Happy International Women’s Day! Team “Down for the Town” is excited to reveal our 3rd runner - Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter. Alicia joins Nikki and Oakland Planning Commissioner Jahmese Myres to run the 26.2 mile Oakland Marathon Relay to lift up women of color, queer and trans leadership and what it means to be down for the town.
What does it mean to be down for the town?
For Alicia, being down for the town means making sure that we work hard to preserve what makes Oakland incredible --- it's diverse communities, locally grown businesses, and making sure that all of Oakland's residents have access to the things we need to live well.
Alicia recently co-founded the Black Futures Lab and launched the Black Census Project as the first step in transforming Black communities into constituencies that build power in cities and states. They are talking to 200,000 Black people to ask what's important to them.
When I reflect on the fact that our last census revealed that Oakland lost nearly 25% of our Black residents - 33,000 people, I'm grateful that this project will lift up what matters to Black folks in our town and across the country.
Here’s how you can support Team Down for the Town:
- Donate to Nikki’s campaign - Our goal is to raise at least $2,620 for the 26.2 miles we will run together.
- Like Nikki‘s Facebook page and invite your friends to like it.
- Volunteer on race day (Sunday, March 25) to cheer us on, take photos and give us water!
- Join Nikki for a walk around Lake Merritt to talk about what being down for the town looks like - share the issues you care about and learn more about Nikki’s campaign. Saturdays, March 10 & 24, 11am, meet at the columns across from the Lakeview Library. Email [email protected] to rsvp.
Stay tuned as we reveal our final runner.
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