The New Philanthropists shares the frustration, sadness, and restlessness that many of our supporters, partners and community have felt these past days. George Floyd, Mike Ramos and every black and brown person who’s been murdered by members of our public-funded police should be alive today. Racism lives in all of us, affects all of us, limits all of us. Everyone in our community sees this but not everyone in our community has witnessed the violence that people of color experience at the hands of law enforcement and the people who claim to be acting in the name of the law.
We refuse to feel helpless and we refuse to continue in this way. We are strong believers that change happens most importantly at the systemic and institutional level, where racism perpetuates and thrives. Racism is not an opinion. It is not something created and perpetuated by a single political party. It is everyone’s responsibility to take part in ending this virus and in committing to listen to communities that have been affected and hurt.
While The New Philanthropists commits to institutional change by helping create diverse and inclusive leadership circles at nonprofit boards, we want to highlight partner organizations and movements that are addressing systemic racism in other formats. We urge you to learn about them, support them and share their efforts because we know there is a lot of work to do and we cannot do it without you.
These organizations need your TIME, TREASURE and TALENT and they need it today.
Enough is Enough.
The New Philanthropists
We have intentionally composed a list of people of color led organizations that have a history of being committed to this work in the Austin community.
#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.
Take Action:
Join the Movement to fight for Freedom, Liberation and Justice by signing up for updates, supporting our work, checking out our resources, following us on social media, or wearing our dope, official gear.
https://blacklivesmatter.com DONATE
Black Lives Matter Austin
The Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) serves people who are historically and systematically impacted by gentrification, segregation, over policing, a lack of educational and employment opportunities, and other institutional forms of racism in Austin.
AJC’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people of color by helping them be the driving force behind their own liberation.
https://austinjustice.org DONATE
MEASURE was founded in 2015 by, Jameila “Meme” Styles when she challenged the Austin Police Department to “show me the numbers” they were using to report the results of agency performance measures. Realizing the disconnect between the department’s big data reporting and the community, Ms. Styles was prompted to create a methodology to measure community policing.
Today the organization has grown to not only address community policing but health, education and economic disparities.
https://www.measureaustin.org DONATE
At Grassroots Leadership, we believe no one should profit from the imprisonment of human beings. We live in the most incarcerated society in the history of the world. Every day we confront a prison industry that preys on pain because locking people up dehumanizes all of us.
Every day, Grassroots Leadership staff, members, and allies get up to:
- Build power in communities
- Change policies and practices of mass incarceration and deportation
- Transform the narrative of criminalization
- Build a healthy and solvent organization that allows us to achieve our goals
grassrootsleadership.org DONATE