Where We Stand and Where We’ll Go: The Black Lives Matter Family

BY CICLEY GAY

In 2020/2021 we asked ourselves “what does it mean to build Black power”? We recognize that we are in a moment; a moment full of promise and peril. This is not new for Black people. What is new is the unprecedented resources under Black control that can be used to build Black Power for Black Liberation. This is an opportunity and a blessing, wrought by the work of those who came before us, by the organizing and leadership of BLM’s founders and leaders, and the amazing work of the Black Liberation Ecosystem at large.

As chair of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLM GNF), I step into this role with keen awareness of our responsibility to “get this right” — for our people, for our movements, and for the legacy we leave for future generations.

For over 20 years, my work has consisted of supporting nonprofits and philanthropic organizations supporting our Black communities (this is the 4th time I’ve served on a nonprofit Board!) — all while as a single mother raising my three amazing sons.

They are a BIG part of the reason why I am passionate about this movement—I’m committed to help unearth the genius in our children while building a brighter future for them and all generations to come.

It seems that everything we do at the Foundation comes down to this:

Are we investing in ways that build Black Power for Black Liberation? Are we holding, building, and moving these resources in integrity; in ways that are accountable to future generations?

The period of July 1st, 2020, through June 30th, 2021, our fiscal year, is a reflection of our updated mission: to work inside and outside the system to heal the past, reimagine the present, and invest in the future of Black lives through policy change, investment in our communities, and a commitment to arts and culture. Over this fiscal year, we poured millions into organizations fighting for Black liberation. We amplified and invested in Black artistic work that helped us imagine what thriving could look like. We sparked dialogue and inspired action around policies harming Black people and planted even more seeds for the cultural change that will propel us into an abolitionist future. We are continuing our evolution from an organization focused solely on the work of responding to Black death to also uplifting and affirming Black life and the pursuit of Black joy.

We organized our pursuit of Black life and Black joy into six main pillars:

Policy. We are intervening on existing and new policies that re-imagine a world without punitive measures and create a world where Black people have all that we need: food, education, housing, health care, clean water, breathable air, and everything that is foundational to personal and community safety.

Arts. We are concentrating on the nexus of art and activism in pursuit of Black liberation and the preservation and protection of Black creativity.

Healing Justice. We are building healing spaces and nurturing ecosystems that support Black communities impacted by oppressive structures and injustice.

Frontline Organizing. We are partnering with on-the-ground leaders and organizations at the local level that center abolitionist principals and are building radical Black organizing models rooted in Black power, self-determination and support of system impacted families.

Research & Education. We are investing in modern-day research and education focusing on abolitionist frameworks and curriculum around Black history, identity, and Black futures.

Culture. We are uplifting Black culture that propels us to dream big and create the community we want and need to flourish, grow, and thrive.

What you will see in this report is just the start of what this organization is building. And with this, we must emphasize the relationship between BLMGNF’s status as the largest Black abolitionist philanthropic organization and the many attacks our organization receives on its work, its partners, and its leadership.

In more ways than one, people who are opposed to the idea of a well-resourced Black abolitionist foundation are reusing the same Jim Crow-era playbook to try and slow us down. Our work aims to eradicate white supremacy from our systems. It is already public information that the FBI is monitoring Black Lives Matter as a Black identity extremist group with the intent to neutralize us to maintain this country’s current power status quo. We encourage the public to observe the world around them and the stories coming out of our media sources with a critical eye. White supremacy is insidious, and it’s all around us.

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is serious about making an impact and serious about how we work. We are paving the way for a new world order. One that respects and honors Black life. One where Black lives not only matter, but where all Black people have everything they want and need in order to thrive.

Digital Activism

There’s no doubt that we built a community of digital activists in the summer of 2020. After all, social media and digital advocacy is at the core of our movement’s origin story — a Facebook status update in 2013 followed by a hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter. At a time where a global pandemic shook our communities, we looked to a digital community to bring us together — which it did, in more ways than one, at a time connectivity was desperately needed. Almost 40 million people visited the BLM website between July 2020 and June 2021.

