to team up 0:28:25.040 --> 0:28:30.160 for this shared cause? Um? I think it has been 0:28:30.160 --> 0:28:32.719 difficult and there have been a lot of lessons and 0:28:32.760 --> 0:28:37.960 experiences here because I mean, um community movement builders for example, 0:28:38.000 --> 0:28:39.800 And while you can speak to this much better than 0:28:39.840 --> 0:28:44.080 I can. Is a Black lead Black Front group that 0:28:44.160 --> 0:28:48.200 operates in Atlanta, and there are other groups and other 0:28:48.280 --> 0:28:50.960 people who are working on this who maybe aren't as 0:28:50.960 --> 0:28:54.240 well versed as we need to be, And honestly, an 0:28:54.280 --> 0:28:57.080 element of that is learning from each other and learning 0:28:57.080 --> 0:29:00.720 to respect like who should be speaking on these issues 0:29:00.760 --> 0:29:02.640 and when they should be speaking on these issues, and 0:29:02.680 --> 0:29:05.960 what role each of us has to play. Um. I 0:29:06.000 --> 0:29:08.120 think one thing that I would have liked to see 0:29:08.880 --> 0:29:12.560 more is including, you know, the lower my scope Creep 0:29:12.600 --> 0:29:15.520 tribe in indigenous groups in this effort a little bit more. 0:29:15.960 --> 0:29:18.480 And I know, like we've been moving on like what 0:29:18.520 --> 0:29:21.600 a hell of a timeline, and it's been development after development. 0:29:21.880 --> 0:29:24.240 But I think that just like when we work in 0:29:24.280 --> 0:29:26.800 coalition and we work on groups who have different theories 0:29:26.840 --> 0:29:29.320 of change, when we work on groups have different ideologies 0:29:29.520 --> 0:29:32.080 in different ways that they approach things, it's a really 0:29:32.120 --> 0:29:34.160 good chance for those groups to kind of come together 0:29:34.360 --> 0:29:37.200 and do what they do best, play to their strengths, 0:29:37.280 --> 0:29:40.240 but also challenge their own ideologies and their own perceptions 0:29:40.240 --> 0:29:41.600 of the world. And I've seen a lot of that 0:29:41.640 --> 0:29:44.240 in this space. And I feel like Jamal can speak 0:29:44.240 --> 0:29:46.200 to this really well too, probably better than I can 0:29:46.240 --> 0:29:49.320 in some places. No, I'll just say plus one to 0:29:49.400 --> 0:29:52.280 all of that. UM. I think that it's definitely learning 0:29:52.320 --> 0:29:55.000 curve UM and any kind of coalition working working with 0:29:55.080 --> 0:29:57.840 other organizations is definitely learning curve UM, and we are 0:29:57.920 --> 0:30:00.160 learning from each other to be able to build. But 0:30:00.200 --> 0:30:04.240 I think it's also important that UM. Having that coalition 0:30:04.280 --> 0:30:08.160 is important because we pull from even from like we 0:30:08.200 --> 0:30:10.160 talked about public input, right or we talked about a 0:30:10.240 --> 0:30:12.959 rally that we're having, We're pulling from several different communities. 0:30:13.120 --> 0:30:15.560 We're pulling from several different areas of people who have 0:30:15.600 --> 0:30:19.320 different interests, who can all make the event, the central event, 0:30:19.400 --> 0:30:21.720 that much better than that much stronger. So we can 0:30:21.760 --> 0:30:25.400 make so we can push, for example, a postponement of 0:30:25.400 --> 0:30:27.880 the vote for three weeks, which has been unprecedented in Atlanta, 0:30:28.080 --> 0:30:31.080 particularly for something that has to do with policing, right UM. 0:30:31.160 --> 0:30:34.920 So I think that there was lessons learned within coalition 0:30:34.960 --> 0:30:37.680 building UM that are always going to be challenges. But 0:30:37.680 --> 0:30:39.440 I think the other and I think that what we 0:30:39.520 --> 0:30:41.520 also learned is that it's important that you know, we 0:30:41.600 --> 0:30:43.920 come into this work in the particular lane of this 0:30:43.960 --> 0:30:47.600 work