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This is a pivotal moment in protecting and strengthening the fabric of American democracy. While we are still grappling with the destabilizing efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, we are watching the threat to democracy growing as state legislators in multiple states are pushing for new voting barriers that target Black and brown people, working-class folks, young people, and immigrants.
In June & July, NCG and the UC Merced Community & Labor Center brought funders,
government, and leading community, work, and labor organizations dedicated to serving
farmworkers and rural communities across California together – both virtually and in the San
Joaquin Valley. These events cast a spotlight on the social and economic impacts of the 2023
floods, while also examining the persistent inequities that rural and farmworker communities
experience.
Recently, Dwayne Marsh, CEO of Northern California Grantmakers, and I were reflecting on how many foundations in our memberships are looking to change direction and move toward racial equity. In an ice-bucket-style challenge, Dwayne posted his thoughts and then tagged me with the question, “How best does philanthropy choose courage in the face of the unprecedented complexity the moment offers?"
This is a governance moment. We can master governing for all people by bringing a racial equity consciousness to every aspect of how government does business. We have an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen our democracy by fully activating our multiracial population and building a nation where everyone participates, prospers, and reaches their full potential.
Youth involved in the legal system are much more likely to experience housing insecurity. In turn, youth who are homeless are much more likely to be incarcerated. These facts are so well documented that they’re truisms. What’s less established is how we interrupt carceral cycles so that homelessness is never the result for young people in the legal system.
California’s Central San Joaquin Valley is a vast region with 8 counties. It is home to rural, agricultural, poor and working-class communities of color and contains the majority of the state’s prisons. Despite its rich history of organizing and the undeniable impacts of the state’s investment in carceral infrastructure, the Central Valley is overlooked by philanthropy. This region receives the least amount of philanthropic resources for community organizing in the state.
The Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) is a local, state, and national leader in providing networking, leadership development and organizing for Black Trans grassroots leaders and organizations while working to build strategies against the epidemic of violence facing Black Trans folks. We continue to do historic work as a group of transgender, gender variant, and intersex people (TGI)–inside and outside of prisons, jails, and detention centers–creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom.