Why We Can’t Wait
Its a damn shame that community advocates and activists are moving faster than the IMPD and FBI investigation.…
Secrecy
The ways in which the system works to maintain secrets and avoids transparency. The systems that keep citizens from finding out what they have a right to know.
Patterns of Abuse
The patterns of conflict in relationships with others that maintain dominance. Specifically those conflicts which elicit behaviors that are abusive as a tactic of addressing the conflict which in turn either establish, or maintain dominance as a form of oppression
Social Justification
The ways in which oppressive dominance is explained or excused. Either through personal, familial or cultural history. Regardless of if it's maintained by religion, shared values or the law, if it sustains oppression it is unjust.
Internal Distress
Conflicts between the oppressor and the oppressed which are actually conflicts that are interior to the oppressor by acted out in relationship to the oppressed. Constructed reasoning to justify dominating another as a way to soothe the anxiety of the oppressor thus constructing a system of oppression.
Events
The Wake
- Place: Madame Walker Theater
- Time: August 4 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Wake: (v.) 3. to become cognizant or aware of something; awaken; waken (n.) 1. a watch or vigil held beside the body of someone who…
Liberation Weekend: Emancipation Address
- Place: The Church Within
- Time: August 5 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
About the speaker: Elle Hearns is a organizer, speaker, strategist, and writer. Elle’s voice as a community organizer and speaker were formed from her upbringing…
Black Owned Business Block Party 2
- Place: Madame Walker Theater
- Time: August 6 @ 1:30 pm - 6:30 pm
This is the current list of registered vendors for the event, if you do not see your business listed, and you believe that you completed…
Revitalizing the Village
- Place: Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center
- Time: August 13 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
As we gear up for the upcoming school year, we recognize that there will be many opportunities and challenges ahead of us. We want to…
Latest blog news
Revitalizing the Village
As we gear up for the upcoming school year, we recognize that there will be many opportunities and…
Liberation Weekend: Emancipation Address
About the speaker: Elle Hearns is a organizer, speaker, strategist, and writer. Elle’s voice as a community organizer…
Mayor Hogsett makes commitments for “change”
In a previous post we addressed the demands laid out to IMPD Cheif Bryan Roach in response to…
We Demand Justice Recap
On Saturday, July 15th, several hundred citizens gathered on the south lawn of the Indiana State House…
Indy Star corrects errors criminalizing Aaron Bailey
Often in activism, we don't see progress immediately. Change comes slowly, if ever. This past week has been…
Donate to the Aaron Bailey Memorial Fund
People have been asking for tangible ways they can support Aaron Bailey's family after his life was stolen…
We Demand Justice! #Justice4AaronBailey
On Thursday, June 29th, 2017, shortly after 2:00 am, IMPD officers stole the life Aaron Bailey, a 45…
End the Violence Recap
Today's City-Wide End the Violence Rally was necessary... It was a call to action and a display that…
City-Wide End the Violence Rally
In the wake of steadily increasing violence in our city, an event has been created at the request…
The Wake Tickets On Sale!
Inspired by the book: In the Wake: On Blackness and Being by Christina Sharpe, "The Wake" combines Art…
2nd Annual Toys for Tamir Drive
Join DONT SLEEP as we honor the life of Tamir Rice during the month of June. June 25th,…
DONT SLEEP Storytellers – June
DONT SLEEP has partnered with Maleah Solange Books to bring a series of unique local Black authors to…
DONT SLEEP Membership Meeting
Come join DONT SLEEP as we discuss what it means to get involved with our movement, what we…
Know Your Rights Workshops (5)
Thanks to a partnership with the National Lawyers Guild – Indiana Chapter, and the generosity of Martin Luther King…
Love and Hate: A critical conversation on gender relationships in the Black Community
There's definitely a love hate relationship in the black community among the genders represented...but should there be where…
What is the Black Lives Matter Movement? (Recap)
On February 28, 2017 at Indiana University Purdue University - Indianapolis, the Africana Studies Department sponsored an event…
TRU Dialogue Recap!
