Social justice, giving back, scholarship credits lure over 100 to East St. Louis cleanup
More than 100 people from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, St. Louis and several metro-east communities showed up for a cleanup of East St. Louis on Friday.
Many of those who participated were locals to East St. Louis interested in cleaning their community, while others were college students, either interested in performing community service for scholarships or to support a local community.
The city of East St. Louis dedicated a maintenance crew, bulldozer and five dumpsters for the cause, all of which were completely filled by the time the cleanup finished.
The event, organized by social justice group Empire Thirteen, began with a speech by leader J.D. Dixon before heading to clean up in the shadow of the Eads Bridge near 10th and Trendly.
Dixon, a local activist and organizer, said East St. Louis needs more federal and state funding to prosper as it once did. He said the community must work together for conditions to improve.
“We always say to bring the change you have to be the change,” Dixon said, “So the community and the people have to come together and that’s what we have been doing here.”
Dixon has been leading cleanups for years as part of Empire Thirteen, a social justice group he originally formed to address alleged racial discrimination at his workplace.
“That’s what you have seen in Boost to the Streets campaign now for the last four years is the community come to get coming together to address these issues,” he said. “Just like you saw today, we had 100 plus people come out to eliminate an illegal dumping site. ... We use those demonstrations to enact legislation.”
Jayden Payne, a freshman at SIUE interested in psychology and Black studies, joined it for the dual purpose of helping out and earning scholarship credits.
“I need 12 hours of community service for my scholarship and I’m pretty much there, but more importantly, it’s about serving our community,” Payne said. “You know, making sure that voices are being heard and that we’re keeping our end of the deal. Everyone needs help every now and then, so that’s what we’re here to do.”
During the cleanup, the group also found a group of dogs chained inhumanely outside and convinced their owner to move them into a local home so they’d have a roof over their heads.
“We’re just here to bring change to the community, to show that people care for East St. Louis and care for them,” Dixon said after the event.
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