“We are so proud to introduce our first group of Fellows in the MAPB Fellowship Legacy Program,” said Collette Flanagan, who founded MAPB after Dallas police killed her unarmed son, Clinton Allen, in 2013. The program will establish a 10-city network of leaders among Mothers, chosen after a nationwide search, who have lost a child to fatal police brutality.
The Dallas Mavericks are sponsoring the first round of Fellowships as part of the Mavs Take ACTION! initiative. “Through the Mavs Take ACTION! program, the Mavericks are committed to promoting social justice and driving sustainable change,” said Katie Edwards, SVP of External Affairs for the Mavericks. “We’re happy to see the Fellowship Program come to life to support collaboration and community building in order to build the power of change.”
“These mothers have chosen to turn their grief into fuel to change policing,” added Flanagan. “We are seeking justice for our children – and for all of those injured or killed by police violence. We are seeking justice in the cities where we live, and we are seeking a national response from Congress and the President to this national crisis of unaccountable police use of deadly force.”
The first cohort of Mothers in the program includes:
Janet Baker, Houston, TX
Shelia Banks, Boynton Beach, FL
Montye Benjamin, Ellenwood, GA
Jeralynn Brown-Blueford, Tracy, CA
Deborah Bush, San Antonio, TX
Rosie Chavez, San Jose CA
Adrienne Hood, Columbus GA
Dalphine Robinson, Atlanta GA
Kathy-Scott-Lykes, Columbus GA
Anita Wills, San Leandro CA
Through leadership development, community building, and narrative change, the MAPB fellowship will support the selected Mothers as leaders in their home communities and as catalysts and participants in the broader movement to change policing in America.
“Protests come in waves that should be followed by waves of change,” said Flanagan, noting that Congress failed to respond to the wave of protest that followed the killing of George Floyd last year. “We are digging in for the long haul to make sure that change happens.”
Biographies and photos of the Legacy Fellows appear on the MAPB website:
