Jayanni Webster

Jayanni Webster

Jayanni Webster is a Memphis Tennessee activist. She is the God daughter of Memphis businessman Webster Smith.

She was a national organizer for Right to the City Alliance. Previously, she worked as a union organizer for United Campus Workers – CWA Local 3865 and prior to that as a communications and community organizer for the Fight for $15 Campaign. She has 10+ years of experience in student, labor and community activism ranging from anti-death penalty efforts to reproductive justice and anti-privatization organizing. Jayanni is a committed social movement leftist, Black feminist, and internationalist.

Jayanni Webster currently serves on the leadership committee of North Star Socialist Organization. North Star is a new cadre organization made up of revolutionary socialists connected to mass struggles who are committed to carry out liberatory strategy. She is also an organizer for a national housing and land justice organization. She has 13+ years of experience in student, labor and community organizing ranging from anti-death penalty efforts to reproductive justice and campus worker organizing. Jayanni is a committed socialist, Black feminist, and internationalist. She is based in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Marx over MAGA

Renee Paradis Socialist Majority, Jayanni Webster North Star Socialist Organization, Bennett Carpenter Liberation Road, Kristian Hernandez.

North Star Socialist Organization

In 2024 Jayanni Webster was a founding member of North Star Socialist Organization, one of the cadre organizations growing out of the LeftRoots process.

OrgUp Presents: Rashad Robinson

Liberation Road January 13 2021.

OrgUp Presents: Rashad Robinson.

Color of Change President Rashad Robinson joins Organizing Upgrade editors and guests in a conversation made more urgent by the events of the past week. Tune in Wed., January 13, at 5pm PT/8pm ET to explore how we can turn this country's racial justice majority into a governing majority.

With Max Elbaum Organizing Upgrade, Purvi Shah (Movement Law Lab, founder of Law for Black Lives), Isaac Ontiveros Labor organizer health sector, Jayanni Webster (Organizing Upgrade, national organizer Right to the City).

Audience contributors included Sam Texeira, Jeanie Dooha, Sepia Coleman, Teresa Wildman Wilke, Mario Galvan.

Frontline Dispatches

Organizing Upgrade September 29 2020.

We are very excited to announce this amazing new line-up of hosts on our show Frontline Dispatches. We've been running this show since this summer's uprisings, and this brilliant new group of hosts will bring you a weekly interview that tells the story of organizers working on the most urgent struggles of our time. Welcome Montague Simmons, Jayanni Webster, Gerald Lenoir, Diana Robinson, and Xiomara Corpeno.

Tomorrow, new host Diana Robinson will talk with Axel Fuentes from the Rural Community Workers Alliance about the food industry workers putting it all on the line during the pandemic to keep our entire food supply safe.

Power sharing

Jayanni Elizabeth August 3 2018.

i don't plan to simply hold our folks accountable once they take office because i expect them to bring us with them when they take their oaths. i expect shared governance! i expect us to be consistently engaged in the process of governing, of creating and passing policies & laws that protect, free and support us. heck, i expect a people's assembly from time to time :)

we posture to hold our enemies and opponents accountable. but we request and expect our people - those that have showed up time and time again, who have led our movements, who have a record of compassion and sacrifice - to practice radical power-sharing!

governing is difficult work, especially when we don't have total influence. power is still concentrated with corporations and the neo-confederate state and we are a blue city in hostile territory. the assaults will continue to come, but now we have different and added tools to work with. this does not negate the strategic movement work we must do outside of elections. so join your union, join the official Black Lives Matter chapter, give to the candidates who are going on to the general election, be prepared to show up to Fight for $15 protests and defend immigrant communities and reproductive choice. elections are only one piece of our strategy. our movements deserve our energy now more than ever too.

Tami Sawyer, London Lamar, Lee Harris, Katrina Robinson, Raumesh Akbari we thank you in advance and hope you need our ideas, our call-ins, our support in these conditions. because we want to give that to you as an act of radical power-sharing and as an act of love.

