bhm: faces from the new civil rights movement – jonel edwards and sherika shaw from dream defenders

As part of AFROPUNK’s spotlight on The New Civil Rights Movement, I caught up with Dream Defenders organizers, Jonel Edwards and Sherika Shaw. Amidst their hectic week, they took some time out to educate us on how they found themselves at the forefront of a movement and what’s next for their individual and organizational missions.

By Kristen McCallum, AFROPUNK Contributor

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“The Mission Statement – Dream Defenders is an uprising of communities in struggle, shifting culture through transformational organizing.” – Jonel Edwards 

KRISTEN: Tell me a bit about your background, are you originally from Florida? Are you in school? What do you do for work, outside of activism? Anything you find interesting and want to tell!

JONEL: My name is Jonel Edwards I was born and raised in Miramar Florida by two very Jamaican parents. I attended the University of Florida where I studied Political Science. I currently work for the Dream Defenders as an Organizer. This year I will be focusing more on the creation of what we call our Young Squads, which are Dream Defender Squads comprised of High School aged youth.

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SHERIKA: That’s always an interesting question. Where are you from? I’ve grown up saying I’m Jamaican, though I was born in Miami, Fl. Growing up in South Florida that questions always meant what part of the America’s or Caribbean where you from. I was born and raised in South Florida blessed with living in Flushing, Queens, NY for a couple years when I was younger. I quickly learned while living in Tallahassee and attending FSU, that when folks everywhere else asked this question, that’s not what they meant.

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 I graduated from The Florida State University and I currently work for FIU’s Community Engagement Department at Booker T Washington High School, merging service learning with activism, math literacy, art & culture. 

KRISTEN: What’s your definition of an activist? Is that what you consider yourself? How does it feel to be considered a leader of The New Civil Rights Movement?

JONEL: An activist is a person who is committed to being vocal about the issues facing their communities.

I consider myself an organizer, sometimes folks get caught up in the protest that we forget to bring folks into this work; it’s more than just talking the talk. Organizers are about helping others realize their power and fight alongside them not for them.

SHERIKA: I think an activist is someone who advocates for change for themselves and/or others in their community, through attending protests, speaking and/or expressing through other means issues. I consider myself an organizer, a cultural organizer, a fundraiser, an educator and a trainer. More than all of these things, human, a spiritual being, realizing daily that we are all worth more, much more and developing this restless urgency to act. If someone would have walked into one of my art classes at FSU and told me who I would be today, I wouldn’t have believed. So to be considered a leader in The Civil Rights Movement is extremely humbling. I’m in this fight and do this work because I have to and there are so many other 1st generation, queer, black women like myself who are capable of doing the same and who are doing it and some.

KRISTEN: What is the mission of Dream Defenders? How did you get involved? What role do you play in the org?

JONEL: I became involved with Dream Defenders on my college campus at the University of Florida. I was the NAACP president on my campus and really wanted to get POC on my campus more unified so I was in communication with various black organizations on my campus. Currently I am a full time organizer with the Dream Defenders.

SHERIKA: Our mission is to shift culture through transformational organizing. I got involved with Dream Defenders through a meeting held at FAMU. What led me to committing to Dream Defenders and the movement is the death of my grandmother. My grandmother moved to the states from Jamaica in the 70’s and had always done domestic work as a home health aide. After, my uncle was deported she fell into a deep depression and as a diabetic her health began to decline, where she found herself bed ridden. She ended up being extremely neglected by the hospital she was in, which eventually led to her passing away. I learned that in the world as is, in the USA she was too immigrant, her accent was too thick; her work was too domestic so she didn’t have access to adequate health care. Though she had spent her life talking care of other people when they were ill, she wasn’t worth much and the very same health system turned its back on her. However, to my family and I… she was more precious than anything. So with her passing I knew that the “American dream” she came here to make available to her children and grandchildren was in fact a myth. It’s not accessible to all of us and as she dedicated her life to us, my family and those she cared for, I dedicate mine to a better tomorrow. So I wear many hats in DD, from trainer to banner maker for an action. Most recently, I was our South Florida Regional Organizer.

KRISTEN: What do you see as your organization’s most significant contribution thus far? What do you see as their greatest challenge? 

JONEL: Honestly I think our organizations biggest contribution thus far is the fact that we are still here and still growing. So many organizations come and go. I know many people didn’t expect us to make it to three years. As an organization that came out of a moment, an outpouring of sorrow and anger, we are able to show folks that out of these moments we can create something bigger and do something bigger. Never did I see myself where I am at today.

Our greatest challenge has been figuring out how to build the plane as we’re flying it. The work that we do doesn’t give us much time for breaks, there’s always something for us to be working on but we also need to sit and think about what our structure looks like, what is our organizing model, how we make decisions, etc. And sometimes just sitting down and stopping is hard to do.

