Jacksonville, FL: Popular Education in the Park event highlights People’s Budget
Jacksonville, FL – Dozens gathered at Brentwood Park in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday evening for an event titled “Popular Education in the Park”. Brentwood Park is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Jacksonville’s historically Black community on the Northside of Jacksonville.
This event was hosted by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) and the Brentwood 300. People gathered for a circle discussion under the trees, while their children played nearby. Attendees enjoyed soul food and conversation with their neighbors. The programming for this event was focused on the People’s Budget.
The People’s Budget is an initiative on behalf of the JCAC to both reimagine public safety and consider the impact that reinvestment could have in the community. The JCAC believes that enhancing public safety in Jacksonville requires prioritizing the historically neglected communities through direct investment and enacting legislation that addresses the root causes of crime.
As explained in the program for Saturday’s event, “Popular Education in the Park is a series created to truly meet folks where they are in Black and working-class communities.”
People discussed the history of redlining in Jacksonville, as well as the modern day ramifications. A recurring example of one such ramification was the morgue that is being built in the Brentwood neighborhood across the street from a school.
The discussion facilitator explained that “Redlining has regulated Black people to the Northside without any real representation, thus disenfranchising an entire people. Then city leaders decide that anything unappealing should be placed on the city’s north side, which is why a morgue is being built in a neighborhood despite the community’s strong opposition.”
Members of the Brentwood 300, an older working-class black organization, echoed these sentiments, as their organizational work is focused on publicly opposing the development of this morgue in a residential Black community.
Many attendees spoke about land and family property that is regularly at risk of being taken by white wealthy developers. People shared that Black homeowners on the Northside receive low offers for their property – only for that property to then be flipped and sold for twice what they paid.
During the “Reinvestment” portion of the program, attendees discussed why 34% of the city’s budget goes to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO), but only 1% goes to neighborhoods. One attendee asked, “What is JSO doing with all those funds?” People felt that those funds for JSO were being mismanaged, and the city would have fewer problems if they worked to prevent crime, rather than react to crime. Community members also spoke of their disgust with building a new billion-dollar jail, possibly in the Black community.
Popular Education in the Park is an ongoing series. JCAC will select a different park in Black and working-class communities in the month of June, and plan to spend the month canvassing neighborhoods and deepening ties with the community. This initiative will help JCAC refine their People’s Budget to include the input from neighborhood people they have spoken with.