Fighting outsourcing

Jon Shefner April 16, 2017 ·

Tried to share a post now that is a year old - showing how long and hard we've worked against outsourcing. I couldn't make it work, because apparently I am a FB moron. But this is important to say: We've done it all - in the legislature and in the streets, with our allies and on our own. And not only are we not finished, we are stronger than ever, in Knoxville and across the state. I am so proud of working with Cassie Watters, Melanie Barron, Jayanni Elizabeth, Tom Anderson, Tom Smith, Thomas Wayne Walker, Ed McDaniel, Josh Smyser, Diana Moyer, Jeffrey Lichtenstein, Sarah Eldridge, Fran Ansley, Jim Sessions, Jason Dawsey, Bob Hutton, Troy Smith, JB and everyone I may have left off. I looked at the post from a year ago - and I'm pissed. We've worked really hard at this against a governor who has no reason to outsource other than to attack working people. No data confirms his plan, no need drives it, and no truth is behind it . C'mon April 24, and every other day of struggle until we win! Goddamnit, we are not done yet!

Anti-Trump rally

The University of Memphis main campus was host to the latest protest of Donald Trump as president November 16 2016.

The event was organized by the Memphis Progressive Student Alliance. The student group created an event on Facebook to garner interest, using the title "#NotMyPresident: Memphis in Solidarity Against Donald Trump."

Senior Gary Christopher Barton, a member of the alliance, said it was a chance for students to voice their frustrations about Trump's victory.

"There's a lot of anger, sadness and just fear about all of the stuff that's happening and we just wanted to have a place everyone could come together," Barton said. "We know that Donald Trump will be the president but we want to let the people know that the racism, bigotry and misogyny that's come out after the wake of the election is not OK and we do not agree with it."

About 100 people stood in a semi-circle and demonstrated outside the school's University Center while dozens of onlookers and passers-by on their way to class stood and watched.

Anti-Trump protesters march through Midtown

They chanted phrases, including "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here" and "No racists, no KKK, no fascist USA."

Many held signs criticizing Trump — hand-painted boards reading "Trump is a bad hombre" and "Hate will never make us great," among others.

While students chanted, professor of history Dennis Laumann spoke up and said he was there with a few colleagues because "... we are with you and Trump is not our president."

"To me, Donald Trump represents the opposite of what a university stands for, which is to embrace our diversity, to respect each other to learn from each other," Laumann said. "So it's especially appropriate that students of a diverse university like Memphis should come together to stand against the hatred that Donald Trump has promoted."

Jayanni Webster attended the protest as an organizer with United Campus Workers, Tennessee's higher education union. She acknowledged that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was not a perfect candidate, but she did win the popular vote and students were frustrated that the Electoral College carried so much weight because "... in a direct democracy Hillary Clinton would have won."

She said many people were scared or angry about what would happen to them with Trump as president, and it stemmed from "the history of racism in this country and not being able to resolve that stain in the American fabric. So we see it grow and manifest and now ... . Our federal government is controlled by someone who clearly has galvanized millions of people around a racist platform."

Freedom Rider

Jayanni Webster, was one of the forty Student Freedom Riders participating in the 2011 Student Freedom Ride. From May 6-16, college students joined original Freedom Riders in retracing the 1961 Rides from Washington, DC to New Orleans, LA.

"Towards Collective Liberation" editorial crew

Chris Crass', 2013 book " was "Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy..." was edited by a team consisting of Chris and Molly, Rahula Janowski Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Nisha Anand, Sasha Vodnik, Cile Beatty, Danni Marilyn West, Amie Fishman, Jeff Giaquinto , Sharon Martinas, Gabriel Sayegh, Clare Bayard, Z. Lula Haukeness, Cindy Breunig, Jardana Peacock, Betty-Jeane Ruters-Ward, Betita Martinez, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Paul Kivel, Ingrid Chapman, Dan Berger, Josh Warren-White, Rachel Luft, Kerry Levenberg, Johnna Bossuot, Leah Jo Carnine, Berkley Carnine, Leah Close, Vivian Sanati, Dara Silverman, Helen Luu, Pauline Hwang Nrinder, N.K. Nann, Marc Mascarenhas-Swan, Max Elbaum, Keith McHenry, James Tracy, Alice Nuccio, Laura McNeill, Azedeh Ghafari, J.C. Callender, Nilou Mostoufi, April Sullivan-FitzHugh, Michelle O'Brien, Joe Tolbert, Tufara Waller Muhammad, Karly Safar, Jayanni Webster, Joshua Kahn Russell, prof. Laura Head, Andrew Cornell, Harjir Singh Gill, Emily Thuma, Rami Elamine, Chanelle Gallant, Charlie Frederick, Amar Shah, Alicia Garza, Elandria Williams, Carla Wallace, Ernesto Aguilar, Lisa Albrecht.

