August - Fernando Sosa

Black Lives Matter
Submitted by: Allen Ellis, College Park

The Black Lives Matters message is one that Mr. Sosa of College Park relentlessly communicates to his fellow neighbors. Through ridicule and condemnation he continues to lead tough conversations on race, discrimination and the meaning of equality and inclusion. He also creates Black Lives Matter yard signs and distributes them to his neighbors throughout the College Park neighborhood.

In response to his heroic grassroots efforts to go against the grain, his neighbor writes "He has made me question what I thought was being inclusive. He made us understand that treating others as we would want to be treated involves ensuring that all Americans are protected equally and freedom does not give any of us the right to harm or discriminate against others. It's not an anti-police or pro-police issue. We also learned that "Silence in Consent". This "out in the open" discussion in what is a predominately middle and upper class white neighborhood brought comments from those who are people of color. They were surprised that we were discussing this. He opened the discussion and brought people together to discuss a very sensitive issue. I want to say thank you Fernando Sosa for keeping it real and keeping it civil".