by Mohawk Valley Freedom School/Press Releases

On Thursday, September 24th, the Mohawk Valley Freedom School located at Cornerstone Community Church in Utica will be hosting a presentation and discussion on the Ban the Box campaign which is seeking to expand further locally.

Ban the Box is a national movement committed to removing the criminal record box from job applications and thus ending discrimination against the formerly incarcerated in order to encourage greater economic participation through the legislative process of participating communities.

Among upstate cities, Utica would hardly be alone in this endeavor as Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse have all passed Ban the Box ordinances in recent years.

Presented by local activists, the evening will commence with background on the broader and local movement as well as presenting arguments in-favor that go beyond employment discrimination. Local advocate Inesha Briggs, who has written on the campaign, will also speak on her own experiences with employers in the past who have only seen a checked box as opposed to a person. Lastly, the presentation will feature some of the methods used in cities throughout the state to bring forth changes to applications within their geographic limits.

The evening will then shift towards open discussion on the points and challenges associated with continuing the process.

Class begins at 7:00 PM and a link to the Facbook event can be found here.

We hope to see you there!

The Mohawk Valley Freedom School is a school dedicated to social justice and social change. It is run by and for the community and is rooted in popular education.

The Mohawk Valley Freedom School is held every Thursday at the Cornerstone Community Church at 500 Plant Street in Utica. Classes are from 7:00-8:30pm. Please contact 732-2382 or mvfreedomschool@gmail.com.

This class is free and open to the public and to people of all ages and backgrounds.