The intention in empowering frontline organizers and communities is to have greater agency over funding decisions and ensuring their voices are heard at decision-making tables, thus democratizing the distribution of resources. This is done by directly resourcing communities most impacted by intersecting systemic issues: structural, hegemonic, interpersonal, and disciplinary . By supporting self-determined strategies and tactics of our partners, we aim to strengthen the ability to organize against state violence and repression. By resourcing leadership development, narrative-shifting media, and collective movement-building, we invest in resilience, healing, and self-determination.
For RJE, resourcing organizations building power looks like (but is not limited to):
- Supporting and amplifying voices of color in media to continue to investigate, report, and publish stories critical to shift the dominant narrative in exposing the root causes of social and economic issues
- Resourcing racial justice organizations focused on building a policy agenda, around current conditions around policing, community control, legal aid, and mass incarceration on the local, state, and federal level
- Connecting racial justice movements around common themes / shared visions and bolstering collective power
- Fueling the capacity of women-led racial justice leadership through cultural event organizing, technical assistance, funding, and long-term relationships
This work matters because we understand that resourcing single-issue struggles does not address root causes of oppression; our commitment is to shift resources, share power, and bring the margins to center.