About the Green Light Black Futures Coalition
In October of 2018, BYP100 Detroit launched the Green Light Black Futures campaign and later started the Green Light Black Futures coalition in January 2019. Green Light Black Futures (GLBF) is a Black-centered coalition that is dedicated to fighting against hyper-surveillance, over-policing, and facial recognition technology in Detroit. The coalition was started by the Detroit chapter of BYP100, which is an organization dedicated to Black liberation for all Black people.
We are invested in building community power through safety teams, political education, and changing the culture and conversation around what safety is. We use many methods to accomplish our goal to end the hyper-surveillance of Black Detroiters, including direct action, political education, reforms, and outreach. You might have seen our Black Brunch event on Cass Corridor in September of 2019, or gone to one of our poli-eds on the History of Surveillance, or maybe you talked to one of our members about Project Green Light or filled out one of our surveys on surveillance and what actual safety means to Detroiters.
While our work is centered around surveillance technology, we understand that police use other methods of surveillance to harass specific demographics of the Black community at the same time. The GLBF coalition is committed to centering the voices of those in the community hit hardest by police surveillance in Detroit-- sex workers, Black Detroiters, Black youth, undocumented immigrants, and folks that live in public housing, for example, are people we know are hit hard by surveillance in the city.
We are dedicated to educating and creating a movement with Detroiters who are most affected by surveillance to build communities that center racial and economic justice for all.