The organization has reached millions across the globe, with online visitors from countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, India, France, Netherlands, Brazil, and Sweden visiting our website in greater numbers.

During this 2020-2021 fiscal year, our Instagram following @blklivesmatter averaged at over 4 million followers, and our Twitter Account @blklivesmatter reached 1 million followers.

Most notably, our email list peaked at 2,103,674 — a significant increase from 2020. BLMGNF sent thousands of emails, which resulted in 1,213,992 actions taken by digital activists! From petitions to fundraisers, all the way to letters to elected officials, we were able to come together digitally to take action.

Here are some of the ways we did that:

PETITIONS:

❯ Coronavirus: Demand Transparency from the Government

❯ Demand Racial Data on COVID-19 Infection Rates

❯ Defund The Police Demands

❯ Indigenous Peoples Day Petition

❯ BREATHE Act: divest from the systems that are killing us and invest in our communities

❯ Call on The Christian Broadcasting Network to publicly apologize for Pat

❯ Robertson’s comments

❯ Juneteenth

❯ No Nomination until Inauguration [Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination]

❯ Pledge to Oppose Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court Nomination

❯ Letter to Biden-Harris Administration to Meet with BLMGNF

❯ Pass HR-1 and Protect the Right to Vote

❯ Petition for Ted Cruz to Resign

❯ Demand the Senate: We Need More COVID Relief

❯ Pass Medicare For All Justice for #MikaylaMiller

❯ Letters to your Senator: DC Statehood

❯ End the Filibuster

❯ Demand President Biden #End1033

FUNDRAISERS:**

❯ The People’s Advocacy Institute - $55k+

❯ Cure Violence Global - $15k+

❯ The National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network - $15k+

❯ CoFED - $15k+

❯ KC Tenants - $15k+

❯ Lead to Life - $15k+

❯ The Urban Youth Harp Ensemble - $15k+

❯ Black Aids Institute - $10k+

❯ Houston Food Bank - $9k+

❯ Central Texas Food Bank - $8.5k+

❯ Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley – $8.5k+

❯ Genesis Women’s Shelter - $8k+

❯ Feeding Texas - $8k+

❯ Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County - $8k+

❯ North Texas Food Bank - $8k+

❯ Texas Jail Project - $8k+

❯ Galveston County Food Bank - $7.5k+

❯ Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy

❯ Services - $7.5k+

❯ Housing Crisis Center - $7.5k+

❯ Family Eldercare - $7.5k+

❯ Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance - $7.5k+

❯ Caritas of Austin - $7.5k+

❯ ECHO (Ending Community Homelessness Coalition) - $7.5k+

❯ Haven for Hope - $7.5k+

❯ Austin Street Center - $7.5k+

❯ Corazon Ministries - $7.5k+

❯ The Other Ones Foundation - $7.5k+

❯ Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center - $7.5k+

❯ Austin Area Urban League - $7.5k+

❯ The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center - $7.5k+

❯ Front Steps - $7.5k+

❯ OurCalling - $7.5k+

❯ Dallas Hope Center - $7k+

❯ Hope’s Door New Beginning Center - $7k+

❯ Arlington Life Shelter - $7k+

❯ Street Forum - $7k+

**Approximate dollars raised per organization

As activists in this together, we know that WE are the ones who keep US safe. Thank you to our digital community for standing with us. We can’t wait to continue this revolution with you.

Inside The Report

IMPACT BY PILLAR

Our mission is to work inside and outside the system to heal the past, re-imagine the present, and invest in the future of Black lives through policy change, investment in our communities, and a commitment to arts and culture. Our vision is to imagine a world where Black people across the diaspora thrive, experience joy, and are not defined by their struggles. White supremacy is everywhere and is intertwined with every aspect of our lives. It is for this reason that we are dedicated to pursuing our mission across our six pillars of policy, arts, culture, frontline organizing, research and education, and healing justice.

POLICY

IN ADDITION to our disruptive capacity, we need to ensure we also have a concrete political and policy influence. We are reclaiming our power and intervening on existing and new policies that re-imagine a world without punitive measures and create a world where Black people have all that we need: food, education, housing, health care, clean water, breathable air, and everything that is foundational to personal and community safety.

