Dream Defenders Do More Than Dream

Miami FL

27 April, 2022

5:28 PM

Description

By Johania Charles, Miami Times Staff Writer Apr 26, 2022 Poet Langston Hughes once asked what would happen to a dream deferred, questioning what outcomes would arise should visions of equality and people's aspirations not be realized. That question was brought to the minds of a group of college students 10 years ago when they realized that Black people were still being criminalized, long after leaders had fought to realize Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of racial equality. Dream Defenders, a youth-led organization fighting against perceived injustices in Black and brown communities, was birthed to protect that dream. As the organization celebrates its 10-year anniversary this month, leaders are strategizing new ways to continue the fight and reflecting on the group's humble beginnings. It recently announced the Ready 2 Lead campaign, a youth engagement initiative running now through 2023, to build leaders that affect change in their respective communities and run for office. The campaign also prioritizes affordable housing, canceling student debt, decriminalizing marijuana and creating safer streets. Dream Defenders in "Ready 2 Lead" campaign shirts visit the Florida Capitol in March to protest certain bills proposed during the 2022 Florida Legislative session. (Dream Defenders via Facebook) "This next phase really needs to be about building political power to actually be able to change the policies that shape our state," said Rachel Gilmer, the organization's co-executive director, noting legislative attempts to decrease representation in congressional maps, and pass anti-voting and anti-union bills. "I think all of that is actually because they're scared about a future governed by young Black people who think that we deserve the basics like health care, good education and a good job instead of being criminalized." Though the fight has seen small victories, what's happening today mirrors some of the same battles its founders faced 10 years ago. In April 2012, dozens of Black, Latino and Arab youth from Florida A&M University, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College marched from Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach to the Sandford Police Department to demand the arrest of George Zimmerman, the man who fatally shot an unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. It was the second time organizers protested the death of a young Black man. The first demonstration was for Martin Lee Anderson, a 14-year-old killed in 2006 while at a juvenile boot camp facility in central Florida. A sign in the Tampa Bay area encourages a social response to Trayvon Martin's murder during the 10-year commemoration of his death. (Dream Defenders via Facebook) What started with just 30 determined youth sparked a statewide movement made up of approximately 700 active leaders and more than 200 members to date, according to Gilmer. From sit-ins, marches, phone banks, filing lawsuits and launching issue-based campaigns, Dream Defenders rarely sits out on the sidelines when rights and freedoms are in question. Transforming tragedy into change "We were the generation that was sold the [American] dream. If you go to college and put your nose down and work hard, everything will work out," said Gilmer. "Trayvon's [death] was the moment that blew the top off that dream. Not only did it inspire our organization, but also inspired young Black people across the country who also felt in many ways they'd been lied to about this myth that if they worked hard, it would all work out." Members describe themselves as abolitionists, feminists, socialists and internationalists seeking to create a world free of oppression and violence, and one where there is equal opportunity for everyone, as illustrated in the organization's "Freedom Papers." Rachel Gilmer, Dream Defenders co-executive director, addresses a crowd at the grand opening of the organization's free clinic in Liberty City while standing next to Dr. Armen Henderson. (Dream Defenders via Facebook) "The fact that young people took this extremely tragic moment and were able to channel their sadness," said Gilmer. "Their grief and anger at the people responsible for a state that criminalizes Black youth instead of caring for them was so powerful." SquaDDs, the organizing body of Dream Defenders, exists in various parts of Florida, including Miami, Broward, Orlando, Daytona, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Tampa, St. Petersburg and most recently, West Palm Beach. "We have a very active SquaDD in Broward and Miami-Dade, which we are most proud of," said South Florida regional organizer Joi Williams, emphasizing the importance of people power. "In order for South Florida to have something to say, we can't say it without an entire county, so we feel it's very important to have a presence [in Palm Beach]." Dream Defenders has been behind the launch of radical campaigns such as Vote or Vest, encouraging gun violence reduction through voter turnout; Blacked Out History, a campaign to teach Black history and highlight communities and revolutionary organizations; and Free the Block, demanding an end to money bail and pretrial detention in Miami-Dade County and Tampa. Dream Defenders hold a sit-in outside then Gov. Rick Scott's office in 2013, calling for a special session to address the Stand Your Ground law and racial profiling. (Dream Defenders via Facebook) A campaign against the GEO Group, a corporation that invests in private prisons, led the Florida Democratic Party to pass a resolution to discourage candidates from taking private prison funding. "[My friend once] described them as the avengers of organizing and I knew in that moment, I had to get