Announcing the 2012 Soulforce Equality Ride Co-Directors
Soulforce is pleased to announce the selection of the directors for the 2012 Equality Ride. Director of Programs Jason Conner and new staff member Program Coordinator J. Mason will be leading the 5th historic bus trip.
The Equality Ride is a 2-month social justice bus tour that takes a group of young adults to colleges and universities that have discriminatory policies against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) students and faculty and their allies.
“The Equality Ride remains as salient as ever, creating much needed space for real talk about matters of sexuality, gender, race, class and ability. It’s never easy to be the squeaky wheel, but Soulforce takes on that role gladly so that others can enjoy greater freedom to speak and hold ideas outside the norm,” says Haven Herrin who helped lead the first Ride in 2006.
The directors have announced that they plan to expand the focus of this year’s ride to include more community-based efforts in the cities they visit. Individuals and organizations will be able to sign up to host or help with the Equality Ride in individual cities once the route is announced.
“The board of directors and I are deeply honored to support the work of these extraordinary young leaders within the LGBT community and the broader movement for global justice for all people. The Ride was co-founded by young adult leaders of Soulforce in 2005 and continues as our most significant program to date. The Riders have touched the lives of thousands of young people on dozens of campuses nationwide and they are determined to visit every campus that persists in oppressive and discriminatory policies. We are determined to help them,” states Soulforce Executive Director Dr. Cindi Love.
You can visit the rider pages of both Jason and Mason to learn more about why they are involved in the Soulforce Equality Ride or to donate to their individual pages.
Interested participants can also register to be Virtual Riders as part of the 2012 Equality Ride. Virtual riders assist with fundraising by inviting their friends to donate to their pages, and they receive exclusive content about the 2012 ride and special updates from the road. Virtual Riders who raise $1,000 will also have their names or the names of their organizations featured on our bus as we take it around the country.
Be sure to regularly check for important updates at www.equalityride.com
