'Bigger than before': New Hampshire Black Lives Matter chapters merge

The state’s three Black Lives Matter chapters are merging to form a single statewide nonprofit: Black Lives Matter New Hampshire.

The consolidation, leaders say, will allow the organization to build its collective power, as well as boost organizing and outreach efforts throughout New Hampshire. The chapters in Manchester, Nashua, and the Seacoast region have already been frequent collaborators and share much of the same mission, though there are nuances in their different communities.

“The message is that we’re still here and we’re now bigger than before,” said Tanisha Johnson, of Exeter, co-founder and board chair of Black Lives Matter Seacoast. “We’re still working on causes in a greater demand and the initiatives are not just when something happens and we’re being reactive about it. We are taking a proactive approach, and now we’re doing that statewide.”

Ronelle Tshiela, who co-founded Black Lives Matter Manchester and served on the state’s Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency, said the chapters’ work has shifted since 2020, when organizers across the country took to the streets in protest after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Read more: https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2023/10/02/bigger-than-before-new-hampshire-black-lives-matter-chapters-merge/