USM members Dianne Tornay and Nicole Gilbo are located in Gainesville, Florida and have said that they want to build in Gainesville for the Days in Solidarity with African People campaign.
USM national organizers were able to meet with them via phone to get initial plans going after the two friends reached out for advice. Dianne and Nicole set their goal to raise $500 for the programs of the Uhuru Movement!
This past weekend they hosted two organizers, USM National Chair Stephanie Midler and USM National Political Action Chair Jesse Nevel for a packed weekend of fundraising, outreach and planning that was very successful!
Saturday morning the group held a brief overview meeting to set the goals for the day’s outreach table. The overview also provided training on how to carry out an outreach table. There was an emphasis on how best to represent the great work of the Uhuru Movement in words as well as actions.
With the materials in hand, the group, including Dianne’s young son Josh, who is also a USM member, headed out to Maude’s Classic Cafe, a well-known local coffee shop in downtown Gainesville.
Nicole and Dianne weren’t sure anyone would Take the Pledge or be interested at all. But they had done great work in securing an excellent location to have the table. Having lived in Gainesville for many years, both of them had some knowledge of potential venues for outreach events as well as peak times for foot traffic They had all the necessary materials prepared and were ready to go!
Almost immediately after setting up, people started walking up to the table, asking what it was about. Everyone was stopping, crossing the street to reach us, reading the table banner, etc. Within just 2 hours, we had surpassed our fundraising goal of $50 and had raised $64, won 6 people to take the pledge, sold 15 Spears and two Burning Spear publication books! The people of Gainesville were eager to show their solidarity with African people everywhere.
It is clear that if we get out there in our communities with the Days in Solidarity with African People campaign, people will support it!
The rest of the weekend was spent getting the new contacts into the database, setting up the plan for upcoming events and fundraisers, laying out the plan for how the rest of the $500 fundraising goal would be met. Working as a team, the group was able to refine many great ideas.
USM Gainesville has an exciting plan including outreach tabling on college campuses with bake sale items, hosting a film showing of “Rosewood” which happened just miles from Gainesville a fundraising yard sale, and building for the Days in Solidarity with African People event on Saturday, October 19th.
Bring the Days in Solidarity with African People campaign to your city! Contact USM today to set up an organizing meeting. Emai info@uhurusolidarity.org today!
Contribute to Nicole and Dianne’s $500 goal! Take the Pledge today, leave a statement about why you stand with African liberation and make a donation.
Uhuru!
