Ferndale Group Selling Black Lives Matter Signs to Support Detroit Chapter
(Crystal A. Proxmire, June 16, 2020)
Ferndale, MI – As protests continue around the country in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Citizens for Fair Ferndale – an organization committed to fairness and equality – is selling Black Lives Matter lawn signs with profits going to the Detroit Chapter of Black Lives Matter (BLM).
The signs cost $5 and can be delivered to Berkley, Detroit, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, and Royal Oak Township.
CFF Chair Mary Schusterbauer told Oakland County Times “Citizens for a Fair Ferndale felt it was important to help community members show that they want to stand up for racial justice.  We thought that if we could provide an inexpensive and expedient way to display the Black Lives Matter signs, with the added benefit of proceeds going to the Detroit Chapter of Black Lives Matter, some people would take us up on the offer.”
“The response has been overwhelming,” she said.  “Our first batch of 250 was spoken for within 2 days.  We have a new order of 500 signs arriving soon and orders are coming in at a fast pace.
So far over $3,000 has been raised for the Detroit Chapter of BLM.
According to the BLMDetroit website, the movement is about more than ending police brutality.
“We look at the entirety of what it means to value Black Life.  Here, in Detroit, we support and organize Youth Arts Programming, because we recognize that our children aren’t given the same access to education as their while counterparts.
“Here, in Detroit, we work to support local urban farms because we understand that our communities aren’t provided the same access to nutrition.
“Here, in Detroit, we believe in dismantling a predatory system of cash bail, and a for-profit jail structure that targets our youth.
“Here, in Detroit, we partner with organizations committed to the idea that each and every human being has a right to clean water.
“Here, in Detroit, we push back against a system that illegally and unconstitutionally forecloses upon homes, because we believe that we all have the right to a roof over our heads.
“Here, in Detroit, we fight to redefine the concept of safety, because we believe that only by centering control within the community can we truly guarantee equitable safety for all neighborhoods.
“Here, in Detroit, we care about keeping Black bodies alive, and giving them the access to truly live.
“The official Detroit chapter of Black Lives Matter has yet to organize a protest action.  But our members have attended, and we have seen the violence with which protesters have been met.”
The group is going a series of virtual “Teach-Ins, Trainings, and Forums,” assembling community leaders to strengthen the community’s voice, and holding a march and rally in the fall to “present a list of clear and direct solutions to our local and state government.”
Learn more about The Detroit Chapter of Black Lives Matter at https://www.blmdetroit.com.
To order a sign through Citizens for Fair Ferndale, visit www.FairFerndale.org.
For bulk orders or to arrange pick up if outside the Ferndale area, message CFF48220@gmail.com.