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  • How Can One Have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
    without Jobs & Justice?

    #TheLibertyProject = Social Change's liberty and justice advancing work to reform systems and empower individuals and organizations so that our unalienable rights are protected

  • Reforming Systems

    Decriminalize Poverty

    • Ensure that risk to public safety, not wealth determines whether someone receives is released from jail
    • Ensure that being suspected of committing a crime is what sparks an arrest--not unpaid parking tickets or simply associating with people on parole

    stop jailing people simply for being poor

  • Sentencing Reform

    • Give judges the discretion to give appropriate sentences (vs. mandatory minimums and enhancements)
    • Allow re-sentencing for those who were given unduly harsh sentences for offenses that now only yield a ticket or probation

    Let judges consider the facts and render an appropriate sentence

  • Remove Barriers to Employment & Ownership

    • Increase Access to Sectors (e.g. tech) Where Minorities Are Underrepresented
    • Remove Legal Barriers Preventing People from Getting Jobs
    • Ensuring Hiring Standards Provide Equal Opportunity
    • Help People Access the Occupational Licenses Needed to Start Businesses
    • Increase Access to Capital

    Remove The Barriers Preventing People Who Want To Work From Working

  • Defending Liberty & Justice

    • Oppose Efforts that Prevent Judges from Giving People Sentences that Fit their Offense
    • Fight Against Unconstitutional Measures Like Stop & Frisk & Policing Practices that Violate People's Civil Rights

    Oppose Unjust Laws & Practices

  • Police & Community Relations

    • Allow people who have turned their lives around to serve their communities as officers
    • Update use of force policies & de-escalation protocols to prioritize preserving life
    • Fully fund policing efforts that have significant community participation
    • Hold those accountable for violating laws and protocols
    • Protect officers who root out bad apples
    • Ensure prompt access to complaint records for a decade

    Root out police who make people forget that police are heroes

  • How We Continue That Work On The Individual and
    Organizational Level via #TheLibertyProject


    Empowering Individuals

    21st Century Tech Skills brought to you by BLUE1647

    The best way to break the cycle of poverty, prison and violence is to give people a real alternative. Our youth already love technology, why not build on that and teach them the skills needed to get the well-paying jobs of today and tomorrow?


    #TheLibertyProject, via BLUE1647, does exactly that.

    Relevant data:

    • More than 10,000 men, women, and youth trained
    • 95% of those served are underrepresented in tech
    • Exciting outcomes range from trainees becoming trainers and fully-employed at firms to receiving scholarships and starting their own businesses

    Know Your Rights & Criminal Record Legal Remedy Seminars

    Training alone isn't enough if people still face legal barriers and discrimination. That's why members of the Social Change team also provide the materials and training necessary to know their rights and pursue the legal remedies necessary to avoid being denied opportunities simply because of past mistakes.

    Relevant data:

    • More than 50 seminars have been held throughout the state
    • More than 1,000 people have received the training to date
    • More than 1,000 have received necessary legal assistance

    Service & Advocacy

    Empowerment isn't about giving anyone anything, it's about helping people realize the power they already have.

    Via #TheLibertyProject, participants also are given the space and resources to:

    1. Call out injustices,
    2. Develop a plan to address them; and,
    3. Take the steps necessary to right those wrongs.

    This can mean anything from having a food and clothing drive to feed those who are without to developing and advocating for alternatives to the policies responsible people for being without food and clothes in the first place.

    Film & Fun

    The revolution will be televised. . .

    The journey to finding and harnessing one's voice is inspiring. . .and fun.

    So, #TheLibertyProject also provides the basic film training necessary for people to document their story, their growth, and their liberation.

    For those who are comfortable, they can share their films via social media and/or have their films considered for screening at the Chicago International Social Change Film Festival; for others, the film produced will serve as a resource to help remind them of how far they've come. . .and far they can go.

  • Empowering Organizations

    Technical assistance (TA) is the quintessential catch-all term. But, the Social Change team thinks of TA as not just teaching organizations how to fish, but also going with
    them on the trip to make sure they actually catch something.

    Examples of areas where we provide technical assistance are below:

    Policy Research

    • Researching relevant law
    • Compiling data relating to a phenomenon
    • Comparing similar measures or efforts in other states or countries
    • Drafting memos articulating findings

    Coalition-Building

    • Reaching out to stakeholders regarding an issue
    • Convening those most affected to discuss both problems and solutions
    • Following up and maintaining communication between stakeholders to assure progress

    Public Education

    • Create fact sheets chronicling issue & solution
    • Communicate merits of issue via social media, radio and print media
    • Educate decision-makers on issue

  • Does your organization need technical assistance?

    Or, would you like to volunteer to help create Social Change?

    If the answer to either question is yes, let the Social Change submit your name, e-mail and suggestion below!

    Submit

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