"The Tru Dialogue event that took place on February 24th was a success. There were over 200 youth…
Join the fight stop to Human Trafficking
END IT is a Coalition of the leading organizations in the world in the fight for FREEDOM. Each…
Operation Care-Kit (February Recap)
Thank you to all who helped, donated and participated in the creation of "Care Kits" to distribute to…
TRU Dialogue is this Friday!!!!
On behalf of the TRU Dialogue Host Committee, we would like to send a thank you to everyone…
DONT SLEEP is a finalist for Neighbor Power Indy’s “Connecting Community” Award!
We are pleased to share with you that DON’T SLEEP was nominated for and has been selected as…
DONT SLEEP DISCUSSION SERIES: I Am Not Your Negro (Recap)
DONT SLEEP Discussion Series: I Am Not Your Negro was a MONUMENTAL success. Thanks in no small part…
Where is the Love Recap
s/o to EVERYONE who came out to participate in a very fruitful, even if difficult discussion today for…
This Is Who I Am Campaign…(Where is the Love?)
In anticipation of the upcoming Where is the Love? event, we have began a social media campaign featuring…
DONT SLEEP Discussion Series: I Am Not Your Negro
In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, Remember This House.…
Black Business Bazaar Vendor Sign Up
Thank you for your interest in this year's event. Registration is now closed. Please stay tuned for more…
Where is the Love
In the wake of comments made by Kim Burrell and other incidents throughout our long and storied history…
TRU Dialogue: A Youth-Led Forum
A common complaint from young people and youth advocates is that adults spend alot of time talking at…
You Cant Jail the Revolution: Stop SB285
In Indiana, Republican legislators have sparked outrage after introducing a bill that would empower police to remove protesters…
DONT SLEEP Discussion Series: Hidden Figures
On January 7th, 2017 at 1:00pm we will be hosting a panel discussion centered on the marginalization and…
1st Annual: Santa Sit-In
DONT SLEEP's first annual Santa Sit-In is officially in the books. Its safe to say it was a…
Water Donation delivered to Second Chance Church in Flint, MI
Thank you to all who volunteered this morning to load up cases of water for donation to Flint,…
13th: Viewing and Discussion
In a partnership between OpportunIndy, Don't Sleep, Bloom Project, and Ivy Tech's Black Students United, there will be…
Race and Policing Discussion
Yesterday, we took part in a community panel at Ivy Tech Community College on the subject Race and…
DONT SLEEP Discussion Series: “The Birth of a Nation”
On Saturday, October 8th, 2016, DONT SLEEP will be hosting two panel discussions at 1:00pm and 5:00pm respectively…
Black Lives Matter: Justice March
DONT SLEEP partnered with Indy 10 and community members and allies to take to the streets of Indianapolis…
SAY HER NAME: An Event Dedicated to those women of color lost to state violence
On Sunday, August 22, 2016; we gathered together to listen, to hear, to affirm and to remember the…
MLKSitIn Indy
On July 31, 2016 DONT SLEEP took over the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Street and 30th…
Stop the Cycle (black lives matter, intracultural crime and collective economics)
So ya'll boycotting? Yes. And ya'll doing this Block Party? Yes. And you got a petition with police…
B.O.B. Block Party: Volunteer Sign-Up
Thank you for your interest in volunteering, but registration for volunteering at this event is closed
B.O.B. Block Party Vendor Sign Up
Thank you for your interest. Unfortunately, registration for this year's BOB Block Party has closed. Please be on…
Equity or Else 2016
In a joint collaboration addressing issues of police misconduct nationwide, DON’T SLEEP and INDY 10 have compiled a…
BLACK LIVES MATTER//Indianapolis Protest
In the interest of lifting our combined voices to protest the unjust murders of Alton Sterling and Philando…
Not 1 Dime Boycott Explained
Until the following stores A.) Divest from insourced prison labor and B.) Affirm that #BlackLivesMatter, we are boycotting…
Shoe drive to honor Tamir Rice
Join us as we stand in solidarity with the friends and family of Tamir Rice on the 1…
#StandWithCharleston
On the evening of June 17, 2015, a mass shooting took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church…
Toys 4 Tamir Toy Drive
Don't Sleep is happy to partner with the Children's Bureau of Indianapolis on this National Call to Action…
Fire Chicago Police Detective Dante Servin (Petition)
Sign Here We, the signers of this petition, demand that the Chicago Police Board permanently and immediately terminate…
#Justice4Rekia & All Black Women and Girls Vigil
Join us Thursday as we remember all the young black women and girls who were victims of state…
Stop The Madness: Repeal RFRA Rally
LGBT Hoosiers & Allies March on NCAA "Final 4" For Equal RightsLGBTs and supporters marched on the NCAA…
Stand for Justice: #Justice4MackLong #IStandWithBaltimore #BlackLivesMatter
While local protesters gathered in a peaceful vigil remembering the life of Walter Scott, in our own city…
#BlackLivesMatter Rally
RTV6′s Ebone Monet was at a large rally in Indianapolis Sunday where citizens voiced their concerns over recent…
Our Pillars
01.
