Featuring: Neighbors United for a Better East Boston
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Dear Resister,
In the midst of this global pandemic,
Black folks continue to be subjected to state sanctioned violence,
many people have lost their jobs,
are facing housing and food insecurity, and
are being forced to work at great risk to their health. While the national conversation is geared towards protecting essential workers, Resist grantees know that
justice is also essential
and they're responding to this moment with urgency and care.
To get you closer to the frontlines of the radical community organizing that's happening across the country, we're bringing you
the
#JusticeIsEssential
edition
of our Amplify series. This series will highlight the work and members of one Resist grantee, up close and personal, who is responding to the needs of communities most impacted by COVID-19.
Our last edition featured Heartspark Press
1
, a trans-centered non-profit that
nurtures and publishes books, anthologies, and short stories made by and for the (C)AMAB trans and non-binary community (
young
and old).
Today, we're amplifying
the work of
Neighbors United for a Better East Boston
(NUBE), an organization that develops abundant leaders who support social transformation and shifting political power. These leaders organize and advocate for inclusive democratic processes and just public policies to create a vibrant economy and environment for East Boston.
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Gloribell Mota (she/her),
Co-founder and Lead Coordinator at NUBE
Gloribell was born in Brooklyn, NY to immigrant parents from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. She has a decade of experience as a community organizer, mentor, and facilitator working to advance the leadership capacity of young adults and people of color. She leads NUBE's capacity, leadership development, and civic education goals and has lived in East Boston for 25 years with her two children Eddie and Genesis and their dogs Leah and Chico. The music genre that is carrying her through this pandemic is the 90's R&B particularly MJB.
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Enilda Lovo (she/her), Lead Weaver
Eny, born in El Salvador, understands the daily challenges East Boston immigrants face. In her native country, she developed experience in administration of NGO's committed to social justice with a natural intuition for civic and community engagement. Since joining NUBE in 2011, she has served as a member, volunteer, and coordinator. Today she is the lead weaver charged with coordinating and weaving community and civic engagement goals, building relationships and collective power. She lives in East Boston with her husband Juan and son, Gino. The music artist carrying her through this pandemic is Calle 13.
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What has this pandemic brought up for you?
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This pandemic is bringing to light what we have always believed, neighbors sharing similar values and intentionally engaging with each other can adapt to a new and just way of being in community. It rests with a simple belief that our strength comes from our community and that the “gifts” we share are the solutions to the problems we face collectively. This is a core value that we carry as NUBE, and neighbors stepping into a lead role of coordinating and co-creation with other neighbors and the local ecology of grassroots organization(s) to build a neighbor to neighbor mutual aid support network in East Boston.
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How has COVID-19 impacted the work you're doing and what
has been your response to this moment?
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The past three months have illustrated the willingness of our community to step up to hold various roles during this period of uncertainty and collectively figure out how to provide the best support to one another. We also share our struggles and draw from our experiences to create an alternative system that meets our neighbor’s immediate basic needs. We are connecting and collecting generous offerings directly from our neighbors and spreading the abundances to those who are not as fortunate. This small step moves us from a mindset of scarcity to potentially seeding our belief that there are sufficient enough resources for all of us, which makes a huge impact on building communal reciprocity towards our vision of an abundant community.
Our response comes from a deep sense of responsibility, love, and commitment to justice and our people’s liberation. We are staying grounded and keeping in mind our long-term view that those who are hurting the most today are the ones that have historically been marginalized and excluded since the conception of this nation and perpetuated by institutionalized racism that this pandemic has further illustrated in our health, education and public officials responses.
Many of our neighbors for the past ten years have been consumed with living day to day to make ends meet that this pandemic abruptly halted and we are now facing some big questions and fears due to the uncertainties of not knowing where the next meal will come from or how they will pay the bills. Drawing from our experiences this past decade as community organizers our hope is that we can collectively remember and build on our interdependence, generosity, and resiliency that is in us. To be able to engage locally in a manner that creates multiple alternative sustainable methods of addressing not just our economic and political needs but also our emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual needs.
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How can people get involved with your work?
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The simple act of taking time to just check-in and to say hello to our neighbors is a catalyst in itself towards building the relationships we need to create transformational change. Activating our local ecology and investing in our networks to strengthen and foster trust and solidarity so we can address the collective needs of our “Barrio” and intentionally take action for our betterment and mother earth’s. We also understand that the need is great and we can’t meet it all so getting more people engaged and interested is key.
To learn more please visit our website at
www.nubeastboston.org
, follow us on Facebook or call 617-981-4010 to learn more.
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In solidarity,
Kathy
Director of Communications and Storytelling
p.s. For those of us who are able to survive (and even thrive) during this time, your gift (no matter the size) helps support organizations who are power-building and imagining their world anew.
Invest in the new world today.
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(1) Read our last Amplify Series installation
here
.
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#JusticeIsEssential Social Media Series
Over the next couple of months, we'll be highlighting on social media how grantees are using Resist's rapid response funding to not only advocate for the basic needs and protections of communities hardest hit by COVID-19, but also to build resiliency and reimagine alternatives that work for the many and not just the few in a post-pandemic world.
Follow us (@calltoresist) and don't miss out!
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Resist is a foundation that supports people's movements for justice and liberation. We redistribute resources back to frontline communities at the forefront of change while amplifying their stories of building a better world.
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Resist |
P.O. Box 301240 |
Boston, MA 02130
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