Author: Jennifer R Farmer

For Immediate Release

June 8, 2023

WASHINGTON – Grassroots organizers across the South today celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling in Allen v. Milligan, declaring that Alabama diluted the power of Black voters. Organizers feared the case would further compromise the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by undermining Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative issued the following statement:

“We are clear that this decision is partly the result of the tremendous work of grassroots organizers across the country,” said Phyllis Hill, founder of the BSWC and national organizing director for Faith in Action. “It is an indication that we can win if we persist and refuse to give up.”

“While a step in the right direction, we know that the fight to preserve democracy is ongoing,” said the Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida and a BSWC member.

“We will continue to organize, state by state, to ensure all communities have equal and fair maps; and to ensure we clear barriers to the ballot box for all,” said Nsombi Lambright, executive director of One Voice in Mississippi.

The ruling comes 10 years after the Shelby County v. Holder decision which gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by striking down Sections 4 and 5 of the landmark measure.

“We greet this ruling understanding all that was on the line,” said Tameka Greer, executive director of Memphis Artists for Change and a BSWC member. “Since Shelby v. Holder, our communities have endured an onslaught of bills that have made it harder to vote. We have resisted in part due to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. We are relieved but not resigned to rest on our laurels. We will continue to organize to ensure that all communities can vote and elect candidates of choice.”

“We are no doubt pleased in the ruling and encouraged to continue the work our ancestors began long ago,” said Ashley K. Shelton, president and founder of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice.

“We remain dedicated to the work before us and convinced in the prospect for change, not because of one court’s decision but because the arc of the universe bends towards justice,” said Kendra Cotton, executive director of the New Georgia Project and a BSWC member

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For Immediate Release

May 12, 2023

Black Southern Women’s Collaborative Remembers Victims of Buffalo Mass Shooting

BUFFALO – The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative today remembered the victims of the racist massacre at a TOPS Grocery Store in Buffalo, New York on May 15, 2022. Payton Gendron, just 19-years-old at the time, killed 10 people after targeting the predominantly Black neighborhood. Members of the Collaborative – which includes members from Florida (Faith in Florida), Georgia (the New Georgia Project), Louisiana (the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice), Mississippi (Southern Echo), and Tennessee (Memphis Artists for Change) – released the following statement:

“The continued gun violence in America has become an epidemic,” said Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida. “No one is safe.  Our families and children are no longer safe in schools, universities, malls, movie theaters, and grocery stores.  Many lawmakers choose to ignore or not address the safety of all Americans. I am unsure what more it would take for this matter to be resolved. My prayers and thoughts go out to the residents of Buffalo, New York.”

“We continue to send our condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the victims’ families,” said Kendra Cotton, executive director of the New Georgia Project. “No amount of time will erase the injustice of the brazen, racist attack. My hope is that the Buffalo community, and our nation in general, will experience a level of healing that includes accountability for domestic terrorists like Gendron, resources for the impacted community, and infrastructure investments which would aid Buffalo in moving forward.”

“One of the things this horrific mass shooting has taught us is that words have weight and bring consequences,” said Ashley K. Shelton, founder and president of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice. “For years, the far right has peddled lies and racist conspiracy theories that have created an environment where Americans are fearful of their neighbors, particularly those who are Black and brown. Payton Gendron believe in replacement theory which was promoted by many conservative news hosts as well as by former President Trump. One aspect of justice is holding accountable people who profit and promote hatred and lies.”

“Our communities are tired of being hyper-vigilant in response to one instance after another of Black trauma and pain,” said Nsombi Lambright, executive director of Southern Echo. “We will continue organizing and resisting injustice in all its forms.”

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For Immediate Release

May 12, 2023

BALTIMORE – This Mother’s Day, many will celebrate with breakfast in bed, brunch at upscale restaurants, fresh flowers, much-anticipated gifts and hugs from loved ones. While these things have their place, Sabrina N’Diaye will be doing something different. For over 30 years, she has worked as a therapist. For the past 12 years, she has worked with communities in the throes of natural disasters. More recently – since 2016 – she has been in communities across the nation respond to mass shootings. She was in Florida following the Stoneman Douglass High School shooting, and so many other mass shootings, including the one in Buffalo at a TOPS Grocery Store on May 14, 2022.  In total, 10 people were killed after Payton Gendron, a 19-year-old white man, targeted the predominantly Black neighborhood. 

Sabrina understands that when a traumatic event happens to one, it happens to all.

