What’s up with the protests? Get the Roll UPPP.
In Chattanooga and nationwide, recent protests have expressed decades of frustration at the systemic racism affecting Black people in every way from housing to healthcare to the current flashpoint — police brutality and a string of Black deaths at the hands of police. Events are moving fast, but the activists at the new podcast Roll UPPP intend to keep the community informed about the demands made by the protesters, resources available to activists and Black Chattanoogans more generally, and the next steps forward.
“We are protesting police brutality, the underinvestment in communities — we are protesting all the inequities that Black America, poor America, minority America, has felt, and that Black people have felt at a much, much higher rate from all different sides.”
So said hip hop artist, arts educator, activist, and community organizer C-Grimey, also known as Cameron Williams, on his livestream before the protest of June 6. But what sparked this particularly fierce and prolonged wave of protests in Chattanooga at the end of May 2020? And where are community organizers focusing the power that’s been raised? Citizens, activists, and those hungry for education can find answers on the Roll UPPP, a podcast held every Saturday at 11 a.m. on Twitch TV.
For people asking questions like, “ What are the goals of the protests at the local level?” and “What challenges are most urgent in Chattanooga?” organizers central to propelling the protest forward in Chattanooga will have answers. Spearheading the movement along with C-Grimey have been Marie Mott, community organizer and candidate for City Council District 8, and Brie Stevens, education professional, writer, and founder of The Brie Brand. The podcast will also feature numerous other community organizers and activists who have contributed to the current movement, a grassroots response to a national exigency.
Co-founded by Liz Willis, hip hop artist and marketing professional, and Carlos Rodriguez, website builder, tech expert, and DJ, the Roll UPPP podcast is designed to “discuss topics from the frontlines, policy reform, institutionalized racism and more,” with a focus on real-time solutions and deliverables.
In addition to C-Grimey, Mott, Stevens, Rodriguez, and Willis, the first session of the podcast featured:
- Arc Twitty, wordsmith, educator, and public housing site manager
- Aysja Pryor, cultural organizer and founder of LIFE, or Living in Freedom Eternally
- Caleb Kai, multimedia designer and storytelling coach for Georgia State University
- Chris Woodhull, writer, organizer, and executive director of Build Me a World
- Darryon Wood, also known as Alive De Poet, business owner and promoter
- Erika Roberts, poet, writer, and creative strategist
- Marcus Ellsworth, artistic managing director at Barking Legs Theater, writer and spoken word artist
Discussion at the first meeting ranged wide, with topics including everything from the strategic decisions of the protest organizers in the days and hours leading up to the initial marches to larger concerns such as the role of art in activism. The organizers are first focusing on a slate of demands for Chattanooga:
1. Divest from the police department budget and reinvest into black and brown communities.
2. Institute the “Duty of Intervene” — when excessive force is not used in a proper continuum, other responding officers must stop the harm extending from another officer.
3. Institute a warning before shooting policy and train officers to understand and properly apply such through written policy.
4. Invest in engagement of youth by the development of programs to meet responsibilities already outline in the budget.
5. Improve public transportation through CARTA that includes technology, security and access to movement of the population. This action would serve to increase the number of young people who could work or engage in activities to help them become productive, thereby needing less police intervention.
Going forward, Roll UPPP will keep community members informed of progress toward these initial goals, but that’s not all. The podcast’s organizers hope it will become a place where members of the community can hear information about policy reform, anti-racism strategies, resources for Black, brown, and impoverished communities, and more.
Tune in to Roll UPPP every Saturday at 11 a.m. There’s a chat feature and the moderator is attentive to questions and remarks. Visit twitch.tv/rolluppp_ to listen to current and recorded sessions.