right. UM. You know, community builders might have had 0:30:47.760 --> 0:30:51.280 particular I have a lot of experience working with UM 0:30:51.320 --> 0:30:54.360 anti police violence, right, UM, we don't have a whole 0:30:54.360 --> 0:31:00.480 lot of experience with environmental justice or environmental UM issues 0:31:01.160 --> 0:31:03.600 or advocacy UM in that same type of way, So 0:31:03.640 --> 0:31:05.440 we might not be tapped in or even equipped to 0:31:05.440 --> 0:31:08.080 be able to have those types of conversations with people. UM. 0:31:08.120 --> 0:31:10.000 But we also know, but we're also a place based 0:31:10.120 --> 0:31:13.280 organization in the area, so that we also have a 0:31:13.280 --> 0:31:16.440 lot of experience talking to people in our community, knowing 0:31:16.480 --> 0:31:18.640 to the issues that are in our community and being 0:31:18.680 --> 0:31:22.880 able to uh make folks or have folks be aware 0:31:22.880 --> 0:31:25.320 of what's going on that affects their lives. So like, 0:31:25.560 --> 0:31:27.600 a lot of this I think is also people bringing 0:31:27.600 --> 0:31:30.480 in that information UM for lack of a better term, 0:31:30.520 --> 0:31:32.360 staying in their lane for what it is, at their 0:31:32.360 --> 0:31:36.080 expertise is so that they can contribute their expertise to 0:31:36.800 --> 0:31:38.880 uh the coalition to be able to keep on building 0:31:38.960 --> 0:31:42.560 that out right, Yeah, what has the fight looked like 0:31:42.640 --> 0:31:44.480 so far? Like, well, what kind of organizing has been 0:31:44.520 --> 0:31:48.400 done with this goal in mind the past few months 0:31:48.560 --> 0:31:52.840 or even longer. A lot of things actually, UM, we 0:31:52.920 --> 0:31:55.640 are doing a lot of things this weekend. In particular, 0:31:56.320 --> 0:32:00.800 UM CMB is holding a rally in front of Coca 0:32:00.840 --> 0:32:07.240 Cola headquarters on Friday. Sunrise is doing a people's march 0:32:07.960 --> 0:32:11.600 UM on Freedom Park Trail UM just to kind of 0:32:11.640 --> 0:32:14.920 attract pedestrian attention. There are going to be banner drops 0:32:14.920 --> 0:32:17.080 around the city and the art has played a critical 0:32:17.200 --> 0:32:21.080 role in all of this work. UM Metro Atlanta ds 0:32:21.160 --> 0:32:24.160 A has been running canvases every weekend for the last 0:32:24.280 --> 0:32:29.120 three months. UM we held phone banks. We held UM 0:32:29.160 --> 0:32:34.080 a really powerful people's town hall where basically we actually 0:32:34.240 --> 0:32:37.280 invited people up to the mic and UM said, you 0:32:37.360 --> 0:32:40.040 have two minutes tell us what your opinion is on 0:32:40.120 --> 0:32:42.719 cop city and your community and how you feel about it. 0:32:42.760 --> 0:32:45.640 Because city Council, the APF they're not doing it, so 0:32:45.640 --> 0:32:47.120 we're going to give you the space to do that. 0:32:47.520 --> 0:32:50.360 And that was live streamed and made available. UM. We 0:32:50.440 --> 0:32:56.520 had UM the Spanish speaking community participated through an organization 0:32:56.560 --> 0:32:59.840 called bod latin X, who did a bilingual panel with 0:33:00.040 --> 0:33:03.400 captioning to kind of educate folks on the issue. So 0:33:03.440 --> 0:33:05.400 a lot of it has just been going and just 0:33:05.560 --> 0:33:09.480 physically talking to people, having conversations and then just taking 0:33:09.520 --> 0:33:11.520 action in all these really powerful ways, and a lot 0:33:11.520 --> 0:33:15.160 of that is culminating, I feel this weekend. But yeah, absolutely, 0:33:15.680 --> 0:33:18.640 and I think all of that has been like the 0:33:19.080 --> 0:33:20.720 main focus of all of this, and all of that 0:33:20.800 --> 0:33:23.239 has been built off of just talking to people. At 0:33:23.240 --> 0:33:27.000 the end of the day, organizing to me is recognizing 0:33:27.000 --> 