“There is an immediate physiological response to the loss that touches us all because when one human being is murdered, all of humanity is impacted,” N’Diaye said. “In Buffalo, this was a senseless massacre, and everyone lost including the perpetrator. But people across the country are forgetting and becoming immune to something so horrific. We should never become immune to the mass killing of innocent people. We should never become immune to a young person walking into a space and saying, ‘I’m going to kill all the Black people.’ The fact that we are witnessing a society that loves guns more than humans is alarming.”

N’Diaye serves trauma-impacted communities who are navigating mass shootings. Along with Dena Adler and Carol Penn, N’Diaye launched Embracing Buffalo at the Western New York Peace Center. She is also a senior faculty member and supervisor at the Center for Mind/Body Medicine, and faculty member at the School for Continuing Education at the University of Buffalo. In this capacity, N’Diaye, Penn and Adler teach communities how to process traumatic events and move forward. The trio is heading back to Buffalo on May 12 (and will be there through Sunday, the 14th) for the remembrance of the grocery story massacre.

When asked why she was going back, N’Diaye shared, “I am going to help the servants; the people who serve others yet are rarely offered an opportunity to heal. This is important because unhealed trauma manifests as inflammation, high blood pressure, diabetes, over-eating, depression and more. A part of what we’re doing is helping people heal from the event, but also bringing people back into relationship with one another. We’re also doing preventative medicine by teaching people that they matter. We’re teaching people who have had this horrific experience how to bring their bodies back into balance.”

N’Diaye understands that the people serving survivors are already under-resourced. Her goal is to teach community members how to heal from trauma. She is also raising money to support an overnight retreat for those in Buffalo who have been serving victims’ families and serving the community since the mass shooting.

For more information, contact press@spotlightpr.org.

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For Immediate Release

April 4, 2023

WASHINGTON – In a year in which threats to public education were characterized by backlash to progress on racial justice; attacks on curricula that center and celebrate identity – including book bans; attacks on LGBTQIA+ students; and backtracking on commitments to move away from police and policing tactics in school safety, the Communities for Just Schools Funds (CJSF) today released its 2022 annual report. The report, which is written as a resource guide for those on a journey toward educational environments that are holistically safe, detailed that amid intense attacks on public education, the organization exceeded its best-ever grantmaking year and directed $5.3 million to the education justice movement.

“Our work in support of our partners’ leadership has always been important, but given the unprecedented attacks on the communities we serve, on educators, and on public education overall, the work we do takes on increased significance,” said Jaime T. Koppel, co-director for CJSF. “Resourcing and collaborating with the grassroots leaders whose work and demands are the heart and soul of the education justice movement, and doing so in ways that invite our colleagues in philanthropy to authentic, sustained relationship with grassroots organizers is more critical than ever. The core issues our partners have been organizing around for decades have not changed – positive school climate, holistically safe schools, racially just schools – but the threats continue to grow and so our support for this work must do the same.”

The Communities for Just Schools Fund harnesses the resources of philanthropy with grassroots organizing to ensure that schools welcome and nurture all students, allowing them to meet their full potential. CJSF funds organizations that change schools and the system of education through community organizing. It provides multi-year general operating support to 80 grassroots organizing groups in 25 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Washington, D.C.

In 2022, CJSF grew the partner network by almost 25%. “Our partner network, which is largely Black, brown and multiracial-led grassroots organizing groups, now includes more groups in the south, more educator organizer groups, and more groups explicitly led by and focused upon building the leadership and uplifting the demands of trans and queer youth,” said Marianna Islam, Director of Movement Partnerships.

As schools reopened, CJSF also stepped back out into the world and hosted a learning exchange focused on supporting partners’ efforts to develop an affirmative vision for how culturally sustaining pedagogy is a crucial ingredient in holistically safe schools. This convening, which was part of a larger community of practice, is part of the organization’s commitment to build narrative power around a comprehensive vision for holistically safe schools.

“While this is often not measured or prioritized, we are proud to have been intentional in holding space for healing and holistic wellness,” Briana Perry, Director of Liberatory Learning & Capacity-Building said. “We know that our communities experience myriad intersecting oppressions, and it was important for us to be intentional about creating spaces for healing as well as spaces for joy. We will continue to deepen our commitment to investing in collective healing and our partners showing up in their full humanity.”

