New Orleans Residents to Kick off “Fall for Liberation” with March & Voter Registration Drive
Step Up Louisiana to Commemorate Freedom Summer at Launch of Historic Investment in Grassroots Organizing
Sept 21, 2024, NEW ORLEANS—Step Up Louisiana and allies will take to the streets on Saturday to celebrate the launch of the Fall for Liberation, a once in a generation investment in grassroots organizing in the Deep South. The community, labor and electoral organizing drive has trained 50 organizers to knock over 100,000 voter doors this fall. The project has the potential to reshape upcoming elections in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
WHAT: Fall for Liberation Kick off march and rally
WHEN: Saturday, Sept 21, 12:00 p.m. CT
WHERE: Tuba Fats Square, 1600 St. Philip St., New Orleans
WHO: Step Up Louisiana members and organizers, and allies
Having completed intensive classroom courses on organizing theory, history and best practices, Organizers in Training (OITs), will apply their learnings this fall to mobilize voters across Southeast Louisiana and build community support for Step Up’s campaigns for climate, education and economic justice. In New Orleans, these efforts will center in part on passing New Orleans’ first-ever Workers’ Bill of Rights.
Drawing inspiration from the Civil Rights Movement’s Freedom Summer, the Fall for Liberation seeks to build on the legacy of other movements like the Fight for $15 that have used a large-scale investment in organizing capacity to win rights and raises for working class Louisianans. Community members are invited to march alongside Step Up OITs from Tuba Fats Square to Congo Square. Attendees can expect food, music, voter registration and more. A Simultaneous press conference will take place in Baton Rouge to kick off the campaign further north in the state.
The Organizers in Training (OITs) participating in the Fall for Liberation will grow the power of Step Up Louisiana’s campaigns. More than 350 people applied for the OIT program. The 50 candidates selected are a diverse cohort of community leaders of all ages and backgrounds across East Baton Rouge, Jefferson and Orleans Parishes. Through the unique organizing model of the Fall for Liberation, each of these OITs will recruit new member-organizers who in turn will engage their own networks, creating a ripple effect with a goal of creating a voter mobilization structure of more than 12,000 Louisianans this fall.
The Fall for Liberation was developed in partnership with the Center for Popular Democracy and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice.
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About Step Up Louisiana
Step Up Louisiana is a community-based organization committed to building power to win education and economic justice for all. Step Up works with Louisianans of all races and ages to “step up” by campaigning, organizing from a racial justice perspective, and holding public officials accountable. The organization partners with parents, workers, students, and community members to disrupt systemic oppression in our schools and workplaces through voter education, advocacy, and action.