0:33:30.880 power structures talking but building people power and building uh 0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:37.040 uh ways for bringing the fight back to the masses. Right. Um. 0:33:37.120 --> 0:33:39.760 So even like right before this call, uh CMB was 0:33:39.800 --> 0:33:44.560 out flying UM at modest stations at the UM, the 0:33:44.600 --> 0:33:48.880 au c UM and other locations to make sure that 0:33:48.920 --> 0:33:52.040 people are aware that like this is happening. Um. And 0:33:52.080 --> 0:33:54.000 because that's the other thing, A lot of people, UM, 0:33:54.120 --> 0:33:56.960 A lot more people know about it now, but particularly 0:33:56.960 --> 0:33:58.760 when it first was coming out in the end. UM 0:33:58.800 --> 0:34:00.880 even now some people don't aren't even aware of what's 0:34:00.920 --> 0:34:05.840 going on, but um, like it's been their biggest defense 0:34:06.000 --> 0:34:10.160 has been uh people not knowing about this, about this 0:34:10.280 --> 0:34:12.640 ordinance trying to be passed and trying to do it 0:34:12.719 --> 0:34:16.000 in under the veil of darkness. And the more we're 0:34:16.000 --> 0:34:19.480 able to expose them, the more we're able to get it, 0:34:20.040 --> 0:34:22.720 the higher likelihood we are able to stop it, um 0:34:22.800 --> 0:34:26.400 and so um. I think, yeah, it's extremely important that 0:34:26.440 --> 0:34:28.799 when we're when we're talking about any type of organizing, 0:34:28.840 --> 0:34:30.759 we have to bring it back to the people and 0:34:31.120 --> 0:34:35.840 making sure that we're uh, you know, you know, really 0:34:35.920 --> 0:34:39.000 living up to the words like all power to the people. 0:34:50.280 --> 0:34:53.759 Have you seen any effects so far from the order? 0:34:53.800 --> 0:34:58.319 I know it's it's always difficult to gauge the effectiveness 0:34:58.480 --> 0:35:01.399 of any activistsm Um, but have have you seen any 0:35:01.520 --> 0:35:04.120 changes either? And like I know you mentioned like perception 0:35:04.480 --> 0:35:06.200 and then people being aware of this project, but have 0:35:06.239 --> 0:35:10.320 you seen anything else happen um, whether on like whether 0:35:10.440 --> 0:35:14.879 you know through the like legislative process or just through 0:35:15.200 --> 0:35:17.879 like coverage. Yeah, Like what what's going to get? So far? 0:35:18.120 --> 0:35:20.680 The major the major win is the is the postponement 0:35:20.680 --> 0:35:22.560 in the vote, Like this was supposed to be voted 0:35:22.880 --> 0:35:26.040 and passed. It was going to be passed three weeks ago, 0:35:26.360 --> 0:35:29.840 right and for for them to delay it and frankly 0:35:29.840 --> 0:35:31.960 they even said it they delayed it because they were like, 0:35:32.160 --> 0:35:34.600 we're getting too much negative pressure. We want to get 0:35:34.880 --> 0:35:37.680 we want to do more public opinion. Basically, they want 0:35:37.719 --> 0:35:40.719 to put more propaganda out there for the police, um, 0:35:40.840 --> 0:35:43.480 and try to have another vote when we think that 0:35:43.560 --> 0:35:45.160 we can get more people on our side, because this 0:35:45.239 --> 0:35:47.400 is an election season for Atlanta too, so a lot 0:35:47.400 --> 0:35:49.759 of them might worry about their seats and they know 0:35:49.800 --> 0:35:51.239 that we made a lot of noise about it, and 0:35:51.280 --> 0:35:52.880 then we've got a lot of news coverage about it. 0:35:52.920 --> 0:35:55.080 We've got a lot of people talking about this, and 0:35:55.120 --> 0:35:58.520 so at this stage they're afraid that, you know, they 0:35:58.520 --> 0:36:02.080 couldn't do this under the little darkness, and so now 0:36:02.239 --> 0:36:04.279 people know about it in our upset about it. So 0:36:04.360 --> 0:36:06.719 I think that in of itself, that's again, this is 0:36:06.760 --> 0:36:09.520 the first time this is and this has