Katal at Bridgeport City Council Meeting
Bridgeport resident Leslie Caraballo speaks at the Bridgeport City Council Meeting on July 1, 2024.
On Monday, July 1, we organized 200 people to attend the Bridgeport City Council meeting. At the meeting, city residents testified and directly confronted Mayor Joe Ganim about the city’s recent purchase of property liens on privately owned homes. This move was executed without involving the homeowners in the decision-making process. Prior to the hearing, Katal conducted outreach in Success Village, Bridgeport, and Stratford. The goal was to engage residents, provide information on current issues, and raise awareness about the upcoming city council meeting.
To get involved in the organizing or to get information about a community meeting, please contact Jazmarie Melendez at jazmarie@katalcenter.org.
Lovie’s Farm at the Middletown Wetlands Commission Meeting
Matt Mitchell testifies at the Middletown Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Agency meeting on July 3, 2024 (Photo Credit: The Middletown Press).
Matt Mitchell of Lovie’s Farm in Middletown continues to fight the city’sMiddletown Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Agency (IWWA). On Wednesday, July 3, Katal joined Matt at the IWWA meeting to challenge a cease and desist order the agency imposed for using pallets and wood chips in his farm operation. Middletown is a “Right to Farm” city – and farming in wetlands is a protected and unregulated activity in Connecticut.
Statewide, 98 percent of all farmers are white, and the state has lost 460 farms in the past five years alone. Despite all of this, the IWWA has continued to block Matt’s farm work, costing him critical time during the growing season. We will continue to organize to support Lovie’s Farm and other BILPOC farmers, to help ensure that the right to farm in Connecticut truly applies to them.
Check out this article and quotes from Matt in The Middletown Press on the IWWA meeting.
If you are interested in our Cultivating Justice project or attending the next meeting, please contact Diana Martinez at diana@katalcenter.org.
Katal Headquarters Moves to Middletown and New Office Opens in Bloomfield
Katal holds a Building Leadership and Organizing Capacity (BLOC) training at ourMiddletown office on June 15, 2024.
We are excited to announce that Katal’s headquarters has moved to Middletown, at 425 Main Street! If you’re based nearby, we hope you’ll swing by and connect with us in person. We also recently opened a second office space in Bloomfield (693 Bloomfield Avenue) with Chicks Ahoy farms. Our two new locations will allow us to gather, organize, and train folks across the state to advance equity, health, and justice.
New Connecticut Community Organizer:
Jazmarie Melendez speaks at a rally in front of the Bridgeport Police Department in the Summer 2020
Join us in welcoming our new Connecticut community organizer, Jazmarie Melendez. She comes to Katal with extensive experience in activism and organizing to build power. She has helped lead the fight for police accountability in the state following the loss of her 15-year-old brother, Jayson Negron, in a fatal shooting by a Bridgeport officer in 2017. Jaz also serves on the Bridgeport Common Council, representing the city’s 138th District.
We are excited to have Jazmarie on the Katal team! To learn more about her, check out her bio here.
Katal Quotes of the Week
“Power concedes nothing without an organized demand.” ― Charlene Carruthers
“Without justice there can be no love.” ― bell hooks
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Email: info@katalcenter.org Phone: 646.875.8822
