San Francisco Black Lives Matter: Community Building Symposium

We want the unheard voices to be present on January 4th at 12pm at City College of San Francisco Southeast Campus (1800 Oakdale Avenue) so we can begin to rebuild and protect our communities.

This event is to bring together disengaged youth and community members from Hunterspoint, Potrero Hill, Sunnydale, Mission, Fillmore, Tenderloin, and Lakeview who are not currently active in this movement happening across the nation.

Engaging youth requires innovative strategies. Black intellectuals can analyze the system and organize all day everyday, but "what good do your words do if they can't understand you", we need the youth who aren't plugged in to be apart of this movement. #BlackLivesMatter

Because you matter! We matter! Our hoods matter!

San Francisco has the fastest out migration of Black people since post-Katrina New Orleans. I feel that it is time that we show the city we are still here, we are young, we are strong, we will fight our whole lives long.

This symposium will bring together experts, practitioners, members of community development organizations, local high school and college BSU ambassadors, and youth leaders to create innovative solutions to the racist issues that directly impact youth and their communities. A list of demands to stop police brutality, change current policy and practices as it pertains to law enforcement, and reinvest in Black and Brown communities will be presented to the community at this symposium. The symposium will develop a series of key calls to action and plans for major demonstration utilizing social capital and existing community resources as mechanisms for youth development worldwide.

The active engagement and development of leadership skills among disenfranchised youth in marginalized neighborhoods of San Francisco is essential to national security, stability, capacity building, and increased quality of life worldwide. This symposium will bring together community organizers from around the Bay Area, along with practitioners and members of community development organizations, subject-matter experts, and youth leaders to showcase and exchange their experiences and best practices in this area.