ICPJ supports the call of Black Lives Matter and others to re-envision the way that we spend public monies. We want investments in the education, health and safety of our communities, instead of investments in the criminalizing, caging, and harming of BIPOC people and poor people. We want investments in BIPOC communities, determined by their communities, and divestment from exploitative forces including prisons, fossil fuels, police, surveillance and exploitative corporations.
One step toward this is to build a participatory, justice-centered re-envisioning of the Washtenaw County Budget. The county adopts a four-year budget plan and reaffirms that plan each year. To impact the next budget cycle, we are organizing a community collaboration to conduct research, create popular education materials, forums, and community conversations about the People’s priorities. ICPJ’s role in this process is to convene partners and to uplift the vision of residents, centering racial and economic justice in resource allocation across the county.
Please contact us if you are interested in joining this effort at any level of time commitment: Info@ICPJ.org
We are grateful to our funders who have supported this community engagement & advocacy effort: The United Way of Washtenaw County and the First Universalist Unitarian Congregation of Ann Arbor.