Cara McClure

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Cara McClure, also known as Cara Black (born August 20, 1969) is a social activist, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Birmingham Chapter, executive director of Faith & Works, and an Alabama state coordinator for Black Voters Matter.

McClure was born and raised in Birmingham and graduated from West End High School in 1987. She studied business management and marketing at Jacksonville State University and Alabama State University, and spent a short time as a branch manager for Select My Space before opening ASAP Apartment Locators in January 2013.

Following George Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal for the murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, McClure co-founded the Birmingham Chapter of Black Lives Matter. As the chapter grew, she participated in a national Department of Justice-sponsored pilot to build trust between police and marginalized community members. She also spearheaded local action as part of "National Mama's Bail Out Day" to reunite families for Mother's Day, and helped to organize political action following the 2018 police shooting of E. J. Bradford Jr at the Riverchase Galleria. She was arrested and charged with trespassing after participating in a banner drop at the mall in December.

Cara has assisted and collaborated with many movements in Alabama such as Fight for $15, Alabama’s fight to end predatory lending, Greater Birmingham Ministries, Stand as One, Faith in Action, Shut Down Etowah/Alabama’s Immigrant Rights movement, NAACP Alabama, Alabama Arise, and SONG Alabama.

McClure also worked on Bernie Sanders' 2016 Democratic primary campaign, assisting locally with voter engagement and political education. In the 2018 general election, she challenged Republican incumbent Jeremy Oden for a seat on the Alabama Public Service Commission, but lost by a 60-40 margin.

McClure is credited with proposing to Mayor Randall Woodfin's office that the city should create a Black Lives Matter street painting, modeled after the one in Washington, D.C., during the 2020 George Floyd protests. In July 2020, Cara accepted the Mayor's invitation to join a task force to review police policy recommendations inspired by Campaign Zero's "#8CANTWAIT" recommendations for reducing direct harm caused by police.

References

  • Sheets, Connor (May 14, 2017) "Alabama advocates bail women out of jail so they can spend Mother's Day with their kids." The Birmingham News
  • Dunigan, Jonece Star (December 22, 2018) "2 activists arrested following banner drop at Hoover mall." The Birmingham News
  • Beahm, Anna (June 17, 2020) "Black Lives Matter: Birmingham activists, volunteers make their mark." The Birmingham News

External links

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