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Governor Newsom has embarked on a massive $380M expansion of the decrepit 171-year-old San Quentin State Prison, leveraging co-opted language from the criminal justice reform movement in an attempt to rebrand the facility as a beacon of rehabilitation. Currently and formerly incarcerated leaders have developed actionable plans for improving conditions and honoring the dignity of people inside without wasting millions on prison infrastructure.
A two-part event series, the second of which will include in-person tour of flood affected communities in the Central Valley, including Tulare Lake. We strongly recommend funders attend both sessions, as in-person connections with communities and with other funders are critical at this time.
This panel will explore the nuances of what it takes to truly transform government practices to address institutional and structural racism, strengthen democracy, and advance racial equity.
2024 promises to be a momentous year for democracy—locally, nationally, and globally. Over 4 billion people are living in countries with major elections this year. In the United States, we will also face familiar but obstinate challenges, including the dearth of local news and youth disaffection with voting and institutions. We will also face challenges that are new in this digital era, namely disinformation turbocharged by generative AI that has enormous power to deceive voters, undermine trust, and destabilize our information ecosystems.
In 2020, we witnessed philanthropy make major commitments and promises to resource Black-led organizations and movements as part of a renewed reckoning with racial justice after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black lives. Historically, Black-led power-building efforts have been at the forefront of transformative change but have been consistently underfunded and under-resourced. The sudden surge in resources allocated to Black-led nonprofits and power-building organizations over the last four years highlights the urgent need to invest in the leadership and visionary ideas for dismantling systemic racism and advancing an inclusive, multiracial democracy. Now, the question remains whether the investments so far are truly sufficient to provide long-term support for Black power-building organizations and their vital work.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) have responded quickly and nimbly to ensure Black, Indigenous, and other people of color who have been most impacted have access to timely and accurate information in multiple languages, tests and vaccines, food, internet, and so much more. These organizations are essential partners, trusted by the people they serve, who have taken on public health work that often goes beyond their core missions and programming because their communities need it.
NCG has launched a two-part event series in partnership with Mother Jones. Part 1 introduced funders to the role that nonprofit news outlets play in shaping a healthy democracy. Part 2 will follow-up with a deep dive into how historically marginalized communities are targeted with strategic disinformation campaigns and what local journalism can do to address it.