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We Are the Leaders We've Been Looking For

Help 2 big-hearted Oakland activists share Detroit's revolutionary model of community building by funding a trip to the world-renowned "Detroit Summer" program.

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We Are the Leaders We've Been Looking For

We Are the Leaders We've Been Looking For

We Are the Leaders We've Been Looking For

We Are the Leaders We've Been Looking For

We Are the Leaders We've Been Looking For

Help 2 big-hearted Oakland activists share Detroit's revolutionary model of community building by funding a trip to the world-renowned "Detroit Summer" program.

Help 2 big-hearted Oakland activists share Detroit's revolutionary model of community building by funding a trip to the world-renowned "Detroit Summer" program.

Help 2 big-hearted Oakland activists share Detroit's revolutionary model of community building by funding a trip to the world-renowned "Detroit Summer" program.

Help 2 big-hearted Oakland activists share Detroit's revolutionary model of community building by funding a trip to the world-renowned "Detroit Summer" program.

Michelle Puckett
Michelle Puckett
Michelle Puckett
Michelle Puckett
1 Campaign |
Oakland, United States
$3,740 USD 81 backers
106% of $3,500 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Our Vision

Many are wondering where Occupy Oakland will go next. There is a palpable feeling of impatience in the air as one of the most notoriously radical cities in the country grapples with how to maintain the enormous momentum for change that emerged last fall. The message was clear - WE ARE HUNGRY FOR CHANGE - but which path we will travel to manifest that change remains to be seen.

As Oaklanders who have been deeply involved in OO, we have found solace in the words of the legendary 97-year-old activist and founder of Detroit Summer, Grace Lee Boggs:

"Rebellions are important because they represent the standing up of the oppressed. Rebellions break the threads that have been holding the system together. But rebels see themselves and call on others to see them mainly as victims. They do not see themselves as responsible for reorganizing society, which is what the revolutionary must do. Activists transform and empower themselves when they struggle to change their reality by exploring, in theory and practice, the potentially revolutionary social forces of Work, Education, Community, Citizenship, Patriotism, Health, Justice, and Democracy."

This is the work we yearn to do. We are a dynamic couple who are interested in pursuing Dr. King's "Beloved Community" by putting the methods that are turning Detroit from a city of blight into a City of Hope into action right here in Oakland. We are life-long activists and writers who became friends in college and co-founded a student diversity group and we've been making waves ever since. Here's a bit more about us:

  • Tai Amri is the co-pastor of a socially progressive church and is a champion of children's rights as a teacher in East Oakland
  • Michelle is a poet who runs a working class poetry series and works at a disability rights org in the Bay Area where she is an active union member
  • Both are excellent communicators who have done a great deal of community organizing and who work collaboratively to live lives of engaged service
  • Both have had their minds literally blown open by the work of Grace Lee Boggs, and her book The Next American Revolution: Susatinable Activism for the 21st Century, and they are eager to work with her this summer and to bring what they learn back to share with all Oaklanders

What We Need & What You Get

While the program, itself, is free of charge, let's be real: taking two weeks off of work is taxing when you live on an extremely modest salary to begin with. Add to that the cost of travelling to Detroit and you can see why we need the community behind us to make this happen. We are not asking for anything beyond travel expenses and lost wages. We simply need to break even if we are to make this happen.

In exchange for your support, we have several exciting perks to sweeten the pot. See the sidebar to check out the ways we intend to thank you for your contributions.

The Impact

By supporting our campaign you will be empowering two already effective activists to act as liasions who will study and then share the revolutionary practices that are being used in Detroit to create urban gardens, alternative work and educational paradigms, and violence reduction models with the rest of Oakland.

The violent destruction of the Occupy Oakland encampment last fall awakened much of the nation to the depths of state repression and police brutality that are our current American reality. It is up to us to make sure that the rebellion we began last fall can grow into a full-fledged r[evol]ution capable of re-imagining what it can mean to live human lives. Afterall, "We are the leaders we have been looking for."--Grace Lee Boggs

Other Ways You Can Help

If you absolutely can't find it in your pocketbook to donate, we would certainly appreciate you taking the time to blast all your people with word of our campaign via Facebook, Twitter, email, or any other variety of communication that you may have at your disposal. Thank you for giving a damn.

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Choose your Perk

Slashed Price: Daily Emails

$3 USD
See Below
1 claimed

Slashed Price: Poem

$10 USD
See Below
0 claimed

"Dollar-A-Day" Email Updates

$13 USD
For the duration of Detroit Summer (7/2/12-7/14/12) you will receive a daily email update - alternating between being authored by Tai Amri or Michelle - highlighting what we have learned and been inspired by. In this way, we'll take you along with us as our ideas develop and encourage you to engage in visionary activism right alongside us.
17 claimed

Slashed Price: Dinner

$15 USD
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0 claimed

Collaborative Poem

$25 USD
In addition to daily email updates, you will receive a beautifully crafted print of a poem that we will collaboratively write based on our experiences in Detroit this summer. Each print will be a one of a kind, framable work of art.
Estimated Shipping
August 2012
29 out of 50 of claimed

Dinner & Debrief

$50 USD
On July 22, we will make you a home-cooked vegetarian feast and regale you with stories and a slide show of our time in Detroit. We will conclude the evening with an interactive roundtable for sharing ideas of how we might use what we learned in Detroit to foster the kind of r[evol]ution we desire for Oakland.
Estimated Shipping
July 2012
15 out of 20 of claimed

Organizational Presentation

$200 USD
At this level, you may choose the organization, school, or community group of your choice and we will give a two hour presentation on what we learned in Detroit, including a facilitated a discussion about ways Oakland can partner with Detroit to grow the r[evol]ution.
2 out of 5 of claimed

Fund the Seed

$10,000 USD
Ok, if you really really love what we're talking about here, and you have the money and desire to support us at this level, you will be funding gardens for food and community, along with helping feed a seedling community that aims for nothing less than to re-image what work can be in our lives, and all the revolutionary implications thereof. We could go on and on, really, but we'll leave it at that, for now. Thanks for indulging us.
0 claimed

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