Broward Organized Leaders Doing Justice (BOLD Justice) Year Three

by Todd Hoover

All Saints (ASEC) was the only Episcopal founding member of this 28 church and synagogue coalition for justice three years ago in 2007. Our priest Rosa Lindahl-Mallow suggested that the community organizer Andy Lee meet with ten parishioners. I was fortunate to be one of them and couldn’t envision the future impact on me personally as well as the community. 

The first year proved to be exciting as it was all new. About 50 ASEC Parishioners attended a rally in 2008 at a local largely Haitian Catholic Church. We couldn’t help but to get involved with the Caribbean beat and to sway in the most non-Episcopalian way. Then a month later 93 of us boarded school buses and went to a huge, new Catholic Church in Southwest Ranches. There we gathered with 1,600 other faith members and pleaded for affordable housing units and a dental plan for the uninsured.

Eventually through other meetings and never letting the pressure off of the responsible parties we achieved victory with 1,000 housing units completed within two years. This was only a step as the Broward County Commissioners voted for 10,000 units in 1997 and never funded or built them. We also pushed for a dental plan for the uninsured with our own Rosa leading the fight! We won that battle too.

For the second year, we kept tackling the affordable housing issue trying to get the county to work with the cities in tandem. We also saw a glitch at the Workforce One Center (formerly known as the unemployment office). Any clerical error couldn’t be fixed locally and had to be fixed in Tallahassee resulting in denial or delay claims which sometimes had deadly consequences. As unemployment accelerated so did the suicide rate of men in the 30-40 age group. They had never faced such a bleak economy and were without hope. Is was an easy fix but the bureaucrats resisted including the responsible Broward County Commissioner. He initially told us no but agreed to come to the assembly. When he saw 1600 people, potential voters, he instantly changed his tune. This commissioner would later serve jail time for corruption! So if you want excitement, join us.

For our third year team members held house meetings and eventually the participants voted that crime and police relations were the issues to be addressed for 2010. Presently teams are researching these issues to pinpoint an issue or issues that can be solved locally and that need to be solved. So far, these teams have found that crime is being grossly underreported in Broward County. Why? And why are Police approaching certain groups? Why is the Latino, even second generation Latino, asked to show identification after purchasing something at Home Depot? Why is an African American Pastor’s son pulled over without a reason on Sistrunk Boulevard?

Please remember that this is justice work, to change systemic conditions that inhibit our neighbors. This isn’t mercy or charity works which involve hand outs. BOLD Justice is not a service organization like the Red Cross but a direct action organization. We are all called to walk humbly with God and to serve justice. We need people like you that understand this. People who have always wanted to change the world but couldn’t by themselves. Now you can, in the company of fellow faith believers.