Breathe Act

BLM GNF, in coalition with the Movement for Black Lives, created and supported the launch of the BREATHE Act, our modern day civil rights bill, marking the first time abolitionist organizations proposed comprehensive federal legislation that addresses the root causes of the violence we’ve seen and felt acutely as the visibility of police and white supremacist killings has spurred global outrage.

The BREATHE Act is a federal omnibus bill and love letter to Black people. It calls for divestment from the carceral system, and investment of those funds into new forms of public safety. Our nation’s current approach to policing does immense harm to Black communities than good, and it does not keep Black people safe. Reform has failed time and again, and it is not the answer. The BREATHE Act presented a new vision of public safety that invests in our community, via education, housing, mental health resources, food safety, and the environment instead of utilizing the punishment paradigm.

Three months after the unveiling of the bill, we collectively organized BREATHE Day on September 29, 2020, the day of the first Presidential Debate of the 2020 general election. This was a full day of Black-centered programming, with the goal of introducing the basic vision of the BREATHE Act to the wider public. At its capstone event, Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors was joined by singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe to talk about the importance of Black voices in the election cycle and tackled some common critiques about the concept of Defund The Police. Since its unveiling in 2020 there have been three pieces of legislation have been introduced in congress that advance the BREATHE agenda: the People’s Response Act, the Drug Policy Reform Act, and the Fix Clemency Act.

No on Prop 25

BLM GNF supported the “No on Proposition 25” campaign in California for a variety of reasons. Proposition 25 was a ballot measure that would have made SB10 the law. SB10 was a backroom deal among judges, politicians, and probation department unions to remake the pretrial system in California. It ended money bail as a way for people accused of crimes to get out of jail, but gave judges unprecedented power to incarcerate them with little due process of law. It required courts to use racially biased algorithms to help decide who is jailed and who goes free. It gave probation departments massive funding increases and power to monitor and supervise innocent people who have only been accused of crimes. Ultimately, Proposition 25 would have resulted in more Black, Brown, and poor people in jail.

Winning this measure has allowed Movement organizations on the ground to work towards preserving the presumption of innocence through developing a new model for pretrial reform.

HR1 For The People Act

BLM GNF is proud to have endorsed H.R.1, a massive package of prodemocracy reforms that includes a large section on voting rights based on the late Representative John Lewis’s Voter Empowerment Act.

It has been over 150 years since the ratification of the 15th Amendment recognizing the Black man’s right to vote; but still, discrimination thrives and lives on through voter suppression practices across this entire country. H.R. 1 was designed to investigate and overcome the many roadblocks that make up voter suppression. Until this work is complete, the fundamental promise of the 15th Amendment will never be met.

BLM GNF organized a successful petition of over 4,500 signatures urging representatives to co-sponsor and pass this critical legislation. It was through collective action that the legislation passed in the House of Representatives. Although we have yet to pass this into law, we are all one step closer to our vision of eradicating white supremacy in order to create the necessary space for Black liberation and Black life to thrive.

On Jan 6th, we saw America’s ugly truth of hate and white supremacy charging through our United States Capitol, attacking the essence of our democracy, a fair election. Although we knew exactly who incited the violence, and why they did it, the question was how white supremacists were able to violently penetrate the Capitol, work with Capital police and the military and get past them? The harrowing incident further proved that a police state does not equate to a safer state.

BLMGNF supported and brought attention to Representative Jamaal Bowman’s (D-NY) Congressional Oversight of Unjust Policing Act (COUP Act), inviting thousands to call their representatives directly. The COUP Act was proposed to establish a national commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, address the systemic failures in the United States Capitol security apparatus, and investigate ties between members of U.S. Capitol Police and white supremacist movements. Alongside this legislative push, we launched our campaign demanding the impeachment and conviction of President Trump for his hand in leading this attack on our democracy.

It remains blatantly obvious that white supremacy is the biggest threat to Black people and to our democracy, especially as members of law enforcement were among the mob. We recognized the COUP act as a critical step in the fight for defunding and abolition.

