Grantee Partners Meeting the Moment
Hive Fund grantee-partners are among the hundreds of community organizations nationally that are taking leadership in the racial justice uprising, supporting the peoples’ right to protest and turning anger into action on the streets, in local governments and at the ballot box. Below are just a few of their statements and stories. You can learn more and get engaged by following them on social media.
The difficulty in engaging in the voting process, lack of adequate healthcare especially in rural areas, and the threats to the health and safety of senior citizens are just a few areas that the New Georgia Project (NGP) has been organizing around, which have now become more dire. Now, protestors are putting their bodies on the line to say “Enough!”. The NGP is rallying voters for Georgia’s June 9 election, while taking direct action to support the protests.
On June 2, for example, 100 protestors, lawyers and legal observers were trapped in Atlanta’s Centennial Park by the National Guard, held there until after the city’s curfew and then arrested. The Public Defender’s office initially refused to send attorneys to support them as a result of the pandemic, leaving them without representation. The New Georgia Project ecosystem rallied instantly and shared their call-to-action to get in contact with their Atlanta City Council members. The next day, the Public Defender’s office agreed to deploy attorneys within an hour’s notice.
9to5, recognizing “the continuous trauma white supremacy inflicts on Black, Indigenous, and other people of color” closed down its offices so staff can “rest and heal, engage in mutual aid, and take action in whatever ways we can” The organization is using all its digital platforms to “amplify work and demands of Black organizers,” and made the following commitments:
Advancing racial justice through, in part, direct action, defunding the police and policy change
Moving forward the Movement For Black Lives (M4BL) policy platform
Supporting the leadership of Black women within and outside of our organization
Amplifying Black-led organizing and liberation work
Aligning our policies and practices to make sure we continue to dismantle systems and structures of white supremacy internally, while we work toward liberation for all
“The devaluing of black and brown lives is evident all around us each and every day….It allows for thoughtless decisions to be made about our communities, such as where to put the next concrete batch plant or whether to expand a highway that will cause the displacement of entire neighborhoods.
“The remedy will require a commitment to dismantling the policies and practices throughout each and every system that enables the conditions that produce unequal outcomes, including our lives being cut short...For Air Alliance Houston, this means continuing to advocate for systemic changes that stop the disproportionate placement of environmental hazards in and near communities of color.” -- Executive Director Dr. Bakeyah Nelson. Read the full letter here.
Black Voters Matter is using its 25K-strong social platforms to amplify calls to action and make the connection between today’s rage and tomorrow’s elections. They are launching a resistance fund to support organizations bailing out protesters, pledging $30K to 20 bail funds; starting a texting campaign across several states to “share important and accurate information with our communities,” and holding virtual town halls to “engage Black voters and learn more about what we can do in this moment.” They also helped organize voters to call for the resignation of Georgia’s District Attorneys over mishandling of Arbery case.
The Sunrise Movement is using its platform to support the Movement for Black Lives, drawing the connection [https://medium.com/sunrisemvmt/the-climate-justice-movement-must-oppose-white-supremacy-everywhere-by-supporting-m4bl-4e338cf91b19] between climate justice and racial justice. “If we believe we can win a Green New Deal in our lifetimes, we can also envision a world without racism and white supremacy in our lifetimes, and commit to making it happen.” The organization also held a virtual training on “how to show up to protests for Black lives safely & effectively.”
Texas Rising and its chapters are promoting local calls to action, sharing lists of pro-bono lawyers, amplifying resources to support Black trans people, and organizing citizens to give testimony to local city councils about defunding the police.