About 60 Dream Defenders took a day out of their busy school schedules Tuesday, September 24, to gather in Tallahassee for a day of training.
Less than a month after the end of their historic occupation of the State Capitol building, these tireless young activists showed they're no slackers. Indeed, they'd been quite active during their quiet time. They had been writing.
You see, next month, the United Nations will be reviewing the US compliance with the International Covenant of Civil & Political Rights to which the US is a signatory. They asked the Dream Defenders for input. Here's what they got.
Meanwhile, local Dream Defender chapters across the state have been busily organizing in their communities. In Gainesville,
UF Dream Defenders have divided the city into four regions where they are canvassing in neighborhoods to get the word out about
Trayvon's Law, get input from community members regarding their specific issues concerning stand your ground, racial profiling, and the school-to-prison pipeline, and gear up for a full-court-press voter registration campaign to contribute to the state Dream Defenders' goal of 61,500 new registered voters in Florida before the 2014 gubernatorial election. (Incidentally, 61,500 is the number of votes Rick Scott won by in 2010.)
Oh, and speaking of Rick, he and his goons, apparently troubled by the Dream Defenders' unprecedented success in influencing the conversation on systemic racism in Florida, are taking measures to prevent anyone from ever occupying the Capitol again by proposing the "
Dream Defenders Law", which will make anyone staying in the capitol after hours or on weekends subject to arrest for trespassing. Crummy law, imo, but hey! What a great name!