Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
On Saturday, members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) co-hosted the Black/Brown Unity Coalition peace rally. At the end of 2017, the coalition came together and signed a historic code of conduct agreement with the Toledo Police Department that brought reform to the department and developed a community grievance mechanism. The rally served as a call to action for all members of the community to unite and join the Black/Brown Unity Coalition to implement this agreement citywide. FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez said: “The job of the citizenry and the democratic society is for the people to take control, to reform, to change and to bring some kind of reconciliation to the harmful things in our institutions. But it takes a united front of citizens, of residents, of human beings to compel institutions to change.”