this city. And that’s what we’re gonna try to do. We are moving forward slowly. We’re getting people in place and getting people in position. If you recall, Anniston is in the middle of Atlanta and Birmingham, we sit in the middle of ’em. Atlanta and Birmingham got some Black mayors and they’ve got Blacks in position—we stand here in the middle, and we’re not doing anything. We are still living in the Forties and Fifties and the Sixties.

How can you change when the people that pat you on the back and smile in your face are not changing? Change comes through a generation. You got to allow your kids to get involved and understand each other. This is how we’re going to have to make it. We’re going to have to make it through generation change. But there is a hard pill to swallow here in Anniston, I’m telling you, they don’t want to change.

DJUAN WASH, 36 WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS

We’ve been a part of a number of community events in Kenosha over the last month, including working with other groups, and with the Blake family—not only to provide access to food, but also voter registration. In the last election, turnout was very low for the Black community. And so our focus is moving towards making sure that more folks are registered to vote. But not only that, making sure that they’re actually getting involved in the process. Early voting begins October 20th. So we’re working on an event with a certain celebrity to be able to encourage people to get out and vote—really strong GOTV effort, in the days leading up to the election. We’re trying to pull out all the stops to make sure that people understand this is a way, or one of the ways, that you go about getting your voice heard—is getting involved in this process.

JUSTIN WILLIAMS, 37

BALTIMORE

I’m happy, locally, that there’s been some movement with activists and leaders who actually have started articulating specific goals and have had meetings and discussions about policies that can be changed to reform police and

80