happened in 0:36:09.520 --> 0:36:12.719 the city of Atlanta um period where the city Council 0:36:12.760 --> 0:36:16.440 has been scared based off of community based organizing, particularly 0:36:16.960 --> 0:36:18.920 when it has to come to anything that has to 0:36:18.960 --> 0:36:22.160 do with policing. Atlanta is the most surveiled city in 0:36:22.200 --> 0:36:25.680 the country right um our police force. People talk about 0:36:25.680 --> 0:36:27.919 it being the Black Mecca. People talk about it being, 0:36:28.080 --> 0:36:30.040 you know, a black haven for a black Hollywood, a 0:36:30.040 --> 0:36:32.880 black haven for black folks. It is the most surveiled 0:36:32.920 --> 0:36:35.799 place in the in the in the country and city 0:36:35.800 --> 0:36:38.120 in the country. And it's also and we are nowhere 0:36:38.200 --> 0:36:42.280 close to being a stranger to police brutality and police killings. UM, 0:36:42.400 --> 0:36:45.480 and we've seen that. UM. You know, I can name 0:36:45.480 --> 0:36:48.600 a list of names just like uh that you know 0:36:48.840 --> 0:36:50.840 have been murdered by the police just in the past 0:36:51.160 --> 0:36:56.359 three years. Right, So yeah, I think that, I mean, 0:36:56.719 --> 0:37:01.239 I think an organizer joker, an organizer question at this 0:37:01.239 --> 0:37:03.000 point where people who have been working on this is 0:37:03.040 --> 0:37:06.320 like where were you August sixteenth? Where were you? And 0:37:06.400 --> 0:37:10.360 it happened when the vote was actually pushed because that 0:37:10.440 --> 0:37:13.839 demonstrated a huge win for the people. It was like, 0:37:13.880 --> 0:37:17.759 you know, organizers in Atlanta and this community and this 0:37:17.920 --> 0:37:21.799 like these outcries and these like just these conversations and 0:37:21.840 --> 0:37:25.280 this this anger at all culminated in this beautiful moment 0:37:25.280 --> 0:37:28.399 where they said, like we can't pass this right now, 0:37:28.840 --> 0:37:31.640 like we just actually can't do it. For me, I 0:37:31.680 --> 0:37:33.719 was at a book club meeting and I saw on 0:37:33.760 --> 0:37:37.439 Twitter and my brain was fuzzy for the next hour 0:37:37.800 --> 0:37:40.759 because that that had never happened before and it was 0:37:40.840 --> 0:37:44.600 just it was beautiful and yeah, and just like having 0:37:44.640 --> 0:37:49.600 these conversations is just another like impact. The story went national. Um, 0:37:49.640 --> 0:37:52.600 there was an article for The Intercept having conversations like 0:37:52.680 --> 0:37:56.560 this one and just like and just being able to 0:37:56.600 --> 0:38:00.520 tie this to like, like I've said a few times 0:38:00.600 --> 0:38:04.000 during this during this conversation, just that that culture of 0:38:04.000 --> 0:38:08.239 that culture that that like okayness with extraction and exploitation 0:38:08.360 --> 0:38:12.359 of land and resources and people. And being able to 0:38:12.840 --> 0:38:15.200 take this story national and take this story to other 0:38:15.280 --> 0:38:19.080 places and say like, this is what happens in communities, 0:38:19.239 --> 0:38:21.680 look into your own and see if it's happening there. 0:38:22.120 --> 0:38:25.200 Like that is so inspiring that that's what builds movements. 0:38:25.239 --> 0:38:28.319 So that was a really powerful one. Yeah, I think 0:38:28.640 --> 0:38:34.280 something like having having that result is incredibly rare for 0:38:34.440 --> 0:38:36.479 something like this, right, Like that is that's not something 0:38:36.520 --> 0:38:40.359 that happens often, and that should be celebrated based on 0:38:40.560 --> 0:38:44.160 what what you've been able to do so far. Um, 0:38:44.239 --> 0:38:46.360 what is the fighting look like going forward in the 0:38:46.400 --> 0:38:49.400 next and the next few weeks? Um? Is there a 0:38:49.480 --> 0:38:51.719 date that they're planning