Meet the Regional Organizers
BOLD has been thriving–our expansion and extension have included maintaining successful programs, adding over 100 newly embodied and equipped Black organizers, holding our first in-person National Gathering since the pandemic, focusing heavily on stewarding 105 acres in South Georgia, and, most importantly, extending our staff and capacity to meet the needs of our vision to activate and develop the mass base needed to win on our issues, lead multiracial alliance for social and environmental justice, build power, and govern.
In the midst of a fundamental transformation of our culture, work, and structure, we are most excited about the ability to deepen our work in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southern Regions of the US and sustain presence and action in support of BOLD’s commitment to a powerful and coordinated Black Left.
Our organizers focus on organizing at the regional level so that coordinating at the national and international levels becomes more possible. With hundreds of BOLD alumni spread across the US, with different social and political contexts, it is through deeper, more intentional, and centered engagement that we can find alignment and coordination with transformed leaders and continue our communities of practice that directly impact the work in their respective organizations.
The groundbreaking work of the Regional Organizers (RO) has been to lay the foundation / ready the ground for a more powerful & coordinated Black Left. Much of their work can be framed around three pillars: Gather, Teach, and Organize.
RO Gathering- much of the ROs work has been gathering information and digital organizing to more effectively build a powerful and coordinated Black left in their respective regions.
RO Organizing- much of the ROs work has also been organizing communities of practice. To get here- we have been working on a large amount of 1:1 conversations to reconnect with BOLDers, to learn about their work, the challenges they face, and what BOLD can offer to transform the situation. We have also begun piloting cumbes as ongoing communities of BOLD practice, both in person & virtually.
*BOLD practice groups are called “cumbes” to honor the maroon societies formed by runaway African slaves. These maroon spaces were the social base for Black liberation movements throughout the diaspora. Maroon space is the time, place, and conditions we create for Black liberation to be practiced and embodied.
RO Teaching- much of the ROs work has also been continuing the journey to become master teachers of the BOLD embodiment methodology.
Meet Aaron, Darian, and PG:
AARON
SOUTHERN REGIONAL ORGANIZER
Aaron is a southern organizer, internationalist, educator, and author with 10 years of experience in base-building, political education, and movement strategy. He has learned and led in struggles ranging from student debt, voting rights, environmental justice, movements to end gender-based oppression, multiracial political power, and decriminalization, all of which have been rooted in the Black freedom struggle. Aaron has a passion for writing eclectic essays, making melodies, and silent stargazing.
DARIAN X
NORTH EAST REGIONAL ORGANIZER
Since 2014, Darian X has fully dedicated his life to community organizing and forwarding public policy in New York City. Darian's organizing work has utilized popular political education methodologies alongside multimedia approaches and direct action strategies to create collective dialogues in communities at the intersections of issues around class, race, and gender for the sake of sharing our experiences, relearning lessons left behind by our ancestors, and strategizing to build power that challenges the prevailing hegemony.
PG
MIDWEST REGIONAL ORGANIZER
PG is a facilitator, coach, trainer, and organizer from Detroit who now lives in Norfolk, VA. They work with/in movements, organizations, and groups towards change, ease, and freedom, asking big questions, holding contradictions, and nurturing the learning and unlearning needed for individual and collective transformation.
Since their entering, Aaron, Darian, PG have made an undeniable impact analyzing the state of BOLD Alumni in their regions, determining the needs of organizers on the ground, and creating space for practice communities. Their regions collectively host around 550 BOLD alumni within 22 states across 20+ organizations. The Northeast and Southern regions are already hosting successful cumbes.
The need for these practice communities is evident by the increased participation in BOLD-created spaces such as 30 Days of Practice, attendance at the BOLD national gathering, and other alumni courses hosted by BOLD. But these opportunities are not without challenges, as BOLD alumni have broad ideological ranges, diminished practices of both somatics and political education, and differing strategic orientations. Learning about the struggles actively taking place and studying the methods of organizing through deepened relationships and shared practice has informed our offerings to alumni and sparked innovative organizing programming that can actually lead to a change/transformation in the balance of forces in society. The collective feedback BOLD receives is of gratitude for opportunities to reinvigorate their shared practices and is a reawakening of their personal commitments towards Black Liberation.
By organizing and coordinating our efforts in regions with historical significance in the struggle for Black Liberation, we can achieve multiple goals. Our approach allows us to identify and highlight the current sources of systemic oppression, providing organizers with specific, concrete areas to focus their work. Additionally, it helps us coordinate BOLD alumni into unified political action. Concentrating on these historically important areas enables us to create a more powerful collective force for Black Liberation, effectively linking past struggles with present-day efforts for self-determination.