"Towards Collective Liberation" followers

Melanie Cervantes, follow · March 11, 2013;

From author Chris Crass: " When I first imagined a poster promoting my new book, Towards Collective Liberation: anti-racist organizing, feminist praxis,and movement building strategy, the images that came to mind were the people in Melanie Cervantes’ “We are the 99%” posters, coming together to build the multiracial, feminist, working class-based movement for collective liberation that we need. M... See More — with Carla F. Wallace, Mari Mujica, Steve Williams, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Ingrid Chapman, Dawn Haney, James Haslam, Cindy Wiesner, Marquez Rhyne, Jayanni Elizabeth, Malachi Garza, Miguel CarItu, Chris Crass, Carl Patrick, Abbey Lolcano, Maria Poblet, Kate Cardona, Z. Lula Haukeness, Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Elandria Williams, Harsha Walia, Marc Mascarenhas-Swan, Jason Lydon, Jardana Peacock, Chris Dixon, Gabriel Haaland, Betty-Jeanne Ruters-Ward, Mel Baiser, Nisha Anand, Mimi Thi Nguyen, Becki Winchel, T. Gonzales, Rahula S. Janowski, Dani Burlison, Harjit Singh Gill, Leah Jo Carnine, Karly Safar, Emily Han Zimmerman, Alicia Garza, Sistufara W. Muhammad, Pamela Jean McMichael, Caitlin Elly Breedlove, Kate Kanelstein, Mei-ying Williams, James Tracy, Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, Shannon Garth-Rhodes and Cindy Jeanne.

Comrades

Tamam Arafat is associated with Rahleecoh Justis Ishakarah, Bjorn Sea, Jayanni Elizabeth, Chris Johnson and Dana Asbury.

Ferguson supporters

August 15, 2014 - Jayanni Webster (left) and RahLeeCoh Ishakarah (middle) make protest signs as they prepare to take part in a peaceful demonstration with the group, LOUD, as they stand in solidarity with the people of Ferguson, Missouri in the wake of Michael Brown's death after being shot by local police last week. The Commercial Appeal, Ferguson keeps inspiring demonstrations, vigils in Memphis, Posted: Aug. 17, 2014 By Thomas Bailey Jr.]</ref>

Fair wage products

Does a person have the right to sustain himself?

In an increasingly global marketplace, clothing manufacturers contract the lowest labor costs available to remain competitive, regardless of the repercussions. Direct vendors like the UT bookstore commonly deal with intermediaries that outsource production to manufacturers overseas with poor labor practices.

Gretchen Chromas and Jayanni Webster want to change that.

“A fair wage ... supports the right for all individuals and workers to receive payment for their work that reflects their hours and effort and helps them live more than impoverished lives,” Webster said in a statement. “I personally believe it’s a human right and everyone’s responsibility to support fair wages.”

Both women believe that philosophy should be applicable to UT’s sales model.

“Fair wages should be the bottom line for human rights when we’re looking at how UT’s apparel business is directed,” Webster said.

Chomas sees the life-changing benefit that an appropriate wage can bring to an individual.

“People who are paid a fair wage are able to purchase clean water and adequate food and other necessities of life,” Chomas said. “Therefore they have a higher quality of life, less disease and fewer health problems. It also increases self worth knowing that they are going to really be able to live on that wage and not just exist.”

Possessing a drive to promote change, both young women were driven to play some role in improving global working conditions.

“Since my freshman year I’ve been working with Amnesty International at UTK and about two years ago we were in the midst of a sweatshop-free campaign at UT,” Webster said. “It ended with the university affiliating with the Workers Rights Consortium, which is a third-party watch-dog organization that monitors where our UT apparel is being made. Students worked really hard to instate WRC affiliation, but we recognize it is just a step in the right direction. Even with WRC, violations, like the one adidas is implicated in at the PT Kizone factory, continue to occur.”

