A few weeks ago, Communication Chair,Katie Pruett, posted a video to her IGTV detailing ways people can support the Black Lives Matter movement in San Antonio. We've transcribed the contents of that video. You can find the original video here.
*Transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
I know that not everyone is comfortable being out in the streets right now. Especially with the recent COVID spike. That doesn’t mean we can’t continue to fight and I want to share these 3 steps or 3 areas where you can contribute to help us continue this movement for Black lives.
The first thing I want you to do is get familiar with Chapters 174 and 143. I’ve only recently become familiar and I’m not the expert, but basically these are chapters that serve as disciplinary barriers and are put in place by the San Antonio Police Officers Association which is the union. We are going to be gearing up to repeal these chapters in the coming weeks. There will be a petition for you to sign, but first I think it’s good for you to get familiar with them, the language, and the collective bargaining process or agreement which makes it really difficult for us to get anything done in terms of police reform. It protects them and almost makes them bulletproof in terms of taking disciplinary action. So, these are some pretty important things to think about. Go to fixsapd.org to read more about these Chapters. There will be a link to sign up to receive a notification when the petition is ready to sign.
The second thing is, contact your District Representative. Let them know that you are for repealing chapters 174 and 143. Let them know that you want their support for this too. If you don’t know who your District Rep is you can go to sanantonio.gov and then "Find Your City Council Member" (on left hand side). Type in your address and it will tell you who your District Rep is and it has their contact information as well. So, let them know that you are for repealing Chapters 174 and 143.
The third thing is, there are lots of grassroots organizers here in San Antonio doing amazing amazing work. I can personally vouch for one that I’m directly connected to which is Black Futures Collective. These young activists are doing great work here in San Antonio and they didn’t just start. They’ve always been in the movement. So, one way to support would be to donate and I’m going to share both their Cash App and their Venmo so you can contribute some funds to help them. We discuss everything from policy to organizing events for awareness. They do very important work and I love them and I’m very grateful to even be connected to them. So, yes, donate.
I think these are 3 steps that you can do right and three areas that could use your immediate attention. I hope that you will continue the fight. We can’t stop. We’re so close. We have a long way to go, but we’re in it and the momentum is so strong. So, let’s do it.
Black Futures Collective is a group of Black organizers living on Yanawana / Somi Se'k / Giiahii working together to defund the police, fund our communities, and protect Black trans lives. Their Venmo is: BlackFuturesCollective-SA CashApp is: $blackfuturessatx