to vote again already or is 0:38:51.719 --> 0:38:54.520 that still kind of up in the air. Yeah, so 0:38:54.760 --> 0:38:58.360 they're voting in on Tuesday, right, So, Um, that's why 0:38:58.560 --> 0:39:01.120 you know, we're still fighting all the way up till 0:39:01.160 --> 0:39:03.840 the end. Um. I think that at the end of 0:39:03.840 --> 0:39:08.960 the day, Um, we have to recognize that, uh, you know, 0:39:09.800 --> 0:39:12.279 pressure Campaigns like this are important. We have to be 0:39:12.320 --> 0:39:14.000 able to do them, but we also have to be 0:39:14.080 --> 0:39:15.440 able to put our bodies on the line to be 0:39:15.440 --> 0:39:17.879 able to just if if the city council, because again, 0:39:17.920 --> 0:39:20.000 this isn't up to a vote of the people. This 0:39:20.040 --> 0:39:23.120 is a vote of corporate interests that are in city 0:39:23.120 --> 0:39:25.600 council members who are tied to corporate interests, so they 0:39:25.719 --> 0:39:28.680 ultimately can still vote even the people for it, even 0:39:28.680 --> 0:39:30.960 if the people don't want this to happen, right, And 0:39:31.000 --> 0:39:32.879 so I think it also has to be even after 0:39:32.920 --> 0:39:36.239 the vote that fight does. Let's say, if it does pass, right, 0:39:36.360 --> 0:39:38.560 we're hoping that doesn't, But if it does pass, that 0:39:38.600 --> 0:39:40.480 means that the fight doesn't end at that point. That 0:39:40.520 --> 0:39:42.400 means that are that that the onus is then on 0:39:42.440 --> 0:39:44.680 the people for us to organize even more because that 0:39:44.680 --> 0:39:46.719 means we mean bodies on the line. That means that 0:39:46.760 --> 0:39:48.640 we have to be able to physically say you're not 0:39:48.680 --> 0:39:52.680 building this ship period um. And that's the next step 0:39:52.840 --> 0:39:55.719 in the campaign. I'm speaking, this is speaking for you know, 0:39:55.880 --> 0:39:57.879 myself at this point. I can't speak for the whole 0:39:57.880 --> 0:40:00.160 coalition on this on this pace, but I think of 0:40:00.200 --> 0:40:01.719 us are in the same are on the same boat 0:40:01.760 --> 0:40:04.680 that like, after this vote, we still are in this fight, 0:40:04.800 --> 0:40:08.920 whether whatever they regardless of what the outcome is. And 0:40:08.920 --> 0:40:10.960 there's a lot of different avenues in terms of like 0:40:11.000 --> 0:40:14.440 direct action and land offense and working more with indigenous 0:40:14.440 --> 0:40:18.280 communities on the issue, and lawsuits on the environmental angle, 0:40:18.400 --> 0:40:21.160 and even just the city council angle of just voting 0:40:21.160 --> 0:40:23.839 out everybody who voted yes. And there's there's a lot 0:40:23.880 --> 0:40:26.359 of different ways to take action after this. It just 0:40:26.719 --> 0:40:29.720 depends on the results of the vote that is happening 0:40:29.719 --> 0:40:35.719 on Tuesday. Yeah, yeah, that will be. Yeah, that's it's 0:40:35.760 --> 0:40:38.000 it's as you guys said that it was going to be, 0:40:38.400 --> 0:40:43.000 uh a very serious turning point in figuring out what 0:40:43.040 --> 0:40:47.040 to do next. Um let's let's for a change, let's 0:40:47.080 --> 0:40:53.319 be optimistic as just a fun practice that might us 0:40:53.760 --> 0:40:56.759 What if um magically were not not magically because you 0:40:56.840 --> 0:40:59.600 put a lot of a lot of hard work, but 0:40:59.680 --> 0:41:02.719 like what if they um do vote no and the 0:41:02.840 --> 0:41:05.400 and they and they don't, they don't build this projects? 0:41:05.840 --> 0:41:08.600 Do you see any future for like the coalition, like 0:41:08.600 --> 0:41:11.160 like like having having all these groups work together. Do 0:41:11.200 --> 0:41:13.320 you see you taking up any other kind of projects? 