To view the full 2022 annual report, visit: https://cjsfund.pub/2022annualreport

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For Immediate Release

April 4, 2023

NEW YORK – The national racial equity organization Race Forward today recognized Fair Housing Month, which occurs every April, and vowed to continue fighting to ensure housing is viewed as a public good rather than a commodity for speculation. Over the past months, the organization has released resources to support community advocates and government practitioners in their push for equitable housing and land policies. The tools emerged from a collaborative partnership between Community Change, PolicyLink and Race Forward, and was supported by Funders for Housing and Opportunity.

“Housing is a public good and a basic human right. It must be viewed as such,” said Glenn Harris, president, Race Forward. “Everyone should have access to affordable and dignified housing. However, discriminatory practices such as access and approval for home loans, higher interest rates, and home valuation continue to increase the home wealth gap between people of color and white Americans.”

According to a November 2022 U.S. Department of the Treasury blog post, in the second quarter of 2022, the homeownership rate for white households was 75 percent compared to 45 percent for Black households, 48 percent for Hispanic households, and 57 percent for non-Hispanic households of any other race. The report highlights the overall racial wealth gaps, and the gaps in homeownership rates have changed little over the last three decades.   

The recently released tools include:

1. Housing as a Basic Human Need: A Messaging Guide for Housing Justice
2. The PolicyLink Housing Justice Narrative Toolkit report
3. Government Alliance on Race and Equity’s Advancing Racial Equity in Housing, Land, and Development toolbox

In addition to the release of the tools for community organizers and government practitioners, Race Forward also announced the launch of a Housing, Land, and Development (HLD) project, which will bring a racial justice lens to government practitioners in the housing and development sector and provide them with a network to share ideas, challenges, strategies and tools. The HLD Project complements the work of the Housing Justice Narrative Partnership between PolicyLink, Community Change, and Race Forward. This partnership used research-informed housing narratives to galvanize support for housing solutions.

“We know housing and land use policies at all levels of government have harmed communities of color and government must have a major role in advancing community-identified solutions that address the root causes of racialized housing disparities to create a more just housing system,” said Gordon Goodwin, director of Race Forward’s  Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE).

GARE partnered with the HLD Project, the Association of Bay Area Governments, and Ground Works Consulting to publish the Housing, Land, and Development Toolbox to offer frameworks and other resources to help housing and planning agencies transform their organizational structures and develop race-conscious housing and land use policies.

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For Immediate Release

Feb. 28, 2023

Race Forward and PolicyLink Announce Review of Federal Equity Action Plans; Share Findings on Potential for Meaningful Action to Advance Racial Equity

February 28, 2023 – One week after President Biden announced his second historic Executive Order 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Under-served Communities Through The Federal Government, mandating racial equity across policy and practice within the federal government, Race Forward and PolicyLink released their review of a sample of the Equity Action Plans (EAPs) presented early last year by federal agencies. 

More than 90 federal agencies and departments, including all cabinet-level agencies and over 50 independent agencies, prepared EAPs as mandated by President Biden’s Executive Order 13985 “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Under-served Communities Through the Federal Government.” 

The groups found that while the EAPs demonstrated a clear distinction between equity and equality, only half of the 30 plans they reviewed explicitly referenced racial equity.  Despite the executive order’s explicitness in naming racial equity in the title, the initial federal plans have adopted a less prescriptive framing.  

“Prioritizing equity is a clear departure from previous administrations,” said Carlton C. Eley, Senior Director for Federal Strategies at Race Forward. “Still, strategies to achieve racial equity differ from those to achieve equity in other areas. A strong racial equity framework targets the differences between individual, institutional and structural racism as well as the history and current reality of inequities.”

Race Forward and PolicyLink’s report notes focusing on racial equity provides the opportunity to introduce a framework, tools, and resources that can also be applied to multiple areas of marginalization. Therefore, to achieve maximum impact, the plans need explicit focus and specificity. 

“We commend the Biden-Harris Administration, agency leadership, and career staff for their commitment to ensuring that the federal government’s resources, power, and purview work for everyone, especially the nearly 100 million Americans prevented from experiencing financial security,” said Jessica Pizarek, Director of Federal Policy and Advocacy at PolicyLink. “The equity action planning and implementation supported by the executive orders illustrates the power of a federal governing agenda that acknowledges the persistence of structural and institutional racism and pursues a more just nation by centering racially equitable policy priorities.”