Medicare for All

COVID-19 exacerbated and exposed the systemic inequities in this country. It is most evident in health care inequity and the conditions that make Black people one of the most vulnerable populations. As part of our ongoing campaign to help Black people thrive, we joined U.S. Representatives and numerous organizations to introduce and endorse legislation that would expand access to healthcare for tens of millions of Americans.

The Medicare for All Act of 2021 expands Medicare to provide comprehensive health benefits to every person in the United States without co-pays, premiums, deductibles, or other cost sharing. The legislation includes primary care, vision, dental, prescription drugs, mental health, substance abuse, longterm services and maternal healthcare. This effort embodies our values of people before bottom lines, and it’s a start to unravelling some of the evils of capitalism.

U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced the legislation, and were joined during a virtual press briefing by our former Executive Director Patrisse Cullors, other members of Congress, and leaders from healthcare, labour unions, and advocacy groups.

Demilitarize Our Neighbourhoods Program

Reimagining public safety means investing in the well-being of Black people instead of investing into the police state. In 2021, BLMGNF launched a campaign to urge President Biden to stop the militarization of police departments and ban the transfer of vehicles and equipment made for war zones. After the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, President Obama issued an executive order that prohibited the transfer of certain items, including bayonets and grenade launchers, to law enforcement agencies. The order was rescinded in August 2017 by the Trump administration. President Biden was hesitant to even reinstall the mild reforms of President Obama.

Military equipment has no place on U.S. streets and does not keep communities safe. Research has shown there is a direct correlation between the 1033 Program transfers and murders at the hands of law enforcement. BLMGNF demanded Biden to recall military equipment currently in the hands of law enforcement agencies as well. The impact of this campaign has been:

❯ Over 25,000 signatures on our petition to the White House.

❯ Nearly 4,000 tweets to President Biden and his team to #End1033 — getting the hashtag trending the day after President Biden’s speech to Congress.

❯ 29 lawmakers signed a letter to President Biden calling on him to #End1033.

❯ The LA Times reported renewed momentum in Congress to negotiate and pass a bill on policing that could include an end to 1033.

Because of our people-power, President Biden took action to reform some aspects of the 1033 program. Because every time we raised our voices on Twitter or through the petition, we also spread the word on the 1033 Program and brought more folks into the fight. White supremacy thrives in all spaces across the country, and the 1033 Program is just one of the many. As we keep exposing it, we can end it once and for all.

Lobbying Against Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court Nomination

Historically, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has upheld white supremacist doctrine by denying the fullness of Black lives. The status quo of our nation is set by the values and beliefs of nine individuals that have no responsibility to listen to us. After the passing away of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Trump announced his nominee, Amy Coney Barrett — a failed jurist and nominee that had no interest or history in maintaining equal justice under the law. In fact, her history has only been to target and harm Black folks.

Immediately after the news, we organized a petition that received over 18,000 signatures and organized to get a letter submitted and recited into the United States Congressional record on our behalf by Senator Cory Booker, sharing the people’s opposition to the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.

DC Statehood is a Racial Justice Issue

Transforming our democracy and Black liberation require Black voices to be heard and centered, plain and simple. Most folks don’t realize that the argument against statehood is rooted in anti-Black racism but it dates all the way back to the Reconstruction Era (right after the Civil War) when Black residents in D.C. were granted significant political influence. Once Black voters started to raise their voices at the ballot box, Congress replaced D.C.’s territorial government with three commissioners appointed by the president, all to silence Black voices and to block Black political power.

Fast forward to today, D.C. has no voting representation in Congress but every major decision like the city budget still has to be approved by Congress. Yes, you read that right: Elected officials from the 50 states have more of a say in D.C. affairs than the 700,000 mostly Black and Brown residents in D.C., do.