0:41:13.360 --> 0:41:15.719 Because like you know, getting a network like this is 0:41:15.840 --> 0:41:20.640 very UM, it's very useful and unique, UM and as 0:41:20.719 --> 0:41:23.640 you know, at times, at times very difficult. Do you 0:41:23.680 --> 0:41:27.160 see any other kind of organizing potential for having this 0:41:27.320 --> 0:41:32.319 interconnected kind of group of people. I honestly can't see 0:41:32.320 --> 0:41:35.720 a world where we don't continue to have these conversations 0:41:35.920 --> 0:41:38.879 and we don't continue to work together, and we don't 0:41:38.920 --> 0:41:43.440 continue to tap into this like beautiful system of collective 0:41:43.480 --> 0:41:46.880 care because honestly, we've it's felt like rushing to the 0:41:46.920 --> 0:41:50.120 finish for the last three months. But like after we're 0:41:50.160 --> 0:41:52.960 like focused on a particular campaign or particular issue, there's 0:41:52.960 --> 0:41:55.520 gonna be other things to worry about. But also I'm 0:41:55.520 --> 0:41:57.520 really hoping personally that we're going to be able to 0:41:57.520 --> 0:41:59.560 take some time to slow down and process and have 0:41:59.600 --> 0:42:02.359 conversation aations to talk about what just supporting each other 0:42:02.400 --> 0:42:05.560 actually mean, what just supporting people in like a localized, 0:42:05.600 --> 0:42:11.680 substantive intersectional manner actually look like. So my hope and 0:42:11.760 --> 0:42:17.000 my wish and my UM goal is is absolutely yes, UM, 0:42:17.040 --> 0:42:19.440 I hope that will continue to work together and in 0:42:19.520 --> 0:42:22.799 lots of different ways, on lots of different projects, because 0:42:22.800 --> 0:42:25.360 we don't really know what what at least for Sunrise. 0:42:25.400 --> 0:42:27.400 We don't really know what we're going to focus on next, 0:42:27.560 --> 0:42:31.440 but um, there's definitely a lot of work to do. 0:42:31.560 --> 0:42:34.600 And I think just like what's really been powerful about 0:42:34.680 --> 0:42:37.760 this many people coming together and this demonstration of people 0:42:37.800 --> 0:42:41.239 power is that we're starting to shift the narrative, the 0:42:41.360 --> 0:42:47.040 narrative that protection and um control equal safety and understanding 0:42:47.080 --> 0:42:50.440 what safety actually means. And it's not just Sunrise and 0:42:50.440 --> 0:42:52.239 Community with It builders in d s A and like 0:42:52.280 --> 0:42:55.239 a couple of environmental groups. It's groups that have been 0:42:55.239 --> 0:42:58.760 doing mutual aid work, groups that have been um directly 0:42:58.800 --> 0:43:01.520 on the ground, like and and groups that have been 0:43:01.560 --> 0:43:05.160 you know, working and fighting in in all of these 0:43:05.200 --> 0:43:09.360 like tangible ways to just get people access to food 0:43:09.520 --> 0:43:13.960 and water and transportation and the things that we actually need. 0:43:14.120 --> 0:43:16.600 So I think that in terms of like actually shifting 0:43:16.640 --> 0:43:19.600 the narrative and diverting resources to where they need to 0:43:19.600 --> 0:43:22.719 be diverted, coalitions are a powerful tool, and I hope 0:43:22.719 --> 0:43:28.200 we'll continue to use them. Yeah. Second to to all that, 0:43:28.280 --> 0:43:30.759 I mean, I think that while we each have our 0:43:30.760 --> 0:43:33.759 respective work, and I speak for CNB, we are Black 0:43:33.840 --> 0:43:36.719 Radical Organization is dedicated to the Liberated Zone theory. Right 0:43:36.719 --> 0:43:39.520 now are our focus is organizing within the Pittsburgh neighborhood 0:43:39.520 --> 0:43:42.160 of Atlanta. But even as you can see with this 0:43:42.239 --> 0:43:45.959 issue right with Cops City, Um, you know, Cops City 0:43:46.040 --> 0:43:48.880 isn't necessarily in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh, but it was 0:43:48.920 --> 0:43:51.279 the same ap D officers that killed Rashard Brooks in 0:43:51.280 --> 0:43:55.600 our neighborhood