SHERIKA: Dream Defenders has become a beacon of hope for so many people, especially young black and brown people. We’ve done a brilliant job of making the movement something approachable for folks in our communities. We’ve been able to make our organization and our fight culturally relevant. One day my little sister called me to tell me that that she was learning about DD in her Hip Hop class at Cornell University, over a year ago. That was before we shut down the 195 during Art Basel, went on a delegation to Palestine and launched our Vest or Vote campaign that had a similar look to the black top that North had on at Kanye’s show during New York’s fashion week.

Our greatest challenge is creating the beloved community now. A close friend of mine, Sofia Campos from United We Dream said, “If we can create the beloved community within our organizations and within the movement, we’ve won, we’ve figured it out.”  We’ve all been socialized in the very society we’re trying to change, so we have to work rigorously to personally transform and end the occupation of our hearts and minds. We have to see spirit to spirit and this for sure is our greatest challenge.

KRISTEN: What has been the biggest hurdle you’ve met so far in your mission independently? Intentions of others, support of friends, etc?

JONEL: As a woman of color of Caribbean descent my biggest hurdle was finding power in my voice. Realizing that my thoughts and opinions and ideas were valid and needed to be heard! That was a personal hurdle that I’ve been able to combat while doing this work.

With my friends and family I’m very much supported but I have very little time to actually be with my friends and family. It’s hard to constantly be on the go, missing birthdays and special occasions.

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SHERIKA: “You don’t have to do it, it’s important but you don’t have to be the one out in the middle of the streets.” This is the message I get from some of those closest to me. Some of the folks that have supported me my whole life and that I’ve always looked to for advice has said this or something along these lines to me. Understanding that our fight and this work is important, but constantly expressing to me that it’s just something that should be left for other folks to do. Then there are little wins, when they have breakthroughs and are supportive and encouraging. I just wish that these breakthroughs were more consistent.

KRISTEN: Does your org work closely with some of the others, such as MAU, #BlackLivesMatter, etc? How do any of these partnerships amplify The Dream Defenders Mission? 

JONEL: Yes, we work with many different organizations in Florida and across the country. These partnerships are important because we all can’t bring about the changes we want to see in the world by ourselves. It’s about more than the Dream Defenders Mission but how we collectively can use our various missions to achieve liberation for oppressed people.

SHERIKA: The same way that one individual can never create change all on their own neither can any single organization, hence the importance of a movement. We have to meet at the intersections of our identities and experiences and work form that place. So though as DD we do our work through the lens of the TRAP (Schools, Prisons & Police) and the criminalization and dehumanization of black and brown bodies, we work to keep in our frame work how our LGBTQ community is impacted, how woman are impacted, how immigrants are impacted, etc. So we are pretty close with Opal from BAJI (The Black Alliance for Just Immigration), Patrisse Cullors came with us as a part of our delegation to Palestine, we work with Ruth Jeanoel from Power U when we have actions here in Miami and we have many more friends here in the states. Then there are our brothers and sisters with MST in Brazil and Juventud antes la emergencia nacional (JEN) in Mexico that amplify our work. Learning and building with our family internationally is important as we radicalize our thought, language and actions, while supporting them and bringing awareness to their fight, how our country is impacting there’s and how though clothed differently at times, our struggle are the same.  

KRISTEN: What can we expect from The Dream Defenders in 2015? Any work from you individually? 

JONEL: This year I see us really coming into our own as an organization. Internally and externally we are becoming stronger and more focused. Our three strategic priorities are schools, prisons, and police so these will be the areas that Dream Defender squads will be working on in their communities. For me I am most excited about creating Dream Defender High School Squads, Young Squads. Since our inception we have mainly worked with those on college campuses and/or young people aged 18+. We know that it is young people that will take us forward and always have so I can see what this Young Squads have in store.

SHERIKA: Folks can expect us to keep doing what we’ve been doing, keeping our ears to our blocs, building with our communities and addressing the TRAP (School, Prisons & Police). We’re currently on college campuses and in communities, in 2015 and beyond folks can look out for us building high school squads throughout the state. We’ll be watching these cops as they come into our communities and these prisons won’t be experiencing business as usual. We’re going to keep learning how to work harder and smarter.

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KRISTEN: Finally, if you could say anything to a Civil Rights Leaders of our past, who would it be and what would you say?

JONEL: If I could say anything to any Civil Rights Leaders of our past I would choose Ella Baker and what I would say is “Thank you, thank you for being powerful.”

SHERIKA: I couldn’t pick one. I would want to talk to Romare Baerden, Emma Amos, Elizabeth Catlett, Naji al-Ali, Faith Ringgold, Alberto Korda, Mago Orona Gandara, etc. All of these artists work reflected the times, and aided in the shifting of culture. I would ask them how they were able to create with the burden of knowing their art should reflect the times, how were they able to shake all that pressure. I would ask them if through their art they found some type of freedom, I would ask artists like Alberto Korda if they believe their art added to the revolution.

* Kristen McCallum is a Freelance Writer living in Washington Heights, NYC. Follow her for updates on Twitter @krm_writes and you can see more of her work on her website, www.kristen-mccallum.com .