BLMGNF led a call to action asking our BLM family who belong to states that do have voting members of Congress, to speak up and demand our people in D.C. get the representation they deserve as taxpayers and residents of our nation

Beware of the Filibuster

What is a democracy if our elected officials and representatives aren’t allowed to execute on our demands and needs through legislation? Our system has many holes and the filibuster is a major one. The filibuster is a racist, anti-democratic, Jim Crowera tool that upholds white supremacy and prevents legislation that moves us toward Black liberation. It is dangerous and damaging because it allows any of the 100 U.S. senators to block bills for any reason unless 60 senators vote for it (instead of a simple 51 majority). This gives a minority of (white) senators the power to completely stop the continuance of legislation. In the last decade, the filibuster has blocked the progress of progressive legislation.

In response, BLMGNF mobilized our email list to write 4,271 emails to senators to end the filibuster once and for all. The filibuster is still here and we will continue to advocate an end to the filibuster.

People’s Response Act

The United States spends more on its carceral state than any peer nation, while simultaneously spending less on basic preventative solutions for its people. America has chosen a model that invests heavily in jails and police, rather than holistic support for communities.

We believe that everyone deserves to feel safe. But our current approach to public safety isn’t working — for children, for families, and particularly for the Black communities that have been devastated by police violence, mass incarceration, and the harms of the criminal incarceration system. Time and again, research has shown that the system isn’t effectively preventing harm or bolstering community safety.

In early May of 2021 BLMGNF was proud to participate in a coalition of several Movement organizations that supported the drafting and launching of the People’s Response Act alongside Congresswoman Cori Bush’s Office. Movement partners we partnered with include Civil Rights Corps, Color of Change, Essie Justice Group, and Movement for Black Lives.

Ted Cruz Must Resign

Climate justice is a racial justice issue. Systemic issues in this country make us one of the most vulnerable communities in this country and it is a complete shame when our leaders and elected officials leave us to fend for ourselves. In the midst of the historic Texas winter storm, where Texas’ independent power grid froze, leaving hundreds of thousands without power or heat; Senator Ted Cruz fled to Mexico with his family to enjoy a vacation.

Leadership means ensuring a standard of quality of life for your people. Senator Cruz has failed his constituents time and time again. In response, we organized a petition, which received almost 19,000 signatures, demanding for the resignation of United States Senator Ted Cruz.

Changing the system means holding our representatives accountable. Our political system is dependent on Black folks not paying attention and when we do, taking away our freedom to vote. We must make sure our leaders do their job and stand for us in service.

FRONTLINE ORGANIZING

WE ARE PARTNERING with on-the-ground leaders and organizations at the local level that center abolitionist principals and are building radical Black organizing models rooted in Black power, self-determination and support of system impacted families.

BLMGNF distributed over $13 million to BLM chapters. This initiative was part of BLM GNF’s program to build local capacity for frontline organizational work. In addition, BLM GNF supported grantees in developing its media presence, including its civic engagement campaign, BLM’s What MATTERS 2020, and its viral video, Rest in Power, Beautiful, viewed nearly 10 million times.

Survival Fund

In February 2021, BLMGNF launched a $3 million “Survival Fund” to assist Black people who were struggling financially during the pandemic. The Survival Fund provided individuals and families with $1,000 in direct support to help lessen financial burdens during the economic crisis. Funds were used for a wide variety of needs, including but not limited to: housing, prescription medications, childcare, and food. Our organization received nearly 9,000 applications and distributed $3 million in aid to 3,000 families within 12 hours of launching the fund. We partnered with LACAN, who facilitated the application intake process and selection, and Family Independence Initiative, who executed the fund distribution.

“We Keep Us Safe”

To be Black in this country means to work, worry, plan, and strategize harder than our white counterparts. Our public safety is not a real concern of the state because we are the threat not the people they serve. This is why we launched the “We Keep Us Safe” community call. We gathered movement elders and BLM leaders to share critical safety tips and resources to utilize for the 2021 inauguration and after. We urged all to prepare a plan, stay safe, and look out for one another, always.

Amazon Union Workers Movement (March 19, 2021)

Amazon slapped a Black Lives Matter banner on their website summer 2020. But if Amazon truly believed that Black Lives Matter, Amazon would have no problems with unionization, livable wages, fair working conditions, and the utmost respect for its majority Black workers — like those in Bessemer, Alabama.

