The Freedom ROC (legally known as the Freedom Righteous Organizing Collaborative) is a left-of-center campaign organization based in Akron, Ohio that promotes left-wing theories of race and alleged systemic racism. It concentrates on activist mobilization, particularly regarding voter education, police reform, and housing reform. The Freedom ROC has chapters in Cleveland, Youngstown, and Canton, Ohio. ^{1 2}

The Freedom ROC also has a 501(c)(4) political action arm called the Freedom BLOC that advocates left-wing policing policy and reparations. ³

Initiatives

The Freedom ROC has three major, left-of-center initiatives on the local and state budgets, housing, and criminal justice. Its budget campaign seeks greater transparency in local government and more public funding dedicated to African American communities. The housing campaign seeks affordable, government-subsidized housing for all and for the establishment of tenant unions. The Freedom ROC’s criminal justice campaign seeks voting rights for local prisoners, shifting public funds away from traditional policing, and toward left-of-center, community policing. ⁴

The Freedom BLOC

The Freedom BLOC is the political action wing of the Freedom ROC. It supports and opposes local and state policies according to its left-of-center views on race, economics, and urban policing. ⁵ The BLOC opposed Ohio House Bill 230 in 2023, which sought to create a mandatory five-year prison sentence for drug dealers found to be responsible for a fentanyl-related overdose death and increase penalties for drug trafficking. HB 230 would also expand the definition of human trafficking and raise the penalty to a first-degree felony. ⁶ Ohio House Bill 230 was referred to committee in May 2024. ⁷

In July 2019, Akron Police Department shot and killed Jayland Walker after he fled and fired upon officers during a routine traffic stop. ⁸ BLOC protested the event and organized a rally to demand the prosecution of all eight officers involved in the incident. ⁹ The officers were not prosecuted after being found to have acted reasonably upon review of body-camera footage. ¹⁰

The Freedom BLOC has a program called BLOC University through which it organizes and trains its social advocates. The classes BLOC offers advance a left-of-center history of racism and oppression in modern America that targets younger and “low propensity voters.” ¹¹

Leadership

Raymond Greene, Jr. is the executive director of the Freedom ROC and BLOC. Greene’s collective efforts resulted in registering over 300,000 Black people to vote from 2012 to 2018. For several years, Greene worked for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and Black Fork Strategies. ¹²

In 2023, Greene was one of several clergy who co-authored an op-ed saying that faith required him to support abortion. The piece, published in one of Ohio’s largest newspapers, also described pregnant women as “pregnant people.” ¹³

Financials

In 2022, the Freedom ROC reported $645,097 in revenue, $622,637 in expenses, and -$139,461 in net assets. ¹⁴

In 2021, the Freedom ROC received a $25,000 grant from the Arabella Advisors-managed New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit that makes grants to left-of-center advocacy and organizing projects and provides incubation services for other left-of-center organizations. ¹⁵

1. Home. The Freedom ROC. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.thefreedombloc.org/rocbloc-theroc
2. Freedom Righteous Organizing Collaborative. ProPublica. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/844215988
3. Initiatives. The Freedom BLOC. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.thefreedombloc.org/initiatives
4. Home. The Freedom ROC. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.thefreedombloc.org/rocbloc-theroc
5. Initiatives. The Freedom BLOC. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.thefreedombloc.org/initiatives
6. No on HB 230. The Freedom BLOC. October 21, 2023. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.thefreedombloc.org/initiatives/no-on-hb-230
7. House Bill 230 Status. The Ohio Legislature. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/135/hb230/status
8. Dev, S. “Ohio police review finds 8 officers acted reasonably in shooting death of Jayland Walker.” November 28, 2023. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jayland-walker-akron-police-review-clears-officers-steve-mylett-ohio/
9. Akron Organizers Release Demands, Call for Accountability. The Freedom BLOC. July 22, 2019. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.thefreedombloc.org/initiatives/responsible-sxlcr
10. Dev, S. “Ohio police review finds 8 officers acted reasonably in shooting death of Jayland Walker.” November 28, 2023. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jayland-walker-akron-police-review-clears-officers-steve-mylett-ohio/
11. BLOC University. The Freedom BLOC. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.thefreedombloc.org/bloc-university
12. Team. The Freedom BLOC. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.thefreedombloc.org/team
13. Danziger, Rabbi Lindsey, Greene Jr.,  Rev. Raymond E, and Clark,  Rev. Dan. “Clergy: Faith has been hijacked, to seize reproductive freedom. We will pray with our votes.” AOL. Originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch. August 18, 2023. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.aol.com/clergy-faith-hijacked-seize-reproductive-094517420.html
14. Freedom Righteous Organizing Collaborative – 2022 990 Form. ProPublica. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/844215988/202323179349307902/full
15. 2022 990 Form. New Venture Fund. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://newventurefund.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NVF-2021-990-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf