GRIDS : The Grassroots Information Design Studio

01/06/2022

[Action Request] Hey fam, the HBN Assembly, Louisville Tenants' Union, kNOw LMPD, and other groups are taking a stand this week! We have the RIGHT to say how OUR tax dollars are spent and we're demanding that money be allocated to housing for those with the greatest need. Stand with us by submitting a budget comment using the provided statement below to the Louisville Metro Budget Committee. See graphics for a step by step walk thru. Thank you for your time!
Submissions are due by THIS Friday, June 3rd, at 5pm
Link to Budget Comment Submission Form: https://louisvilleky.wufoo.com/forms/z1ls6po10gjsdnk/...
Provided Budget Comment (below):
The Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF) has failed to create sufficient housing units for people making under 30% area median income. That means people living on $35,000 OR LESS a year remain unable to access housing that is genuinely and permanently affordable for them. This remains our greatest housing failure. The 2019 Louisville Housing Needs Assessment determined a minimum of 30,000 housing units was needed to address this crisis, which since the pandemic is even worse. It is clear, the LAHTF is essentially a developer slush fund that is not working. We want the Louisville Metro Council to make better outcomes possible by creating a People’s Housing Trust Fund and funding it with a minimum of $2.5 million, but we encourage the council to invest even more. The People’s Housing Trust Fund (PHTF) would create housing for people making at or below 30% area median income through: 1) social housing, 2) cooperatively owned housing, and 3) community land trusts. PHTF should be led by tenants and tenant-led organizations, resulting in housing that is tenant controlled, hazard free, and permanently affordable. Where can we find the funds to make this happen? We are asking Metro Council to rescind its pledge to fund the West End Opportunity Partnership (WEOP) and the West End TIF. Combining the $10 million reserved for them in last year’s budget with the $5 million they’ve requested from this year's budget, together could provide $15 million for the People’s Housing Trust Fund. The city could also divert the additional $10 million that has been requested by Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) for land acquisition, etc, to PHTF. That would provide a combined total of $25 million (from both the WEOP and LMPD) to finally address our city’s growing housing crisis. Funding the WEOP, LAHTF, pet projects from the wealthy elite such as Envirome Institute, and increasing funding to LMPD is a waste of our tax dollars. To learn more about the WEOP please visit: www.hbnassembly.org/westendtif. We also invite you to review the Hilliard Heintze January 2021 LMPD audit commissioned by the city.

12/04/2021

Let’s stop gentrification in Kentucky!! I STAND WITH NORTH FORK RESIDENTS 😊⚡️🙌🏾 It takes less than 3mins to leave the message with their mayor standing up for the over 100 Kentuckians who are being displaced in Morehead KY. Housing is a human right and essential to life! All people deserve to be healthy at home during this pandemic. Please join us!

CALL TO ACTION! PHONE ZAP!

Today, call Morehead Mayor Laura White-Brown to demand that local government and developer Patrick Madden meet residents' demands of more time, compensation, respect, future protection--and a meeting with decision-makers including Mayor Laura White-Brown.

Then, tonight, come join us at a rally outside the Morehead city council meeting--rally starts at 5:30pm! Details: https://www.facebook.com/events/2931997463723056

Mayor White-Brown's office phone numbers:
606-776-6650
606-784-8505

Call script (also attached in graphic): "Hello, my name is [your name]. I’m a constituent from [your city], zip code [your zipcode] and I am a resident [or calling on behalf of the residents] of North Fork Mobile Home Park to put an immediate end to their displacement during a global pandemic. They have not been treated fairly. 45 days is not enough time for people to relocate from their homes, some of whom have owned, invested and lived in these homes for decades. The $1,000 relocation assistance was not enough, was hard to access and didn’t cover the actual cost of moving the mobile home, while many residents were unable to find accommodations.

As a Kentuckian, I demand that the City of Morehead and developer Patrick Madden support these residents in their demands for justice that include more time to move, relocation assistance, respect, protection, and a meeting with you and other decision-makers. We want justice for the people who live up there. Please honor these demands from the residents of North Fork Mobile Home Park. Justice 4 North Fork has emailed you their full list of demands. Thank you for your time."

Remember to sign the petition to support residents and stay in the loop: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/justice-4-north-fork-resident-demands/

10/04/2021

Hey friend 👋🏾😊, Got a minute to sign a petition?