Criminal Justice
Demanding equity and fairness from the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.
02.
Education
Promoting and protecting an individuals right to a quality education by promoting opportunity and eliminating inequality in the classroom.
03.
LGBTQI Equity
LGBTQI rights are “human rights” and that “all people deserve to live free from fear, violence, and discrimination, regardless of who they are or whom they love.
04.
Community Sustainability
Promoting a community that is economically, environmentally, and socially healthy and resilient. One which meets challenges through integrated solutions rather than through fragmented approaches that meet one goal at the expense of the others.
05
Equal Access for Individuals Regardless of Ability
Advocacy and promotion of a society that sees the ADAAA as an opportunity to adhere to the spirit of the law as opposed to the letter of the law. Where universal design creates an inclusive world that marginalizes no one for their physical, emotional, cognitive, neurological or any other visible or invisible disability.
06.
Public Health
Support and promotion of all organized measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole. Through activities designed to provide conditions in which people can be healthy and focus on entire populations, not on individual patients or diseases.
07.
Domestic and State Violence
An end to all violence expressed between one partner and another in an intimate relationship as well as the systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about particular political objectives.
08.
Family Equality
Working to expand the definition of family and spouse in the immigration context while simultaneously working to ensure fair and humane treatment of families with parents who are LGBT under current U.S. law.
Meet the team
Dominic Dorsey
Satchuel Cole
Vice President
Brandon Randall
Raeven Ridgell
Tasha Marie
Eric K. LeSure
Logistics Coordinator
Michelle Clegg
Ally Training Coordinator
Lee Ivy
Team Member Three
Whittney Murphy
Team Member Four
Star Jones
Call to Action
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DON’T SLEEP and INDY 10 have compiled a list of action items necessary to instill trust in law enforcement and work to guarantee fair, equitable and accountable policing.
Equity or Else: Accountable IMPD Policing Reform
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The narrative has been changed many times to “All Lives Matter”. By wearing this shirt we not only lift up the fact that Black Lives Matter, but the fact that All Lives Don’t Matter Until Black Lives Matter since black lives are the ones being taken with impunity.Justice for those lost is justice for us all. Which side are you on?#DontSleep
http://teespring.com/not-until
Not Until…
Say Her Name 2015
I Am Not Your Negro (Discussion Panel)
Black Owned Business Block Party
Stand for Justice Rally
gallery
Become a Member
How do I join?
If you have interest in joining or finding out more about how you can get involved, contact the membership chair directly at membership@naptowndontsleep.org for more information.
Why you should become a member?
Becoming a member means more than joining an organization, it means joining a community. A family centered on the fight for equality and justice for all citizens locally and globally. If you care about fighting the social justice disparities that are still too prevalent in America, then DONT SLEEP is the place where you can make a difference.
What does our membership include?
Membership gives you an opportunity to participate as a member in future planned direct action and banner causes the organization tends to, as well as the opportunity to serve on committees and assist with the plan/organization of actions as well.
Can I just make a donation?
Organizing sometimes requires funding, many times we will work out of our own pockets but operating expenses are always welcomed. Donations can be made via paypal at dontsleepIND@gmail.com