involved," said Williams, recalling the moment she first encountered the group during the 2020 election cycle. "I had to know who these people were and join their movement … I've never felt so closely aligned with an organization and [its] mission and the things they fight for … I do believe that I have found my new political home." Healing the community Williams joined the team nearly two years ago, and said she is optimistic about the impact the Ready 2 Lead campaign and regional organizing efforts will have on voter turnout this election cycle and the following. Dream Defenders' Miami SquaDD attend a community food drive hosted by Village Free(dge) in Liberty City. (Dream Defenders via Facebook) Gilmer disclosed a goal of registering 50,000 voters of color this year, banking on Gen Z to decide the fate of Florida in the 2022 gubernatorial elections. "The reality is, we've been under trifecta Republican control for 20 years and they see the potential of [this] movement, especially if you think about the shifting demographics of America," she explained. "We have had so many amazing leaders become politicized through the organization ... It's shifted, moved and transformed them and then they've gone out into the world with a lifelong commitment to justice and have continued that in a multitude of ways." One of those leaders, she said, is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Seven years ago, Dream Defenders pivoted from solely fighting to eradicate police brutality and criminalization after it initiated a listening project following the death of Michael "Mike" Brown. The project was intended to survey the most pressing issues in Black and brown communities. Dream Defenders gathered at the University of Florida to protest the annexation of Palestine. (Dream Defenders via Facebook) "We thought the community might say police murder is the No. 1 issue," Gilmer told The Miami Times. "And while people identified policing as a huge issue, they also identified community violence, specifically gun violence, as the No. 1 issue. We really realized that we just can't be talking about prison abolition or police abolition without doing our job in keeping the community safe, and building out a community safety program." Partnering with Dade County Street Response, Beyond the Bars and Circle of Brotherhood, Dream Defenders created the Healing and Justice Center to honor a commitment to increase safety and promote healing in vulnerable communities. It is a series of programs several years in the making based on the medical and mental health resource needs of the community, offering things such as free counseling and therapy services, and training courses. Gilmer said Dream Defenders plans to launch a mobile crisis unit next month to respond to mental health situations for callers who need an alternative to dialing 911. The unit is part of the initiative to create a free urgent care clinic in Miami. Doctors Within Borders Urgent Care Clinic, located at 5505 NW 7th Ave. in Liberty City, officially opened on the 10th anniversary of Martin's death earlier this year for uninsured, underinsured or housing unstable people. Grassroots resources Armen Henderson, a doctor of internal medicine at the University of Miami, is in charge of the clinic as Dream Defender's director of health programs. "What's really beautiful about this is that the set of programs we're building is really about cultivating expertise from within the organization," said Gilmer, revealing an intention to hire licensed professionals who understand the organization's mission. Also through HJC, Stop the Bleed courses have trained members of the community to manage gunshot wounds, perform CPR and offers best practices when calling 911. An educational component of the center has brought trauma-informed programs to youth in the classroom. It features a six-week art therapy after-school program for Beacon Hill Preparatory School students. The school's principal welcomed the program for students to cope with the death of classmate Chassidy Saunders, a 6-year-old girl fatally wounded at a children's birthday party last year. "Young people in this generation are really open to things like counseling and want to have conversations about safety, and our school systems aren't all equipped to do that," said Gilmer, explaining why the program was created. It provides instruction on gun violence prevention, life skills, healing sessions that help students process grief and traumatic experiences, and fosters community through field trips. "In general, not just in education programs, Black and brown communities just don't have access to the same resources and emergency response as white and affluent neighborhoods," said Vivian Azalia, HJC education director and former Miami-Dade County Public Schools educator. "After [the] Parkland [school shooting], we realized the contrast that exists between students having the resources to mourn and heal from shootings." Azalia said there had been a shooting in Liberty City the week of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, but the response to both incidents were starkly different. "Liberty City wasn't given that same space [to heal]," she continued. "[Students] were actually met with cops and horses and told they couldn't leave their school to mourn their friend that had passed away." Nine years ago, Azalia was in their place when her best friend, graffiti artist Israel Reefa Hernandez, was fatally tased by Miami Beach police officers. Hernandez's story is what sparked Dream Defenders to take action in Miami and what drew Azalia to the cause. Dream Defenders plans to expand the program to three other locations in the fall and awaits proposal acceptances at undisclosed schools. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.