Alta Gracia, a fair-wage manufacturer in the Dominican Republic, promotes a different type of business model.

“We like Alta Gracia because it goes above and beyond anything else offered in the bookstore by paying living-wages, embracing its factory union and allowing WRC unrestricted access to monitor its business in a way no business has ever opened itself up to before.”

After that success, both students continued in their cause. Chomas’ focus on improving working conditions in apparel factories sparked their quest to see fair-wage manufactured products supplied by UT’s bookstore.

“Dr. Fran Ansley, law professor emeritus, was our initial faculty supporter and has been a great source of support,” Webster said. “Now we have over 50 faculty sponsors. Groups backing us include Amnesty International @ UTK, Community Partnership Service Corps, SPEAK, Progressive Student Alliance and the United Campus Workers.”

Fight for $15

Jayanni Webster, a local leader in the Fight for $15 addressed Pax Christi’s May 2016 gathering in Memphis. She was accompanied by fellow campaigners Dunetra Merritt, Mary Payne and David Mott, union organizer, to share stories.

BLM blockade post

Jayanni Webster with Bailey Mukes wrote a post on Elizabeth's FB page July 12 2016;

comrades and fellow organizers, sunday was beautiful, messy, humbling, and powerful

a dozen revolutionaries have been in conversation since sunday night about the new political moment the ‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬ blockade of I-40 created for the city of ‪#‎memphis‬. below are collective take-a-ways that comrades - me, & Jeffrey (Jeffrey Lichtenstein), Dana (Dana Asbury), Anjie (Anjie Mizuki}, Thomas (Thomas Wayne Walker) & T. Shelton (Todd Shelton)- some members of Freedom Road and others unaffiliated revolutionaries - wish to offer:

- Memphians have BEEN ready for an uprising. like bodies on. the. line. type ready. for a long time. anyone could see from all the t-shirts, flags, paintings & posters brought that people deeply resonate w/ the politics of #blacklivesmatter. people voted w/ their feet and although we’ve had dozens of protests, vigils and meetings this time people found their own way into the streets.

- police are on this city like an occupation. murdering, injuring, sexually assaulting and arresting Black people w/ impunity. but for a handful of hours sunday night we were able to confront them directly. AND they couldn't stop us. politicians who benefit from the subjugation of our communities tripped over themselves to set up meetings. not b/c we were polite or respectable, but because we were DEEP and in the words of so many of us on the bridge - we “shut -ish down” and “hit them in their pockets”.

....the system isn’t broken, it was built like this. no amount of reform will be enough, we need Black power, self-determination, and an economy run by working people. How do we get there? seriously. how?

Supporting Cazembe

When Cazembe Jackson became the new National Organizer for Freedom Road Socialist Organization in July 2016, Jayanni Webster contributed a supportive comment, on Freedom Road's Facebook page.

2016 Memphis PSA launch

Join us for the UofM Progressive Student Alliance kick-off meeting this coming Tuesday, September 20th on the UofM Campus. It will be in Clement Hall, Room 213 at 4PM. We are THE organization on campus fighting against racism, gender oppression, and economic injustice. Join us as we unite for our first meeting and discuss the general structure of PSA, our vision, and our campaigns for the semester. The 2016 presidential election season is upon us. The time is ripe to organize, and to DUMP Donald TRUMP!

Invited Paul Morquecho, Annie Bird, Katy Ochoa, Jeshua David, Rickie Aimee, Lucas Olsen, Mia Jordan, Jonathan Capriel, Chase Baltz, Matthew Brown, Sydney Melissa, Jroc Jarvis, Josh Adams, Leslie Monique Wellman, Carly Christensen, Keedran Franklin, Allison Escobar, Kayla Marie Thomas, Jayanni Elizabeth, Ellen Uhlmann, Tailer Ransom, Lizzie Dean, Dai Williams, Wesley Morgan Paraham, Tamam Arafat, Cali Baer, Brandon C J Shaw, Charlotte Watson, Anna CP, Chrissy Green, Mike Butler, Thomas Wayne Walker, Tom Smith, Dana Asbury, Jeffrey Lichtenstein.

