Going into its second year, a branch of the National Action Network is trying to establish itself as a sparkplug for social activism in the Syracuse area.
“As a community, we can be complacent and sometimes we just allow things to go on without challenging, without looking at it,” says Walt Dixie, president of the group’s Syracuse chapter. “But if we come together collectively we can challenge the system.”
Syracuse is among the newest chapters to join the 18-year old organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, a longtime civil rights activist and political candidate. Sharpton launched the National Action Network in 1991 in Harlem, New York. It’s slogan: “No justice, no peace.”
In the last two decades, Sharpton’s grassroots organization has grown to 35 chapters in the United States.
In Syracuse, president Walt Dixie started a chapter in 2007. He saw a need in the community, Dixie recalls, that wasn’t being met by the other social activist organizations.
“We don’t just hold vigils or just talk about the problem,” Dixie said. “We try to focus on changing policy and that’s what makes us different. We take on a problem, we deal with the issue, and then we work towards a solution.”
In January 2008, the group had 53 members. Now it’s grown to 63 members who pay the $25 yearly dues and a larger network of volunteers.
Dixie and the other members work on a shoestring budget. It gets $15 of the $25 membership fee and the remaining $10 goes to the national office.
But the group benefits from its connection with national leader Al Sharpton, Dixie said. It’s a connection, he said, that gives the Syracuse Chapter credibility.
For example, on a recent visit to Syracuse, Sharpton drew a standing-room only crowd and a who’s who list in Syracuse politicians and community leaders. His audience included Syracuse mayoral candidates, former and current common councilors, members of the Syracuse City School District board and pastors from the most influential urban Syracuse churches.
The core of his message was a call to action: “Don’t let anyone tell you that if you come together you can’t change this city,” Sharpton told a roaring crowd.
As the Syracuse has grown it has tried to step into several controversies with the hope of changing public policy, Dixie said.
For example, in October 2008 at Corcoran High School, a police officer at the school was accused of using excessive force in detaining a student and the Action Network called for the officer’s resignation.
The officer was eventually removed. But some parents accused the group of overreacting and called the officer to be retained. Still, Dan Lowengard, the superintendent of the Syracuse City School District, described the activist group’s role as an opportunity for dialogue.
“We certainly welcome their advocacy,” Lowengard said. “It highlighted that we needed clearer guidelines for school resource officers and probably more public accountability about letting people know how we work.”
Most recently, the group has been working to convince local leaders establish a public defender commission office so that people who are accused of a crime “get a quality service of attorney,” Dixie said. Now, people who are accused of crimes and who can’t pay for legal aid are assigned a public defender by the city.
And Dixie is urging members of Syracuse community to join forces on other issues. Groups of people advocating for an issue, he said, prove much more effective in drawing attention to the need for changes to public policy.
“We see the value of collaboration,” Dixie said. “We are able to assist some of these others groups and pull them along. Working with groups and new people brings in different skill sets as we continue to work in this city.”
(Jason Tarr is a senior with triple majors in broadcast journalism, international relations and Spanish.)
-30-
