Second People’s Assembly To Be Held Sunday 11/15 Via Zoom

The Second People’s Assembly will take place on Sunday, 11/15, at 4 PM on Zoom. This assembly is the continuation of a process that was launched this summer in the wake of global outrage over the murders of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and other violent and lethal manifestations of white supremacy and racist oppression in the U.S. 

The first People’s Assembly in July was issue-focused and created a space where people could express their concerns and raise questions to town government officials including Scott Livingstone, the Town’s Chief of Police, and his Operations Captain. Following the First People’s Assembly, the Town Manager established a Working Group tasked with reporting on the Town’s public safety effort and how it might be changed, and with reporting on the present system of accountability of the Amherst Police Department. The Racial Equity Task Force declined to be directly involved in the Town Manager’s process of making recommendations to the Town Council absent a process of robust and continuing engagement and consultation with the people, especially people of African descent, indigenous people and other people most acutely underserved and over-policed.

The Second People’s Assembly  is not solely focused on public safety and police accountability, but on holding space together, to having a deep dialogue about what concerns people are having and to visualize how we can express ourselves as clearly and strongly as possible now, until when we can next go to the polls to elect representatives who will work to address our concerns. In other words, we want to gather together to express ideas on the direction the Town of Amherst should go. Direct democracy means the people determining what will happen and taking the initiative themselves to make it so. 

We invite all people who are concerned that people’s power not die with the killing of Town Meeting by the charter vote almost two years ago to join the conversation by registering at https://bit.ly/RETFAtwo

In the virtual meeting on Sunday, participants will have multiple ways to present their views and build the kind of mutual trust that is needed to make change. From local students who have been invited to elders,  Amherst, in all its necessary and beautiful diversity will be involved in reframing how we move forward, and being the change we want to see. Spanish-English translation is part of how we prioritize inclusion over exclusion, cooperativeness over competition, equality over supremacy, decolonization over domination, and unity over segregation. To contact organizers, email racialequityamherst@gmail.com