$25,000 / 2018
http://blackorganizingproject.org/
The Black Organizing Project (BOP) was started in the fall of 2009 as result of conversations among organizers of color concerned about the dwindling state of Black leadership and organizing infrastructure in Oakland and has quickly grown to be an important racial justice organization in the Bay Area. In 2011, BOP membership launched its first campaign to build Black leadership and address systemic inequity in Oakland, Bettering Our School System (BOSS). In 2016, BOSS helped to secure $2.3 million in funding to go towards Restorative Justice programs and developed an approved school board complaint policy for Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) school police and security guards. Last year, as a result of BOP’s organizing, the Oakland School Board agreed to divest $700,000 from the Oakland School Police Department consequently eliminating 6 police positions within OUSD. Over the next year, with a one year renewal grant from Hazen, BOP will organize students and parents to fully divest from spending for school police by the 2020 deadline; continue to educate students and parents about the 2016 complaint policy; and to ensure that the OUSD Superintendent is reporting on complaints.