Action St. Louis

This #GivingTuesday, Action St. Louis is rallying support to empower the St. Louis region, by addressing the systemic issues plaguing our community.  With a vision of transforming our region to a place where Black communities thrive and Every Black life is valued and affirmed, we will employ base-building, leadership development, and community engagement strategies throughout the region to build POWER from the Base-UP!

At Action St. Louis, we wholeheartedly believe in the power of the people, the resilience of our community, and the potential for creating tangible change.  Damon Stark's extraordinary journey beautifully embodies these core principles, and we extend a heartfelt invitation for you to join us on a transformative mission to empower St. Louis and pave the way for a brighter future for everyone.

Join us this year with your support by going to our campaign page featured below:  

Educate. Elevate. Transform!

1. Stay connected our our campaign and the ongoing conversation

2. Start a peer-to-peer fundraiser in support of Action St. Louis - click fundraise above

3. Donate here or on our:#GivingTuesday, Action St. Louis Educate. Elevate. Transform Campaign page

Action St. Louis is a grassroots racial justice organization that seeks to build political power for Black communities in the St. Louis region. Action St. Louis builds campaigns that leverage organizing, communications, advocacy, and direct action to mitigate harm against our community while fighting for long-term transformation.  To achieve this Action St. Louis knows that our work must happen in community which is why our base-building efforts are essential to our work.

OUR WORK:

Housing Justice
St. Louis City is facing an affordable housing crisis. Fifty-one percent (51%) of the City's residents are long-term renters. Rising rents, over-policing, incarceration, community violence, closing and underfunded schools, along with disinvestment and neglect has caused many Black residents to feel disconnected from the City they call home. In 2022, Action St. Louis built a tenant's rights movement called WeTheTenants.  WeTheTenants is a community of renters, organizers, and advocates building a movement to transform St. Louis from a region that enables landlords and developers to exploit residents, to a place where everyone has safe and affordable housing.

In 2023, WeTheTenants gained momentum and their efforts resulted in the passage of the Right to Counsel for the City of St. Louis.  In 2024, we are seeking a Tenant Bill of Right for St. Louis City and County.

#WokeVoterSTL:
#WokeVoter STL is a grassroots campaign designed to build electoral power and strengthen Black political participation in local, state, and federal elections by providing year-round voter education and engagement.
By connecting key policy issues to our lived experiences, and mobilizing voters to use their collective power, we have the opportunity to usher in evidenced-based policies and practices to transform our communities.

DeFund. Re-Envision. Transform
DeFund. Re-Envision. Transform. is focused on divesting from systems that harm Black people and investing in our communities. We organized with our partners to Close the Workhouse, Defund SLMPD, and reinvest that money into communities impacted by policing.

The People's Plan
With our education, health, housing, and policing systems in desperate need of an overhaul along with centuries of racism and socioeconomic inequity, outcomes for white and Black St. Louisans are vastly different. When coupled with the impact of COVID-19 and the economic recession these racial and economic disparities has not only been magnified they are also intolerable and unsustainable. Anchored by 50 local organizations, The People's Plan is a comprehensive policy agenda designed to help us build power and redistribute resources in St. Louis City through the following initiatives:

Make STL Home:
Promoting universal housing, environmental justice, and livability for all St. Louisans

Funding Our Future:
Ensuring equitable taxation and funding for youth and education.

Building Inclusive Democracy:
Ensuring government transparency and maximizing civic engagement

Re-envisioning Public Safety:
Keeping communities safe by decriminalizing and transforming responses to harm

BOSS
Action St. Louis is committed to training new bold leadership that will continue to build power in our communities and win campaigns that will transform our lives. With that in mind, Action St. Louis created the Black Organizing Summer School (BOSS). BOSS is a paid fellowship and training program that builds a pipeline of organizers in St. Louis region. Organizers are crucial to the success of our movement and BOSS serves to ensure new leaders continue to be trained, mentored, and developed.

Please consider spreading the word and encouraging others to join us on this transformative journey.  

Together we will Educate.Elevate.Transform.