Race Forward and Policy Link approached the review of the agency plans believing in several principles as outlined in PolicyLink’s “For Love of Country: A Path for the Federal Government to Advance Racial Equity,” : 

1. Understand and acknowledge the federal government’s role in impacting society at
   a wide scale to this day–whether positive, negative or seemingly neutral.
2. Target the fundamental root drivers of gaps and inequities, and prioritize the people who have traditionally been excluded, recognizing these investments will benefit all.
3. Leverage the expertise and experiences of all to promote equity, particularly leaders of color and their communities.
4. Acknowledge that the scale and complexity of reaching racial equity will require ongoing
   commitment, action and adjustments to drive meaningful change and strengthen our
   democracy.
5. Build public trust and accountability in the long-term commitment for racial equity through data-driven decision-making and outcome tracking.

A summary of additional findings of the 30 EAPs reviewed in the report include:

• All of them correctly distinguish between equity and equality
• 28 include actionable strategies that have a strong chance of improving racial equity outcomes
• Eight reference equity tools developed by experts or utilized by other government partners
• Only three explicitly named “institutional racism” and “structural racism.”

“The federal government bears a unique responsibility because the creation and perpetuation of racial inequities has been baked into government,” Eley said. “Racial inequities across all indicators for success are deep and pervasive. Further, marginalization is driven by a range of factors including gender, sexual orientation, ability and age, and experiences of marginalization are compounded by experiences of racism. As a nation, we can and should do better.”

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Background

In January 2021, on the heels of a historic uprising for racial justice, President Biden issued “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” an executive order. The move signaled the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing racial equity throughout the federal government and to addressing the nation’s history of entrenched structural racism. In issuing the executive order, the Biden-Harris Administration gave federal agencies and departments one year to create and publish Equity Action Plans (EAPs). The purpose of the EAPs was to identify barriers to advancing equity within the agency’s high-impact services and introduce actions to address those barriers. 

The goal of Race Forward’s and PolicyLink’s report was to examine the degree to which the plans lay the groundwork for meaningful and sustainable agency action to advance racial equity.

About Race Forward:

Race Forward was founded in 1981 and brings systemic analysis and an innovative approach to complex race issues to help people take effective action toward racial equity. Having worked with local and regional government jurisdictions across the country for 20 years, in 2021, Race Forward began its Federal Initiative to Govern for Racial Equity to help federal agencies and departments operationalize racial equity in their policies and practices.

About PolicyLink:

Founded in 1999, PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity by Lifting Up What Works®. 

For Immediate Release

March 6, 2023

WASHINGTON – Redistricting advocates including Alabama Forward, Equal Ground, Florida Rising, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, today remembered ‘Bloody Sunday.’ In releasing the following statement, they urged voting rights organizers to continue the fight that civil rights leaders began more than 58 years ago:

“We commemorate ‘Bloody Sunday,’ while acknowledging that many of us are confronting our own Edmund Pettus Bridge via attacks on the right to vote and inequitable and racially-discriminatory legislative maps,” said Evan Milligan, executive director of Alabama Forward.

“Although it has been 58 years since ‘Bloody Sunday,’ our communities are still struggling under the weight of oppression,” said Andrea Mercado, executive director of Florida Rising.

“I come to the 58^th remembrance of ‘Bloody Sunday,’ mindful that Selma (and many Southern cities) has weathered, and continues to weather, many storms,” said Mitchell Brown, Senior Counsel for Voting Rights, Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “Although the fight looks different, our communities are once again resisting efforts to restrict the right to vote. We are also awaiting a decision in Merrill vs. Milligan, among other redistricting and voting rights cases at the Supreme Court. As if that wasn’t enough, Selma continues to navigate the fallout from a devastating tornado that displaced many. There can be no celebration until all people have been made whole, and until the threats to voting rights have ceased.”

“We are clear that the only hope for justice is staying the course,” said Ashley K. Shelton, founder and president of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “Attacks on the right to vote and efforts to enshrine inequitable and unfair redistricting lines are meant to wear us down, but we must stay the course.”

“In the same way that our ancestors persisted – even amid death and threats of death – we too will persist,” said Jasmine Burney-Clark, executive director of Equal Ground. “What we are seeing in Florida, in terms of attacks on Black history, efforts to silence discussions on race, restrict the right to vote, and oppress political opponents is emblematic of a new wave of Jim Crow. But we will continue to organize and resist.”

“There are no parts of the nation that should be seeded to legislators who wake up every day with a desire to suppress and abridge the right to vote,” said Prentiss Haney, executive director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. “Until every state has equitable and fair maps that afford all communities the ability to elect candidates of choice, we will continue the journey our ancestors began 58 years ago.”

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