Housing is a human right! Stand in solidarity with our friends and fellow Kentuckians in North Fork Mobile Home Park by signing this petition. Let’s ensure these families win what they deserve from cold hearted, rich developer , who is displacing an entire neighborhood of over 100 residents in order to build a retail site across the street from another retail site.

The residents of Mobile Home Park in Rowan Co, made a list of demands from Lexington developer and the local city & county governments for selling their homes out from under them and forcing them to move with no input and 45 days notice. Please support residents by signing the petition. Stay tuned for more ways to support.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/justice-4-north-fork-resident-demands/

25/02/2021

– Mitzi and Whitney have created 2 holistic, Black-led interventions to Louisville’s Youth Detention Center closure (which has us shipping Black youth around the state) and trauma in the Black family due to lack of access to resources, social isolation, and Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. Check out this work.

Whitney Major and Mizti Wilson are active West End leaders who are developing holistic solutions to pressing problems in their community. They presented at the 2020 inaugural Community Research Expo. Their presentation showcased two Black-led intervention strategies and focused on social isolation a...

23/02/2021

– Marlesha developed an interactive story map that looks at where Louisville public art money has gone and very few projects have gone to Black artists. B/c of her research we now know that the Smoketown mural of the woman breast-feeding at 900 S Shelby is reportedly in violation of copyright law and basic consent practices. Furthermore, it is an example of how White artists are consistently given the power to tell and curate Black stories. White artists benefit from the silence of Black images and our city’s willingness to fund them over Black artists. They benefit by way of access to financial capital and social capital as a “savor” to Black communities. Check out this work.

Marlesha is a dedicated visual arts educator, an active professional member of the National Art Education Association, as well as an accomplished mixed media artist. Her work reaches beyond cultural and societal barriers, and her practice centers art as an essential component of public health and we...

16/01/2021

Louisville needs a Historically Black Neighborhoods Ordinance to protect the communities that have endured despite redlining, mass eviction, persistent divestment, neglect of infrastructure, gentrification, and other components of systemic oppression due to race and class. We invite those who are current residents of a historically Black neighborhood (Smoketown, Russell, Shawnee, Parkland, Chickasaw, Algonquin, Park Hill, Park Duvalle, and California, Newburg, and Berrytown are hereby designated as Historically Black Neighborhoods) to join us in writing a protective ordinance for our communities! Use this link to read and leave comments on the Historically Black Neighborhoods Ordinance: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gwuo06ovCoKIp0lGi9ri3hFDgomCaxTfi1PFH9XInio/edit?usp=sharing

06/12/2020

Rental assistance and the CDC moratorium on eviction aren’t working. Two Louisville-based community researchers dive more into this topic as well as what eviction looked like for Beecher Terrace residents. https://youtu.be/hESk8f3Qs6U

The Louisville Eviction Lab (LEL) was founded this year by community members and the Root Cause Research Center (RCRC). Shemaeka Shaw and Katrice Gill of LEL...

06/12/2020

Russell Place of Promise’s theory of change relies on individual and not group intervention. Listen to this community researcher explain why reparations is the only solution for building Black wealth. https://youtu.be/0m59v7t493Q

Woody Pryor presented at RCRC's inaugural Community Research Expo. His presentation focuses on dissecting the Russell Place of Promise initiative in Louisvil...

06/12/2020

Louisville’s art industry has a huge racial wealth gap. Art is also being weaponized against Black people in our city. Listen to this community researcher talk more on that topic. https://youtu.be/1WLrxVEWNPE

Marlesha Wood presented at RCRC's inaugural Community Research Expo. Her presentation focuses on the Art Racial Wealth Gap in Louisville, KY. Learn more abou...

06/12/2020

Louisville’s 5 largest employers (Big 5: UPS, Ford, Humana, JCPS, and Norton) have the power to lead the city away from bias and discriminatory practices in Louisville’s labor market. Listen to this community researcher and 3 former employees of the Big 5 talk more on this topic. https://youtu.be/TrhXJ4I8s_U

Shannon Floyd presented at RCRC's inaugural Community Research Expo. Her presentation focuses on bias and discriminatory practices in Louisville, KY’s hiring...