Thanks to the grassroots, people-power of Black Lives Matter, we were able to raise over $50,000 toward combating anti-union propaganda put out by Amazon, as well as our successful caravan event in Bessemer with BLM Birmingham. About 75 folks and their families came to the event, lining up their cars, blowing horns, and blasting music as we enjoyed speakers and uplifted our workers and their demands for dignity in the workplace.

Over 80 percent of the workers at Bessemer Amazon are Black — and the fight for unionization led by Black organizers in Alabama successfully led to the first-ever Amazon warehouse union.

Justice for Daunte Wright

To be Black in this country means to work, worry, plan, and strategize harder than our There are no accidents in police terror and white supremacy. Like we’ve seen time and again, peaceful protesters have been met with tear gas and riot gear from police. The police have done nothing but meet a hurting community with violence.

In response, BLM GNF used our platform to spread awareness and direct people to directly support the family of Daunte Wright as well as several organizations in the greater Brooklyn Center Minnesota community. The organizations include:

Brooklyn Center Mutual Aid Facebook Page: A community-led Facebook page was established in response to the murder of Daunte Wright. It included updated information about needed supplies and sign up for volunteer shifts at mutual aid sites here.

Brooklyn Center Mutual Aid: Support Our Community: GoFundMe page for PPE, medical supplies, food, and household items for the community.

612 M*A*S*H: 12 612 MASH medics directly supported protestors in Brooklyn Center. CashApp: $612MASH; Venmo: @MedicalBus; or at GiveMN.

African Career, Education, and Resources, Inc. (ACER): A nonprofit organization that engages African immigrants living in the north and northwest suburbs of Minneapolis. They supported small businesses in Brooklyn Center affected by closures and disruption with microgrants.

Black Table Arts: A community-driven arts cooperative located in Minneapolis, Minnesota gathering Black communities through the arts toward better Black futures. They fundraised to buy gas masks for Black organizers on the ground.

ARTS

WE ARE CONCENTRATING on the nexus of art and activism in pursuit of Black liberation and the preservation and protection of Black creativity. This arm of the organization was designed with two powerful intentions in mind; one, empowering and amplifying Black creatives and; two, giving control and power of our own narratives and depictions on mainstream media back to Black people and artists. We support emerging and established individual Black artists and Black people.

Black Women Are Devine

In the midst of the unlawful deaths of Black women at the hands of police violence, BLM GNF facilitated Black women all over the country to reclaim their Divinity. As we mourned and felt our pain, hopelessness and vulnerability, we wanted to create opportunities for Black women to feel joy and freedom too.

In collaboration with BLM Grassroots, we organized gatherings in cities all over the country to celebrate Black women, girls, and femmes. It was a day where all women could come to enjoy a day of healing, good food, art, and sisterhood.

In addition to this, we utilized our socials to uplift and celebrate Divine Black women for all that they do for this world.

Imagining Abolition

One of the seminal pieces of content we released was the Imagining Abolition series. In this three-part series we share our vision, our humanity, our stories, and our “why” behind our advocacy. It is critical that we own our own stories and share them in the most personal ways with you all. We wanted to share with the world the reality of what this work is, why we do it and so much more.

Black Love Letter Up

Guided by the curatorial vision of artist-curator Noni Limar, and the commissions of a talented group of Black artists,”Write Black Love Letters” was a creative intervention encouraging us all to fund the USPS by buying stamps and sending Black love letters and postcards. BLMGNF centered love, connection and beauty in a time of isolation, tension, and change. Recognizing that the USPS has historically employed countless Black folks, we also celebrated our collective historic contributions to the USPS and demanded that our legacy be protected. This campaign positioned BLMGNF for further economic justice work. Under our What Matters 2020 campaign and USPS campaign, we produced a video: Black Love Letters. This was sent to our email list of over 2 million people and garnered thousands of views.