last year. Right, So these all issues are 0:43:55.680 --> 0:44:00.040 fall under the umbrella of capitalism and racial capitalism with 0:44:00.120 --> 0:44:02.279 affects all of us. So when it comes to these 0:44:02.320 --> 0:44:05.560 types of issues, we have to work in coalitions because 0:44:05.600 --> 0:44:08.200 that's what's going to be able to make us be 0:44:08.280 --> 0:44:11.399 that much stronger because we all are affected by these uh, 0:44:11.480 --> 0:44:15.759 these these intersectional systems. So UM, I definitely think that, Um, 0:44:15.800 --> 0:44:17.399 you know, while it might not be on every single 0:44:17.400 --> 0:44:20.120 project that we work on with each other on because 0:44:20.160 --> 0:44:22.880 we all have our specialties in our our niches of 0:44:23.000 --> 0:44:26.840 areas of work. UM, when it comes to intersectional issues 0:44:26.880 --> 0:44:29.400 like this that are big, there are that affect all 0:44:29.440 --> 0:44:32.320 of us in different ways. UM I could definitely, I 0:44:32.320 --> 0:44:35.200 definitely as being able to work within coalitions and continuing 0:44:35.239 --> 0:44:37.080 that momentum and work that we've built off with this 0:44:37.160 --> 0:44:39.560 cops of the effort. Is there anything you want to 0:44:39.560 --> 0:44:41.360 say to people who are outside of Atlanta anyway they 0:44:41.360 --> 0:44:45.640 can show support. UM. I think one thing that I 0:44:45.680 --> 0:44:50.400 can add that maybe is a little bit more generalized, is, UM, 0:44:50.440 --> 0:44:52.759 I know that there's a lot of fear right now, 0:44:52.880 --> 0:44:54.480 and there's a lot of anger right now, and there's 0:44:54.480 --> 0:44:56.040 a lot of hurt right now, and it feels like 0:44:56.080 --> 0:44:59.160 our rights are being attacked on every front with you 0:44:59.200 --> 0:45:03.040 know O we weight in Texas and issues like cop 0:45:03.080 --> 0:45:06.560 City and militarization and expansion of policing in the eviction 0:45:06.600 --> 0:45:09.040 moratorium and all of these things. And I know that 0:45:09.080 --> 0:45:12.520 it can seem very daunting. And I guess my my 0:45:12.680 --> 0:45:15.279 thing that I want to say to people is this 0:45:15.360 --> 0:45:20.759 is not the time to disengage. Everybody who supports and 0:45:20.800 --> 0:45:23.880 seeks to promote and who is protected by the status 0:45:24.040 --> 0:45:27.919 quo wants you to disengage, don't do it. Come fight 0:45:27.960 --> 0:45:31.400 with us in your community, in our community, anywhere we 0:45:31.480 --> 0:45:36.319 need you. Yeah. Absolutely, I will double down on that 0:45:36.320 --> 0:45:39.440 point to say, Yeah, we could say that again and 0:45:39.440 --> 0:45:42.280 again that it's a point that always needs to be reiterated, 0:45:42.719 --> 0:45:46.839 reiterated more often. Yeah, is there any is there any 0:45:46.880 --> 0:45:50.359 place UM people can do any financial support from from 0:45:50.400 --> 0:45:55.000 far away that people can assist either through legal funds 0:45:55.040 --> 0:45:58.959 or various other means. Yes, so I've do a few 0:45:59.320 --> 0:46:01.200 I don't know communit movement bilities. We have a donate 0:46:01.200 --> 0:46:03.640 page if fuel to our website Community Movement Builders dot org. 0:46:04.200 --> 0:46:06.399 There's a donate tab you can donate directly through there. 