The following is a statement from the organization PLOT, a local activist organization.
—-Bridge editors
PLOT stands for Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow. We are based out of Binghamton, NY, but our initiatives and members exist throughout the Southern Tier and surrounding areas.
WHO WE ARE:
PLOT is a collective of advocates, artists, and agitators organizing around issues of race, class, gender, and state violence through an anti-capitalist lens. We seek to empower, uplift, and ultimately liberate the most marginalized members of society—including and especially those who are Black, queer, trans, disabled, cash poor, women and/or non-men.
Since its inception in 2014, PLOT was intended to serve as a radical alternative to existing grassroots coalitions and organizations in our area. Initially conceived as a vehicle for cultivating young organizers affiliated with Citizen Action, PLOT has grown into an independent, multi-generational entity accountable to ourselves and our respective communities. PLOT is not formally affiliated with any established organizations, although we frequently collaborate with various groups and individuals when our objectives align.
WHAT WE DO:
Our methods are rooted in prioritizing justice over unity. We believe without justice there can be no unity. This requires challenging those with privilege to acknowledge the ways they are complicit in oppression.
Some have dismissed this approach as “divisive” and “alienating”—especially to white community members—but we view it as necessary. Our intention is to create a culture of high-quality accomplices willing to put their bodies and resources on the line in the pursuit of justice. Doing so often requires undermining the fragility and defensiveness of conditional, would-be allies.
As PLOT has grown, so too have our directives, strategies, and ideologies surrounding radical social justice and community organizing. Some of PLOT’s recent initiatives include: Anti-racism seminars, public demonstrations & rallies, reparation re-distribution, food & hygiene drives, community gatherings & parties, film screenings, coordination for Juneteenth & other local events, political education, and various social media campaigns. This summer, we also launched our first Black & Minority Owned Restaurant Week, which succeeded in engaging residents to support Black and PoC-run spaces throughout the Greater Binghamton Area.
Additionally, PLOT hosts bi-weekly public meetings to coordinate our efforts, gauge our progress, check in on members, and practice fostering safe, healthy, and inclusive environments.
WHY WE DO IT:
The work being done by PLOT is being done all over the country and the world. We believe changing the status quo of oppression must first occur in our individual lives, our homes, families, schools, and neighborhoods. By employing self-reflection, survivor-centered healing, transformative conflict resolution, and community accountability, it is our intention to create an atmosphere that empowers and uplifts the most vulnerable among us. And until that atmosphere exists, we seek to prioritize the survival, dignity, and humanity of marginalized people—both in our communities, and beyond.
Ultimately, our message is one of hope, not despair.
We believe in growth and the potential for people to change under the right conditions. We believe existing systems of oppression need to be deconstructed and replaced with radical and inclusive alternatives. And we believe that compromise at the expense of oppressed people is not a valid or acceptable path to liberation.
All of us at PLOT look forward to learning, growing, and healing with our communities in the weeks and months ahead.
Sincerely,
-Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow
For details on how you can get involved with PLOT, please check out our Community Calendar at www.BinghamtonPLOT.com
RSVP to our upcoming PLOT meetings (please read event description and guidelines prior to attending): https://www.facebook.com/events/2027313770621927/