Google Groups Forum: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/democracy-greensboro
Mission Statement: Create a city wide movement that will hold the City Council to the ideals in Greensboro's Community Platform and ensure that they govern on behalf of all citizens and residents of Greensboro with greater transparency and honesty in all areas of government.
Make the city of Greensboro a model of economic, social and environmental justice. Ensure that our justice systems, both civil and criminal, treat all people as equal before the law.
About: In the summer of 2016, or the months leading up to the election, concerned residents of Greensboro met at the Glenwood Bookstore. The meeting attendees that came together named themselves the November 9th Ad Hoc Committee. Eventually, the committee turned into Democracy Greensboro, a registered Political Action Committee. The group hosts open meetings for anyone that wants to discuss the issues happening in Greensboro.
Once organized, the original goal of the eight to 10-people pact was to elect a more progressive city council. The first major accomplishment for Democracy Greensboro was creating a platform, that collated what the community wanted and needed from incoming city council members.
The platform, entitled Greensboro’s Community Platform, was made in 2017, after a citywide conference with over 100 people attending to discuss the issues that mean the most to them. With everyone’s input, the platform was decidedly focused on four points: social justice, economic justice, criminal justice and environmental justice.
In September of 2017, another major Democracy Greensboro conference was held, this time with over 200 participants. The open to the public event invited the local city council candidates to speak on their talking points or prominent issues they want to tackle if they are elected to office. Though not every candidate was able to attend, participants compared and contrasted the Community Platform with the candidate's views and issues. The conference allowed participants to ask how the candidates would abide by the platform during their term.
One of the major complications Democracy Greensboro has faced since its inception is the lack of diversity. However, they are hoping to diversify as the organization continues to grow and becomes more well-known throughout the city. However, the group does share a common goal: making Greensboro more progressive.
“Some of us think of us more as a growing social movement,” said Jeff Jones, one of the steering committee members. “For me personally, it is trying to lessen this huge gap between rich and poor.”
Democracy Greensboro is broken down into three categories, which is based on the time a person has to commit to the organization. There is an option for complete participation to infrequent participation.
The people who meet the most, are the steering committee members. About 15 people are part of this group, which meet bi-weekly with just the steering committee and bi-weekly with the second group - the general meeting. The second group has approximately 40 attendees during their bi-weekly gatherings. The last group is the Google email list, or the Google groups forum. Over 200 people are part of this email list, which just gives a rundown on what happened in previous meetings and what will happen in the next.
Though the group puts in a lot of hours, the members are very passionate.
“Socio-economic divisions within the city is the issue that drives me,” Jones said. “You drive over on one side of town and you see a lot of wealth and prosperity and you drive over east and it’s not. It’s getting worse instead of getting better...and it’s historically rooted.”
However, Jones is not the only one that feels this way, the group recently met and decided what they will do moving forward. The three newest priorities on Democracy Greensboro’s agenda are police accountability, economic development and fight for city workers.
Jones said they are always looking for more people to join. “Bring your ideas and willingness to help,” he said.
To find out the next meeting date, go to Democracy Greensboro’s website listed above.