University of Connecticut Collaborative Organizing (UCCO) is continuing their Black Liberation Series on Sept. 27, 2020 at 7 p.m.
Brittany Diaz, president of UConn Collaborative Organizing (UCCO) and sixth-semester political science major, said this installment in the series will be talking about Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective.
Najha Zigbi-Johnson, director of Institutional Advancement at the Macolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center, will be the guest speaker for their first night in the series this semester.
UCCO plans to continue work on intersectionality and advocacy with the community online this semester. “Some goals for this semester include planning educational events and collaborating with other organizations to teach the UConn community about the importance of issues that have always been a part of society but are coming to the surface in the present,” Diaz said.
Diaz said UCCO has worked with Defund UCPD in the past and plans to continue that initiative with them and other organizations.
“We plan to continue to work with Defund UCPD, Everyone Eats But UConn and PowerUp UConn,” Diaz said. “We are also working with the Native American Cultural Programs right now on addressing indigenous land and culture through art.”
UCCO will also focus on areas of its intersectional work such as climate justice, Diaz said.
“We are a grassroots organization that advocates for inclusive and equitable social change and climate action,” Diaz said.
The organization welcomes new students and interested members to learn new ways to organize, collaborate and advocate for community issues, Diaz said.
“UCCO consistently aims to be a safe space for all members of the UConn community to come together in solidarity and to make our activism intersectional and intentional,” Diaz said. “A lot of our work consists of collaborative organizing which involves partnering with other organizations on campus to ensure that we are also educating ourselves and supporting one another’s goals and values.”