As the Communities Transforming Policing Fund gears up for the announcement of our 2024 grantee partner cohort, we checked in with the two newest members of our participatory grantmaking committee, to learn more about their commitment to ending state violence and what is inspiring their work.
Dig into our interview with Arleen Yaz Alonso of Gente Organizada below, and read our interview with Aramis Sundiata of People’s Justice Project here.
How long have you been with Gente Organizada and what brought you to the work?
I began with Gente in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. I was looking for local actions in the area, and I saw one posted on Instagram. I didn’t know it at the time, but all the people there were the organizers from Gente. I came across a lot of the young people that I work with now. A few months later, a job opened up as a part-time youth organizer. Mind you, I didn’t know the organizing world at all. I had just graduated college and majored in creative writing. I was intimidated, but I’ve always wanted to be involved in my community. So, I started as a part-time youth organizer. Our team expanded, and I was offered the position of Director of Youth Organizing. That’s where I’m currently at.
What are the models or examples of the work CTPF grantee partners are leading that most inspire you?
One of the first campaigns that I got involved in was our “Schools Not Prisons” campaign to get cops off of school campuses. It was a huge fight, but it inspired me seeing how long these young people have been pushing for. I learned from them throughout this campaign–the amount of late nights that we had at the school district, at City Hall.
To add to that, I, like my father, was involved in the system growing up. He was deported by ICE. Given my personal experience and the campaign that I started working on, another inspiring campaign was the fight for a pre-arrest youth diversion program in the city of Pomona. The young people that were doing the “Schools Not Prisons” campaign started a pre-arrest youth diversion program campaign in 2016. Come the pandemic, the organization turned more to rapid response, but the pre-arrest youth diversion work was never forgotten. I picked up that work in 2021, and in January 2024, we passed a pre-arrest youth diversion ordinance and resolution at the city level.
What brings you joy in the work that you’re doing with Gente Organizada right now?
The youth. They make my day so many times through little things. I’ll be at my desktop working, and they’ll share something funny that happened in school. It always warms my heart. Also, seeing the ways that we care for each other. Our organization has this culture where when we’re working too hard, we’ll go on a walk or cook for each other. We’ll chop it up a bit before we actually get to the work, knowing very well that that within itself is part of the work.
What message do you have for the groups working to end state violence and create a more liberated future for BIPOC queer and trans folks?
Through this work, I founded a queer and trans youth-led social action group called Hearing Queer. It’s heavy. These times are heavy. Being on the ground and hearing these tragic stories on the news nonstop—sometimes stories that are about young people. For me, and anybody doing this work, specifically with queer and trans youth, it’s about holding on to our joy, right? Hold on to our joy. Hold on to our queer community. And know that, yes, while we can always fight and be resilient, we also deserve rest. We deserve tenderness. Also, remember that, for queer and trans kids, these relationships they develop can literally one day be life-saving. Not even just life-saving, but it also breathes hope into you when the world literally depletes you.
What legislative actions and organizing actions can help support the successful passage of legislation that protects communities against state violence and against anti-queer and anti-trans hate?
We organize on a local level. As we all know, whatever is done locally can impact what is done statewide and on a national level. The bare minimum we fight for is gender neutral restrooms within our school districts—clean, safe, and accessible gender neutral restrooms. We’re currently working on that with Hearing Queer. Other than that, it is access to resources and sex ed that includes queer and trans folks. We need something that is representative of us.
What’s a message that you have for funders about how to better show up for movement organizers?
Recognize that sometimes they can alleviate a lot of what folks on the ground are dealing with. We’re not machines. Being so demanding when it comes to the admin work really rubs me the wrong way. Funders can be so extractive with their data collection. What I would love to see a lot more is funders being in community with us, being in space with us. If there’s a webinar we’re putting on, come through. Be curious about the work that we’re doing. Learn a little bit more about us rather than treating us as numbers. It’s about recognizing folks’ humanity. Also, it’s beautiful when funders actually have a background in organizing, because then we don’t have to explain ourselves as much. They just get it.
This is your first time sitting on a participatory grantmaking committee. What are you looking forward to from the experience?
I said yes because being very early in my director role, I’m not only helping facilitate the growth of young people, but I also want to learn how to best utilize our stories and our campaign victories, to be able to help get support for our work. So, what better way than to actually put myself in this and be amongst folks who are also in the same or similar roles as me, doing similar work. It’s an opportunity not only for myself to learn, but to be honored reading the work of other organizers on the ground. That’s really what it comes down to for me. It’s a really hope-igniting process.