Hosted by Power Coalition
Sign-up to be a part of a Redistricting Academy!
Next year, the Louisiana legislature will take on the redistricting process. Redistricting takes place once every decade, and the policy impact can last far longer. It’s also one of the biggest, if not the biggest, points of political power in the state, which is why we all need to play a role in ensuring that our political maps at the federal, state, and local levels are fair and equitable, especially in terms of how they represent communities of color.
There are many ways we can go about trying to accomplish that goal, but the most immediate need is to recruit people to take part in the two Community Redistricting Organizations Working for Democracy (CROWD) Academies that we will be hosting, along with our friends at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, in September. From Wednesday, September 9 through Friday, September 11, we will be hosting two CROWD classes per day--one from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., and another from 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Our goal is to recruit people from across the state. Those participants can come from your current staff members who are interested in becoming redistricting experts, as well as community members in your base who are similarly interested in the issue. Each participant will have to choose one of the two “tracks,” either attending all three morning classes or all three afternoon classes. Although accommodations can be made for anyone who has scheduling conflicts and needs to alternate between the two sessions.
People can officially register at bit.ly/Redistricting2021.
The goal of the academies is to train people to be able to go out into their communities (largely virtually, depending on Covid restrictions) to educate people about how they can shape the redistricting process and the maps that are eventually adopted. While most academy participants will essentially become redistricting ambassadors, three people will be chosen to become Redistricting Fellows who will receive a stipend for their work. Those Fellows will be housed either in your organization or with the Power Coalition. They will receive extensive support as they go about their redistricting education work over the next six months to a year, with the final timeframe being dependent on when the legislature decides to hold a redistricting special session in 2021.