What an incredible first week of fundraising for the We Charge Genocide delegation to Geneva to present our report on police violence before the United Nations! We raised over $10,000 of our $15,000 goal and were able to secure plane tickets this weekend for all six delegation members. We could not have done this without your support, and we are so grateful to everyone who has donated time and money as well as shared the link to our fundraiser via social media, email, and word of mouth. Please continue to do so, and we are confident that we will meet our goal. In addition to our online fundraiser, other ways people are organizing to raise funds is through a Dozen Dinners for We Charge Genocide and a Dozen Faith/Spiritual/Religious Communities for We Charge Genocide.

We have two more WCG Geneva Delegation profiles to share, and today we are featuring Todd St. Hill, who has been actively organizing with WCG’s Cop Watch training group.

Growing up as a Trinidadian in Washington DC, and then moving to Chicago, I immediately noticed the parallel conditions of black life between the two cities. I’ve have been witness to violence in black communities by the police, and experienced it first hand. It is this experience that has driven me to speak out against the injustices that too many people of color experience. I am caring and sincere when speaking to people and try to meet people where they are, geographically, politically, or emotionally.

I and any of the people I have the privilege of working with and learn from envision a world free of oppression and exploitation.  Also I see these times (as hard for the majority of people as it is) as a time where the systems of oppression and exploitation are most vulnerable, where the cracks in these systems are most visible.  I see my activism as throwing a wedge in those cracks and prying them open as wide as I can, with the hope that this system will fall.

Going to Geneva would be a particularly good opportunity for me and/or for anyone who sees themselves as a lifelong organizer.  However, I have come to realize that it is not enough to simply organize and agitate in the streets (though that is very important), it is also important for ordinary people, who are disproportionately black and brown, to be as involved and visible in the decision making processes that affect their lives. The way I see it, too many State, Federal, and Global legislation are created by people who are not at all affected by the legislation they create.  Ordinary people are often left out of these decision making processes, and it is important that we understand what that process is if we are to radically change it for our betterment. This is an opportunity to represent a layer of people whose voices are not heard enough, if at all.

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Please help Todd and the rest of We Charge Genocide’s delegation get to Geneva to present their report before the United Nations Committee Against Torture. Donate online here, organize a dinner/party fundraiser, or ask your congregation to take a special collection to send these young people to Geneva, and keep spreading the word!