Man to bike every street in Arlington for AFAC, Black empowerment

He started the effort when COVID-19 reached the area… and then George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.

Young has covered about 20 percent of Arlington’s roads so far in an effort to raise $10,000.

Posted: Jul 29, 2020 / 05:45 PM EDT

Updated: Jul 29, 2020 / 05:45 PM EDT

ARLINGTON, Va. (WDVM) — Avid cyclist Stephen Young is biking every road in Arlington to raise money for the Arlington Food Assistance Center. He started the effort when COVID-19 reached the area… and then George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.

“We need to have more Black voices speaking up and having a role in our communities because clearly they are undervalued and underprivileged and being oppressed. We need to change that,” he said.

It took a few Google searches for Young to find the Black Swan Academy, an African American youth empowerment organization. He’s fundraising on Facebook and on AFAC’s website and hopes to raise $10,000. Young has covered about 20 percent of Arlington’s roads so far, and he’s documenting his journey on MapMyRide and on YouTube.

But after Arlington’s roads have been covered, Young says he won’t stop advocating. “This is still an issue – it didn’t go away, even if [Floyd’s] murderers have been charged and arrested, whatever, the issue is not solved yet. We have a long way to go and so I’m going to keep doing this for months and months until I’ve biked all of Arlington. See where we are then.”