Chaka Holley: Community Organizing Field PlacementM.Div. student Chaka Holley is in the middle of a full-time summer field placement at Southsiders Organizing for Unity and Liberation (SOUL). SOUL’s mission is to empower people on Chicago’s south side and the south suburbs to fight for social justice and address community concerns, with a particular focus on partnering with local churches. The issues SOUL tackles range from HIV/AIDS and education reform to green jobs. This broad range of campaigns is part of what attracted Chaka to SOUL. This summer has allowed her to work on the organization’s existing campaigns in a variety of contexts: shadowing current organizers in the field, researching the wards within SOUL’s geographic area, and even helping fundraise. Chaka has particularly enjoyed working with SOUL’s twenty member churches. Currently, she is helping organize SOUL’s get out the vote effort, asking churches to host a democracy day where they open their doors for voter registration and encourage voter turnout. Chaka Holley plans to be a community organizer when she graduates and says CTS has helped prepare her for this ministry by broadening her interest and passion in justice issues. |
