On April 1st 2015, I had the opportunity to speak with NYU Public Policy graduate student, intellectual, community activist, and Hamlin alumna, Etecia Brown.  Ms. Brown organized a combined 8,000 people as part of the Millions March demonstrations in Oakland and San Francisco, bringing Bay Area voice to the global #BlackLivesMatter movement that seeks social justice for African-Americans.

History is full of neatly closed chapters related to African-American history, the end of slavery, the end of segregation, the granting of voting rights, but “the Civil Rights Movement never ended”, and now more than ever Ms. Brown emphasizes that African-Americans are facing a “life and death conversation”, in terms of police brutality, and economic and judicial injustice.

A fourth generation Bayview-Hunter’s Point resident, Ms. Brown is both direct and empathetic.  She quickly lists five actions items that need to be demanded by those both inside and outside of the African-American community:

1.Beautification of Urban Neighborhoods

2.Affordable Housing

3.Job Training

4.Afterschool Programs

5.Technology opportunities for African-Americans

Empathetically, Ms. Brown noted the need to heal the inner trauma that tears at the African-American psyche with every death of an unarmed teenager in the United States.  She wants “Love, Justice, and Peace” for future generations so that real tears can stop flowing, and real dialogue and action can keep growing.

To learn more about Etecia Brown and her work, please visit : http://letthemflourish.com/