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As we mark another Black History Month and celebrate Black futures, there is an urgency for us to address the existing divisions in our country and create solutions that move us closer towards our vision of a strong, inclusive, multiracial democracy with Black communities at the center. Some of the barriers we continue to see in communities across the nation include attacks on voting rights, biased immigration policies, blatant displays of white supremacy and white nationalism, and a decline inequitable economic opportunities.
As the political economy ebbs and flows, California finds itself dealing with significant budget deficits more frequently, which ultimately impacts our state’s most historically marginalized residents. Cuts to important programs impacting housing and homelessness, the social safety net, climate resiliency programs and much more have a disproportionate and adverse effect on women and children, low-income families, rural communities, and neighborhoods of color. Nonprofit and direct service organizations often see an uptick in their clients during economic downturns and are compelled to fill the gap without augmentation in funding and resources.
Our staff from the Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County joined NCG’s 2023 Power Building cohort to learn how to be better advocates for policy changes on behalf of our grantees and their clients. Our goals were to learn more about IRS rules governing public charity C3s doing C4 and C4-aligned funding, and to bring what we learn to our many nonprofit colleagues in Sonoma County who are hungry to engage in more advocacy, but unclear on how to move forward. There are roughly 3,000 nonprofits in Sonoma County. We believe that only by aligning and harnessing our collective resources around key issues that affect our most marginalized residents can we, as a sector, build the power necessary for real change.
Reimagining a freeway and reclaiming 42 acres of prime new buildable land in Downtown Oakland. Repairing harm by leveraging the same infrastructure development that caused the harm in the first place. These are big visions with big rewards for the communities that have experienced a barrage of generational oppression. How can we be bold and innovative in our support for families with strategies grounded in cultural preservation and equitable community development?
About
California Black Freedom Fund, the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy (the Democracy Center) at Japanese American National Museum, and Philanthropy California are hosing Shared Pathways to Heal, Repair, and Liberate.
As we work towards our vision of an inclusive, multiracial democracy, there is much to gain from sharing and exploring our parallel and interwoven fights for liberation and civil rights in this country.
Agenda
- 1:00 PM: Registration
- 1:15 PM: Self-guided JANM Gallery Exploration with Museum Facilitators
- 2:30 PM: Program at the Democracy Center
- 5:00 PM Reception
Speakers
- Anne Burroughs, President & CEO, Japanese American National Museum
- Dr. Cheryl Grills, Professor, Psychology | Director, Psychology Applied Research Center, Loyola Marymount University
- Jim Herr, Director, National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum
- Lisa Holder, President, Equal Justice Society
- Joanna Jackson, Interim President & CEO, Weingart Foundation
- Jennifer Noji, PhD candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature at UCLA
- Kaci Patterson, Founder and Chief Architect, Social Good Solutions
- Marc Philpart, Executive Director, California Black Freedom Fund
- Don Tamaki, Senior Counsel, Minami Tamaki LLP
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Jan Tokumaru, Reparations Committee Member, Nikkei Progressives / Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress
Last week we celebrated Black futures and explored how we achieve a multiracial democracy that centers Black people. Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) and California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF) have been scheming to bring something to philanthropy for a while. More than 200 folks joined us to have some challenging conversations about the legacy of systemic racism, how it impacts today, and how we turn the corner and build a democracy that serves us all.
Achieving racial equity and sustaining a viable democracy go hand in hand. NCG defines democracy as the processes, systems, and structures for historically marginalized and underrepresented community members to participate in a political system that fulfills the promise of an equitable multi-racial society. Northern California is a region that can model this approach, ensuring that people of color and other communities historically underrepresented and marginalized in our political process fully engage in the democratic process.