0:46:06.440 --> 0:46:10.040 You can also donate to our cash up cash app 0:46:10.120 --> 0:46:14.400 that's Dollar Signs cmb O, r G c mb org UM, 0:46:14.440 --> 0:46:17.759 but also Atlanta Bail Fund is also is always an 0:46:17.760 --> 0:46:21.960 important resource UM if folks are taking arrest of different 0:46:22.040 --> 0:46:26.280 direct actions in different protests UM. I've had several comrades 0:46:26.320 --> 0:46:28.960 who have gone to who have who have taken the 0:46:29.080 --> 0:46:33.240 rest for very variety for a variety of actions, and 0:46:33.840 --> 0:46:36.960 we do rely on that as a source for us 0:46:36.960 --> 0:46:39.200 to be able to make sure that we're still you know, 0:46:39.560 --> 0:46:42.640 able to UM, you know, live and breathe and survive 0:46:42.719 --> 0:46:46.720 another day in this capitalist, at racist as UM country 0:46:46.719 --> 0:46:49.840 that we live within. I want to plug UM donating 0:46:49.880 --> 0:46:53.920 to and supporting the Atlanta Homeless Union UM, which formed 0:46:54.000 --> 0:46:59.240 this summer and has been doing an incredible credical work UM. 0:46:59.280 --> 0:47:03.440 I also want to plug mainline Zene on Instagram and Twitter, 0:47:04.000 --> 0:47:09.080 and UH they have been critical in UM actual like 0:47:09.719 --> 0:47:14.279 anti fascist news coverage and just kind of telling the 0:47:14.280 --> 0:47:17.600 truth on a lot of these issues. Fantastic and I 0:47:17.640 --> 0:47:19.880 want to thank thank thank you too so much for 0:47:20.640 --> 0:47:24.640 uh coming on to talk about UM what what what 0:47:24.719 --> 0:47:29.000 you'll have been working on UM. Yeah, it's it's very important. 0:47:29.040 --> 0:47:32.239 I'm happy that more people can know about it UM 0:47:32.239 --> 0:47:36.640 in the future and thinking thinking less optimistic if if 0:47:36.680 --> 0:47:39.960 they do vote to continue UM. I'm hoping that we 0:47:40.080 --> 0:47:43.479 can UM get some people down to Atlanta to help 0:47:43.560 --> 0:47:46.640 with whatever direct action organizing is going to be is 0:47:46.640 --> 0:47:50.880 going to be happening to to to prevent this UM physically. 0:47:51.400 --> 0:47:54.440 So yeah, I mean there's no matter the result, there's 0:47:54.480 --> 0:47:56.600 always going to be more struggle. There's always going to 0:47:56.640 --> 0:47:59.719 be more stuff to do. UM. Yeah. And just thank 0:48:00.040 --> 0:48:04.360 thank you guys for talking about this absolutely, thank you 0:48:04.360 --> 0:48:09.239 for having this on. And with that that wraps up 0:48:09.280 --> 0:48:12.759 our talk with the wonderful folks from the Defend the 0:48:12.760 --> 0:48:16.839 Atlanta Forest Coalition. UH. They had their plugs there that 0:48:16.920 --> 0:48:20.319 you can I recommend you following UM if you want 0:48:20.320 --> 0:48:23.920 to keep track on the movement specifically and what's going on. 0:48:24.000 --> 0:48:28.080 You can also check out their social media's. You can 0:48:28.200 --> 0:48:32.080 check Defend a t L Forest on Twitter. Can also 0:48:32.160 --> 0:48:36.480 check out the community Movement Builders at Community m v 0:48:36.719 --> 0:48:39.719 T on Twitter, and you can find Sunrise Atlanta at 0:48:40.000 --> 0:48:45.600 Sunrise m v m T a t L. So that 0:48:45.840 --> 0:48:49.520 is the discussion. Stay tuned for more news on the 0:48:49.560 --> 0:48:53.120 Atlanta forest and the cop City Project will be covering 0:48:53.160 --> 0:48:55.560 this in the next few you know, in the next 0:48:55.560 --> 0:48:58.640 few episodes, probably in the next few weeks, and if 0:48:58.680 --> 0:49:00.640 they vote yes to continue with I'm sure we'll be 0:49:00.680 --> 0:49:03.280 reporting there in person at some point. Thanks for listening, 0:49:03.520 --> 0:49:06.279 and we have three yesh more episodes coming up this week, 0:49:06.600 --> 0:49:14.120 so stay tuned for that. Goodbye. It Could Happen Here 0:49:14.200 --> 0:49:16.800 is a production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts 0:49:16.840 --> 0:49:19.440 from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zone media 0:49:19.480 --> 0:49:21.319 dot com or check us out on the I Heart 0:49:21.360 --> 0:49:24.400 Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 0:49:24.960 --> 0:49:27.080 You can find sources for It Could Happen here, updated 0:49:27.160 --> 0:49:30.640 monthly at cool zone media dot com slash sources. Thanks 0:49:30.640 --> 0:49:31.160 for listening.