Our social media assets earned 5,444,451 impressions across platforms. Engagement was particularly strong with our flagship video, the final Jessi Jumanji stamp, and our recorded Black love letters. Engagement across the campaign averaged 6.5 percent, well above the industry standard. The campaign successfully earned press coverage including a full feature piece highlighting the stamps in Essence Magazine. Influencers and activists like Yara Shahidi, Richie Reseda, and Adrienne Maree Brown also championed this effort by contributing videos of their own Black love letters.

RESEARCH & EDUCATION

WE ARE INVESTING in modern-day research and education focusing on abolitionist frameworks and curriculum around Black history, identity, and Black futures.

Chicago Future Fund

We were proud to invest in the research and education of the Chicago Future Fund. The city of Chicago experienced 775 homicides in the year 2020. Over 90 percent of the homicides were caused by gunshots, and roughly 75 percent of all victims are Black. It’s no coincidence that the majority of violent crimes take place in Chicago’s most economically disadvantaged and most segregated Black neighbourhoods, such as West Garfield Park. West Garfield Park has a per capita income of $11,739, approximately 70 percent less than Chicago’s average per capita income of $38,105. Our justice system should always be centered around rehabilitation. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Prisons are not designed to reintegrate through education and employment, and those incarcerated often lack the resources and income to support themselves post-release. 43 percent of formerly incarcerated people return to prison within three years, and 76 percent return within five years, costing taxpayers over $150,000 per individual each time.

Chicago Future Fund’s research study presented an innovative solution to economic inequality and recidivism by providing a guaranteed income of 500 USD per month for 18 months for 30 previously incarcerated individuals in West Garfield Park. There were no work requirements or restrictions on how the money could be spent. From a research standpoint, every month, participants were required to participate in data collection surveys.

HEALING JUSTICE

WE ARE BUILDING healing spaces and nurturing ecosystems that support Black communities impacted by oppressive structures and injustice. Healing Justice has become a central concept and practice within our movement over the last several years. The recognition that Black people deserve healing and wholeness transforms our culture. We hosted a series of events aimed at leaders and communities with access and proximity to free support and resources centered on healing. For example, BLM GNF hosted a series of free webinars where we gathered experts across the field to talk about key issues/learning impacting Black people in their process to create healing in their work.

Some of those sessions included: Healing Justice, Embodiment, Praxis, and Building Black Futures, a conversation grounded in sacred practice, Black traditions, and radical freedom. The Body: Grief, Lament, and Joy in COVID Times, a conversation centered on healing practices that can support Black people’s grieving processes over time while holding space for joy.

Also, in response to the growing calls from our leaders for resources to center healing for their communities, we evolved our Healing Action Toolkit while engaging in frontline work. We created this toolkit to share the lessons we have learned in ensuring that our direct actions are centered on healing justice.

This toolkit is a live resource that is updated in real-time as we continue to uncover the implications for healing justice in our organizing work.

CULTURE

WE ARE UPLIFTING Black culture that propels us to dream big and create the community we want and need to flourish, grow, and thrive.

Juneteenth 2021

For generations, we’ve celebrated Juneteenth with family gatherings, cookouts, dominos games and cardplaying, music, laughter, and an overall feeling of Black freedom and joy. For the first time ever, Juneteeth was celebrated as a nationally recognized holiday where offices, banks, postal services, and other services were closed to allow space for celebration. Juneteenth celebrates our Blackness by honouring our Ancestors, affirming ourselves and our people, creating space for Black joy, and leading unceasingly for freedom and justice.

In honour of our history and traditions of Black art, imagination, and culture being linked to resistance and freedom, BLM GNF collaborated with Club House Global and Nifty Gateway to celebrate Blackness and create pathways for Black entrepreneurship. Our collaboration with Nifty Gateway, included a digital marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). With Club House Global, an organization fighting to keep DJs and BIPOC artists paid during the pandemic, we hosted an eight- hour virtual dance party connecting viewers and dancers from around the world in celebration of Black joy and freedom.

BLM Canada is a platform upon which Black communities across Canada can actively dismantle all forms of anti-Black racism, liberate Blackness, support Black healing, affirm Black existence, and create freedom to love and self-determine. They work to forge critical connections and to work in solidarity with Black communities, Black-centric networks, solidarity movements, and allies.