Neighbors For Racial Justice
(Source: N4RJ)
Whew! It has been a whirlwind of a year plus on Nextdoor as a user and as a lead. But regardless of the abuse, harassment, or barriers put in place to prevent constructive community building and necessary uncomfortable conversations, I remain as dedicated as ever to building a better San Leandro for everyone. A place where we can continue to have real dialogue in the new public square that forums like this have become.
While Nextdoor has summarily and improperly stripped me of my lead status for the moment, I will not give up the struggle to make platforms like theirs live up to the standards they say they are dedicated to and connections between neighbors they say they wish to foster. Indeed, this isn’t the first, second, third, or even the fourth time Nextdoor has failed to consider crucial context, incorrectly removed content, wrongly suspended users, as well as engaged in other inconsistent and inappropriate behavior. In fact, Nextdoor actually violates their own guidelines, information materials, and member agreements more than anyone else!
As such, I am sharing the below letter from N4RJ about their latest civic education and outreach effort. I encourage everyone to sign up, attend, participate, donate, and otherwise support them in combating the bigotry as well as toxicity that exists on this platform.
"Dear Community Member,
2020 was a wake up call and a call to action for many white Americans. Centuries of racism and anti-blackness continue to claim precious lives. We are grieving the loss of so many named and unnamed, including George Floyd, Brayla Stone, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. We believe that change starts with us as individuals and then in our communities. And that we all have a part to play and a responsibility to work toward a more just and inclusive world.
Neighbors for Racial Justice (N4RJ) is a volunteer neighborhood group in Oakland’s Dimond District, formed in 2013 to challenge egregious racist profiling on Next Door. We offer our community a powerful webinar, Confronting Racist Profiling: Committing to Safer Communities.
We will explore how our conditioned racist/anti-Black beliefs undermine public safety efforts by perpetuating fear, division and false narratives about who is and who isn’t a threat. We offer new ways to think about safety that ensure our neighbors of color, especially those who are Black, can move freely and safely without being watched, surveilled, harassed or physically harmed. Shikira Porter, a Black woman, and Debra Israel, a white woman, help demonstrate the disparate experiences of Black and white community members through their skillful facilitation and personal story-telling.
This presentation is for groups or organizations:
● Who are ready to join the conversation about how racism and anti-blackness collude with and undermine community safety
● Who want to learn how current practices perpetuate ideas and beliefs rooted in slavery
● Who are ready to take responsibility for reimagining how we think about community safety
The program runs approximately 90 minutes, including a facilitated post discussion. Please note that the presentation could be triggering for Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other People of Color.
We created this webinar under the guidance of a Black, women-led council. We ask for donations to support the work of our Black Advisory Council.
To join us on the path to racial equity, learn more about the webinar and/or schedule a date for your organization, please contact our outreach team.
Debra Israel debraisrael10@gmail.com or Joan Lohman roaminlohman2@gmail.com
www.neighborsforracialjustice.org"
Please feel free to reach out if you want to get connected!
In the meantime, to learn more about the issues happening on Nextdoor, here are some links to help you get started:
N4RJ Website
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Take note and take care.
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