Interested Carolyn Snowden Mallett, Reid Russom, Sam Cruze, Jessica Ann Buttermore, Sarah Kathryn Marshall

Attended Heather Gallandat, Lindsey Smith, Lang Ston, Ant Stone

Memphis Freedom Road comrades

Dunetra Merritt November 6, 2016; ·

My Friends Came To Seen Me !! — with Thomas Wayne Walker, Dana Asbury, Jayanni Elizabeth and Jeffrey Lichtenstein.

Dump Trump

DUMP TRUMP, DEFEAT RACISM AND MISOGYNY, BUILD THE LEFT was an open letter to the left from 47 grassroots organizers. October 17, 2016.

A lot of us see something really clearly, but few of us—radical and revolutionary organizers—are willing to say it out loud.

So we’re going to say it. Defeating Trump in the presidential election is a top priority for the left. And at a minimum, that means mobilizing voters for Hillary Clinton in swing states even if you vote for another candidate in a safe state. We’ve got to beat Trump and Trumpism while building movements that will fight, resist and disrupt a Clinton administration that will be militaristic and pro-corporate...

As we mentioned at the beginning, defeating Trump is not enough. We need movements strong enough to fight a Clinton administration on several fronts—whether Israel/Palestine, free trade agreements, climate change, a $15 minimum wage, or the prison-industrial complex. And neutralizing the appeal of the far right means we need to both strengthen our movements for racial justice and win over white workers to a progressive class politics as an alternative to Trump’s racist economic nationalism. Finally, we need to build a left that can help anchor a visionary alternative to corporate Democrats. It won’t be easy, but we’ve come this far. Let’s defend what we’ve got in this election, and keep our eye on collective liberation.

Signatories included Jayanni Webster, community organizer Memphis, Tennessee. .

Revolutionary Strategies to Beat the Rising Right Wing

Revolutionary Strategies to Beat the Rising Right Wing, was a nationwide conference call organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Sunday October 30, 2016.

What's the nature of this right-wing threat? What has this election cycle changed about the political terrain we're fighting on? How do we need to prepare for whats coming after the election? Hear about these crucial questions from our panel of top political strategists, including Nelini Stamp, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Linda Burnham, and Sendolo Diaminah.

Those indicating interest in attending, on Facebook included Jayanni Elizabeth.

Now What? Defying Trump and the Left's Way Forward

Now What? Defying Trump and the Left's Way Forward was a phone in webinar organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization in the wake of the 2016 election.

Now what? We’re all asking ourselves that question in the wake of Trump’s victory. We’ve got urgent strategizing and work to do, together. Join Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson of the Movement for Black Lives and Freedom Road, Calvin Cheung-Miaw, Jodeen Olguin-Taylor of Mijente and WFP, Joe Schwartz of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Sendolo Diaminah of Freedom Road for a discussion of what happened, and what we should be doing to build mass defiance. And above all, how do we build the Left in this, which we know is the only solution to the crises we face?

This event will take place Tuesday November 15, 2016 at 9pm Eastern/8pm Central/6pm Pacific.

Those expressing interest in attending, on Facebook included Jayanni Webster.

Mid-South Peace & Justice Center’s 35th anniversary

Angela Davis stood before a crowd of hundreds at First Congregational Church in Midtown on SaturdayJanuary 14, 2017. She attacked capitalism, praised communism and criticized Donald Trump.

"Our goal is to guarantee that Donald Trump will not be able to govern comfortably. ... If you think you've been to a lot of demonstrations in the past, well, multiply that by a hundred. Or a thousand over the next period," she said, and the audience cheered.

Earlier, she said Trump embodied the worst elements of oppression and capitalism. "He represents precisely those forces of capitalism that have impoverished so many of the people who decided to vote for him, because they feared for their future."

"Sometimes I feel really nostalgic about that era because it meant we were connected with people all over the world, because there were communist parties all over the world," she said. "And so we felt as if we were a part of a global struggle. The Cuban revolution was our victory. And we don't have that now."

The organizer of the event, the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, billed the annual fundraising banquet as a kickoff to long years of struggle against Trump's policies. In an email before the event, the staff wrote, "We will, with every resource at our disposal, stand against an agenda that denies the dignity and humanity of people of color, undocumented families, women, people with disabilities, and those of the Muslim faith. These values are non-negotiable."

