Afropunk Army

AFROPUNK [AP] ARMY is the volunteer arm for the AFROPUNK GLOBAL INITIATIVE. The AFROPUNK ARMY acts as a catalyst for social movements, helping organizations tackle the critical issues — systems of oppression, LGBTQ+ rights, gentrification — dismantling our communities globally, AFROPUNK ARMY volunteers bring focus and awareness to issues of social justice, translating their ideas into positive action.

We encourage interested festival-goers to volunteer their time, passion and talents to give back to their communities in exchange for tickets to attend AFROPUNK.

New Campaign Campaigns

  • Expungement and releasing of Black men convicted of Marijuana charges
    Marijuana has become much more socially acceptable in every retrospect except when black men and women are involved in the conversation. African Americans have been booked and slapped with records because of a Marijuana charge they may have recieved years ago. With that being said, Marijuana has catapulted into mainstream media. It has been legalized in many states as well as heralded hip as far as pop culture is concerned. Marijuana moms have landed a segment on the Today show while black men and women with non-violent offenses sit in prison for it. The negative connotation Marijuana holds when associated with a person of color creates this notion that it is only illegal in areas with a lower socio-economical backgrounds: i.e. the hood and low income neighboorhoods where mostly blacks and minorites reside. If Marijuana moms are being celebrated then black men and women with non-violent charges should be released from jail and have their records expunged for their Marijuana charges.
    82 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Brimah Hassan
  • Boycott the Breakfast Club until Public Apology is Issued to Janet Mock & Trans Community
    Trans women of color are most often the people at center of and leading these social justice movements - whether it be for LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, or Women's rights and yet they are the ones who are most often ignored both by lawmakers and by people within these movements. Trans actress Amiyah Scott from Fox's "Star" while discussing the recent death of one of her close friends on Janet Mock's podcast "Never Before with Janet Mock" echoed this sentiment saying, "We're black, trans and women....that's 3 different battles that I don't think people even realize and I wish that we got the support across the board like we give support. Like you know what I mean? We're there at a black lives matter march, we're there at a women's march, but who's going to stand for us at a trans march?" Last year was the deadliest year on record for the murders of transgender people, with 3 out of 4 of those murders being trans women of color. And these statistics are not even complete due to the denial of most trans people's existence by law enforcement and unsupportive family members alike. Lil Duval's comments on the Breakfast Club perpetuates the belief that trans women's identities are not valid and as such they are not entitled to the same rights and protections that we should all be granted. So far the Breakfast Club has mostly avoided addressing the subject of Trans women's safety, particularly the safety of trans women of color, by saying that those were the words and opinions of their guest on the show and not held by any of the hosts or producers of the show. Laughing along when someone is joking about killing trans women or doing anything but unequivocally condemning such comments as hateful, prejudiced, and ignorant is a statement in itself. In not wanting to alienate the mostly masculine, transphobic audience that the Breakfast Club has attained they have remained silent on the issue. Until the Breakfast Club and its hosts release a statement in which they apologize for joking about the death of innocent trans women both to the entire trans community and to Janet Mock in particular (who was the actual woman that Lil Duval was referring to when he said "I don't care: she dying") we must boycott the show to show them that this is not ok and will NOT be tolerated. This boycott should be enacted both by listeners of the Breakfast Club as well as guests who are scheduled to appear on the show. For more information on this subject please read: - https://www.allure.com/story/janet-mock-response-the-breakfast-club-trans-women - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/us/black-transgender-lil-duval.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=3
    15 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Matthew Zabb-Parmley
  • Fund Public Transit: People of the City
    Underfunding public transportation forces poor residents to own a car in order to work, shop, or take their children to school. With proper funding and regular routes along main streets the city can benefit Black communities by making it much less expensive to live here. If public transportation is properly funded, then more working citizens in the Black community will have access to quality education for their children and a more stable living condition altogether. We need proper funding for everyone, for the city to operate better at large. Support this petition for a good example of a powerful narrative that highlights an impact on the Black community.
    21 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Sara Elmessiry
  • Keep Pre-existing Conditions Covered under Health Insurance
    This affects everyone in the U.S. who rely and depend on proper health care for a sustainable life. Keeping pre-existing conditions covered under all insurance plans will stop people from being charged rates they can not afford. Making two markets for people who've had pre-existing conditions, and for people who have not would make insurance unaffordable for some, and useless for others. Anyone can become sick or injured, covering pre-existing conditions is the only way to make sure that we're all covered when we may need care. By taking away coverage for pre-existing conditions we're making insurance for everyone less useful. There's no reason to go back to the way things were with people getting thrown off of their insurance because of rescission. Keeping pre-existing conditions covered under our health insurance programs is important for Black folks. Our access to health care is important to battle the inequality in life outcomes that sees our people consistently dying younger than everyone else.
    20 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Tonya Neckles Picture
  • End Business Ties To R.Kelly
    R.Kelly continues to profit off his music career with new business opportunities, despite the numerous allegations against him of sexual abuse against women. The investigation has shown that R. Kelly has been continuing his behavior as a sexual predator who targets teenagers for manipulation. This is the latest in a long documented history of incidents showing R. Kelly to be a sexual predator. R. Kelly's documented history as a sexual predator is long. He married Aaliyah when she was a teenager, he's been known to target young women at his former high school, and now Buzzfeed has exposed his continued manipulation, mental and emotional abuse of teenagers today. Despite this established, and documented history R. Kelly has recently been featured on award shows and releasing albums. Record companies still pay R.Kelly to make music, and venues are still booking this man to come onto their stage and recruit new victims. Enough, we can not allow corporations to sacrifice the well being of Black girls and women simply for profits. All companies must end their ties to R.Kelly and stop enabling this sexual predator.
    821 of 1,000 Signatures
    Created by K .