“The Berkshire County chapter of the NAACP believes that Black Lives Matter. And we believe that that is not just a slogan, that it is not just a statement, that it's not just an excerpt on your website," said Political Action committee co-chair Kamaar Taliaferro. "We believe that that means we have to take action. And so, our candidate training is designed to level up the skill sets of people who agree, who embody the term Black Lives Matter so that they can run for office or they can support candidates who they know also embody that.”
To that end, the NAACP has brought in four speakers from across Massachusetts to share their personal and political experience in campaigning with Berkshire residents.
“We have David Halbert, who is Executive Director of The Progressive Massachusetts Funders Collaborative, Zayda Ortiz, who was a former campaign manager for Roberto Jiménez Rivera, Kristen Halbert, who is Senior Associate at Black Lion Strategies, and Lezlie Braxton Campbell, who is a Deputy Director for Campaigns for Educators for Excellence," said Political Action committee co-chair and former Pittsfield city councilor Helen Moon. “The program is designed as kind of a quick, one day really intensive program. And these are folks that have been doing this work for over a decade. They are involved in so many different areas, including running campaigns, consulting on campaigns, some of them have been campaign managers, others have been candidates themselves. And they bring the unique perspective of being people of color doing this. And it's really hard to run for office, it's not intuitive. You need a lot of money, you need a lot of connections, and you need volunteers. And so, when you're not from that world and from that space, it's hard to get going and hard to kind of be successful. And these are folks who have been successful in this world and continue to be successful.”
The program will conclude with the involvement of one of the rare elected officials of color in Berkshire County — the first Black person to serve on the North Adams city council.
“We're going to be finishing the day off with a panel of our four trainers, who will be joined by the Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Pittsfield, Michael Obasohan, to have a conversation about what it's like to be a person of color in politics in the commonwealth and in Berkshire County," Taliaferro told WAMC. "And of course, how to legislate with equity, right? So, once you get into office, or once your candidate gets into office, how do you translate your values into votes on policy? Or how do you continue to hold candidates accountable for their promises during campaign as residents?”
Taliaferro says the ultimate goal of the bootcamp is to lay groundwork for future Berkshire County leaders.
“One of the keys for the Berkshire County chapter of the NAACP is education, and is investing in our youth," he said. "And so, this candidate training, we hope, and along with the panel, will inspire our young folk. Not that they necessarily need more inspiration, but to maybe step out of their comfort zone and step into the world of political action.”
The day-long training at Berkshire Community College kicks off at 8:30 a.m.