Banquet attendees filled not just the seats at the round dinner tables but the church balcony, and some stood in the back. The event was attended by some Memphis elected officials including Shelby County Commissioner Eddie Jones as well as state Sen. Lee Harris and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen.

Speakers included Brad Watkins and Tami Sawyer. Panelists were Iris Mercado, Jayanni Webster, Allison Donald and Dr. Andre Johnson.

"Introduction to Black feminism"

"Intro to Black Feminism" hosted by Sendolo Diaminah Cazembe Jackson, and Adrienne Maree Brown.

Tuesday, August 15 at 8:30 PM

Created for Black August Practice Group.

Sendolo Diaminah August 15, 2017;

Black people! Tonight my beloved sister Adrienne Maree Brown is leading a web discussion about Black Feminism as part of a series of Black August political education sessions hosted by Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and BOLD.

Those expressing interest on Facebook included Jayanni Webster.

Amandla Training

Sendolo Diaminah February 1 2018

Hey Black organizers & those who love us: BOLD has re-opened our application period for Amandla, our organizer training program. We have just a few more slots we wanted to make available, so now is your chance if you missed the deadline!

Alicia Garza, Ajamu Dillahunt, Aaron Gamal, Whitney Maxey, Hashim Benford, Ociele Hawkins, Bryan Proffitt, Bennett D. Carpenter, Courtney Sebring, Cazembe Murphy Jackson, Reece Chenault, Charlene Carruthers, Chanelle Croxton, D’atra Jackson, Dove Kent, Fresco Steez DeLaflyy, Maria C. Fernandez, Aiden Riley Graham, Kaji Reyes, Laila Nur, Theo Luebke, Maria Poblet, N’Tanya Lee, Taliba O Njeri, Orisanmi Burton, Quinton Harper, Roberto Tijerina, Mary Hooks, Serena Sebring, Adaku Utah, Vanessa Moses, Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, Thomas Wayne Walker, Jayanni Elizabeth, Jayda Rasberry, Amber Evans, Dara Cooper, Yotam Marom.

Troublemakers Award

Jayanni Elizabeth April 7 2018

i’m over the moon y’all! OUR union, United Campus Workers - CWA Local 3865, was just awarded the Troublemakers Award by Labor Notes (for our fight against outsourcing) alongside other badass labor unions across the world including countries like Korea and Canada. Afterwards, the freaking WEST VIRGINIA TEACHERS asked to take a photo with us! WITH us! 😍😭😇👊🏾✊🏾

As one of their teachers said ”the day of reckoning for public education has come” and she is right! ... teachers are striking in OK, AZ and KY and higher education is getting organized! #solidarityforever #TNisNOTforsale #redforEd — with Scott Martindale, Elizabeth Stanfield, Margaret Djdiva and Cassie Watters in Chicago, Illinois. Also Thomas Wayne Walker.

Memphis For All comrades

Memphis For All April 21, 2018.

Thomas Wayne Walker (back row third from right), Jayanni Webster(back row second from right)

1. MemphisForAll and United Campus Workers joining together to support Dr. Roz Nichols for County Commission District 9 today!

UCW conference

Dana Smith September 18, 2018 ·

Dana Smith Elizabeth Stanfield, Cassie Watters, Josh Smyser, Ed McDaniel, Jeffrey Lichtenstein, Jayanni Elizabeth, Scott Martindale, Jayme Brunson, Eric Hughes frame is up!!!

Female comrades and friends

Thomas Wayne Walker March 8, 2018 · Memphis, TN · Lisa Yopp, Bonnie Berrong, Charlene Walker, Katie Haworth, Karly Safar, Anne Barnett, Melanie Barron, Jean Padgett, Jessica Carmichael, Jessica Walker Kim Yopp, Kelly Yopp, Becky Dunlap, Jessica Hruz, Becky Hruz, Alex Hruz, Heather Dockins Lamonya Davis, Larissa Hunt, Jasmine Wallace, Bingham Graves, Aimee Boer, Sandy Hicks, Earnestine Jenkins, Diana Moyer, Jayanni Webster, Cassie Watters, Janet Miles, Thelma Jean Rimmer, KB Brower, Kim Hinchey, Doris Conley Brooks, Jessica Buttermore, Lindsey Smith, Ruba Nuwayhid, Angie Navratil, Jennifer Hayes, Ash-Lee Henderson, Juliet Ucelli, Ashley Underwood, Dana Asbury, Victoria Ledbetter, Amanda Robertson, Ashley Susong, Elly Leary, Mary Jo Connelly, Kim Diehl, Andrea Morales, Emilie Bowman, Tami Sawyer, Anne Smith, Rachel Knox, Anjie Ash, Elizabeth Owen, Dana Smith, Amira Al-Dasouqui, Whitney Maxey, Mischa Nyberg, Lindsey Hill / a personal history with women who held me hold me down held me hold me up taught me teach me loved me love me & a lot more too but like a pig i left you off the list - women hold up half the sky, and i'm confident, cause the sky's in your hands

Union voters

State Representative G.A. Hardaway, Sr. October 27, 2018 ·

For immediate release.

LABOR UNIONS HOST HUGE EARLY VOTING EVENT over 40 unions plan to get their members to the polls in historic day of early voting

Memphis, TN -- this Saturday, October 27 at 10am at Mississippi Blvd Church (70 N Bellevue Blvd, 38104), over forty unions associated with the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council of Memphis and West Tennessee will host a big early voting event called #VoteTogether #UnionStrong. With more than 40 local unions in Memphis, union leaders are mobilizing their members to the polls in order to make an impact in key political races.

"The are over 50,000 union members in the city of Memphis. We're coming together to show our power not just in the workplace, but at the ballot box," said Margaret Cook, Vice President of the Memphis Chapter of United Campus Workers Local 3865. She went on to say "We know through sheer numbers alone we can make an impact and even flip some districts, and that's our goal."

Elected officials such as G.A. Hardaway plan to greet union members and thank them for their effort to increase voter turn-out. A long-time proponent of workers' rights, State Representative Hardaway, has co-sponsored bills to change the state's minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour.

"We know that labor has the people. We know that Tennessee hasn't been a very friendly place to unions. That's going to change because we are proud to be union members who vote" said Jeffrey Lichtenstein, Secretary of the Memphis Central Labor Council.

Wearing red, labor leaders expect a big crowd and a line outside the door for this special early voting event. For inquires or interviews please contact Jayanni Webster at 901-864-9507 or jayanniewebster@gmail.com

Representative G. A. Hardaway Sr., Larry J. Miller, Keedran Franklin, Tami Sawyer, Earle J. Fisher, Patrice Robinson, Van Turner, Reginald Milton, Elaine Blanchard, Rep. Raumesh Akbari for Senate District 29 Susanne Jackson, Martavius Jones, Commissioner Eddie Jones, Al Hardaway, Florence Howard, Ester Mitchell Patrick, Yvonne Osborne, David L. Acey, Sr. Javier Bailey.

LeftRoots to Brazil

Support LeftRoots comrades to attend the international school of Transnational Decolonial Black Feminism in the Americas to be held in Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil from July 29 to August 2, 2019.

With some support from LeftRoots, 7 cadres will be traveling to Bahia, Brazil to learn and engage with Black Feminists from across the Americas and the globe to deepen our feminist socialist praxis. We are raising $10,000 by April 19 to go toward airfare and other travel costs in order to attend the program.

Black women are a driving force in the movement for social and economic justice in Brazil, even as far-right president Bolsonaro pushes a racist and homophobic agenda centered on militarization and privatization. We continue to mourn the brutal assassination of activist and politician Marielle Franco and honor her legacy and call to resist. We see the Decolonial Black Feminism school as an opportunity to practice internationalism and learn from Black feminists across the diaspora.

Delegates included Vanessa Moses, Brianna Gibson, Jayanni Webster, Lisa Husniyyah Owens, Sian Miranda Singh OFaolain IV, Paige Amanda Kumm.

Memphis Can't Wait rally

Memphis Can't Wait rally for Tami Sawyer and Peppa Williams, March 9 2019.

Aimee Lewis, Andre Gibson, Pastor Andre Johnson, Barry Myers, Bobby White, Carl Schneider, Pastor Charlie Caswell, Dr. Charles McKinney, Cherisse Scott, Corey Strong, Danny Song, Emily Fulmer, Gabby Salinas, Rev. Gregory Stokes, Iris Mercado, Jamal Whitmer, Jayanni Webster, Josh Spickler, Kat McRitchie, Keedran Franklin, Kenya Bradshaw, Kevyanna Rawls, Kirstin Cheers, Latasha Gentry Holmes, Lee Rankin, Lori Spicer-Robertson, Lydia Crivens, Mahal Burr, Meggan Kiehl, Mendell Grinter, Miska Clay Bibbs, Molly Quinn, Imam Nabil Bayakly, Paul Garner, Reggie White, Dr. Roz Nichols, Shahidah Jones, Suzanne Jackson, TaJuan Stout-Mitchell, Tarrin McGhee, Thomas Wayne Walker, Tim Ware, Tony de Velasco, Vanisha Hasan, Victoria Jones.

Freedom Rider

Jayanni Webster, a junior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will be part of the 2011 Student Freedom Ride, which will retrace the 1961 civil rights bus rides.

Webster, of Memphis, is a graduate of Wooddale High School.

PBS’ “American Experience” today announced that Webster and thirty-nine other college students from around the U.S. have been selected for the ride. Nearly 1,000 students nationwide applied; the forty selected were chosen based, in part, on their social media and civic engagement involvement.

The Student Freedom Ride will mark the 50th anniversary of the May 1961 Freedom Rides and will coincide with the airing of “Freedom Riders,” a film directed by Stanley Nelson, that premieres on “American Experience” at 9 p.m. on May 16.

The original Freedom Riders — some 430 black and white men and women, mostly students — rode interstate buses in the South to challenge local laws or customs that enforced segregation. The Freedom Rides raised the credibility of the American Civil Rights Movement and focused national attention on the violent disregard for anti-segregation laws in the South. Riders were arrested for trespassing, unlawful assembly and violating state and local Jim Crow laws, along with other alleged offenses. The Riders met the violence they encountered with their own nonviolent tactics, which eventually spurred the Kennedy administration to take action.

Webster and the Student Freedom Riders will begin their ten-day bus trip on May 6 in Washington, D.C., and visit historically significant locations around the South, ending in New Orleans on May 16. They will be accompanied by some of the original Freedom Riders.

Webster said her interest in social justice issues was sparked by the nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves, which operated a curriculum in her high school. She learned about historical events, such as the Freedom Rides, and teachers encouraged the students to “not let history repeat itself” and “to stand up where you see injustice.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting some of the original Freedom Riders, like James Lawson. He lived in Memphis in the 1960s, and I grew up hearing about him,” she said. Lawson trained many of the leaders of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and was expelled from Vanderbilt University as a result of his actions — an act the university apologized for during its 2006 graduation ceremony; Lawson later became a faculty member at Vanderbilt. It was Lawson who invited Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis to talk to striking sanitation workers in 1968. That’s where King delivered his famed “Mountaintop” speech the day before his assassination.

Webster has crafted her own major through the College Scholars program. Her interests include education and society, particularly education policy and school-based programs focusing on issues like violence prevention, peace, leadership, and cultural education. Her specialization is in post-conflict education in Africa.

Webster became particularly interested in African education after she got involved in UT’s Jazz for Justice, a group started by religious studies professor Rosalind Hackett in 2006 to raise awareness about the war and subsequent cease-fire in northern Uganda.

During the spring and summer of 2010, Webster conducted research in northern Uganda.

She plans to apply for a Fulbright Fellowship and an Inside Collaborative Peace Fellowship, both of which would take her to Africa to do research and work with non-governmental organizations in peace-building, development and education.

Webster also is considering going to graduate school or working for a refugee resettlement agency in the United States.

Put the People First meeting

November 17 2014 · Nashville, TN ·

— with Mike Cannon and Cassie Watters, Lee Dunham Sessions, Anne Barnett, Thomas Wayne Walker, Jeffrey Lichtenstein, Anna Masson, Tom Smith, Elizabeth Owen, Bjorn Sea Jayanni Webster, Karly Safar, Melanie Barron, Ben Allen, Josh Smyser, Anza Becnel, Thelma Rimmer, David Alex Hayes at I.B.E.W. Electrical Workers Local Union #429.

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