The Movement Building for Racial Justice Fund
On September 28, Woods Fund Chicago awarded half a million dollars to its first Movement Building for Racial Justice Fund. It first announced the fund in April to help support organizations working on progressive social change break out of the confines of single issues and organizational silos to make larger connections. The creation of the fund was a response to the current pandemic crisis, the social conditions it has produced, the racial inequities it has amplified, and the need for bold action in the face of an otherwise debilitating and confusing reality. As we are painfully aware, the virus has impacted and continues to profoundly impact communities of color, particularly Black and Latinx communities.
Eleven proposals were received and three finalists were selected for site visits. Of those finalists, the grant has been honored to Just Chicago, which is made up of six co-applicants: Resist. Reimagine. Rebuild. Coalition, ChiFresh Kitchen, TRACC4Movement, Action Now, BYP100, and Equity And Transformation.
“Our Movement Building for Racial Justice Fund is the first of its kind for the Woods Fund. We envision supporting relationship building during tense tumultuous times. We know that deep relationships will be needed so that collectives can emerge on the "other side" even stronger than they are now. Philanthropy often has not invested in relationship building and giving space for that, but for organizers, advocates, activists, business owners and service providers to work together toward a shared vision, they must first have a strong commitment to one another - one that is built on a shared understanding and one that has wrestled with the difficult issues that are often not discussed - to be able to weather the storm ahead.” says Michelle Morales, President of Woods Fund Chicago
In the city this group envisions, marginalized people occupy seats at all levels of government and successfully keeping a Black progressive agenda alive and thriving. Specifically, an agenda that values the transformative power of community-led decision-making and seeks social, economic, and racial justice through the support and engagement of the people most impacted in community organizing and public policy advocacy work.
How will this be done?
The Just Chicago collective’s agenda of building a progressive Black agenda in Chicago will be achieved through base building, political education, the creation of a solidarity economy landscape to replace racial capitalism, training community members to run for elected office and eventually influencing legislation.
Theirs is a vision of a Chicago in which all of its residents, but particularly Black Chicagoans, can live in this city with dignity, respect and abundance. It is a vision in which Black Chicagoans take control of their future by first taking control of their local community-based economies and local elected office to ensure equitable distribution of resources.
Just Chicago Organizations include:
Resist. Reimagine. Rebuild. Coalition Chicago
Resist. Reimagine. Rebuild. Coalition Chicago is a coalition of Chicago-based groups and individuals, formed in November of 2016, committed to building relationships and strategies for responding to the current racist and proto-fascist political moment.
Coalition Organizations
Arab American Action Network (AAAN) | Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East | Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago | Assata’s Daughters | Black Lives Matter Chicago (BLMChi) | Black Workers’ Matter | BYP100 Chicago | Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression | Chicago Desi Youth Rising | Chicago Freedom School | Chicago League of Abolitionist Whites (CLAW) | Chicago Light Brigade | Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) | Fight for 15 (FF15) | The Grassroots Collaborative | Inner City Muslim Action Network | International Socialists Organization | Iraq Veterans Against the War | Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) | Kenwood Oakland Community Organization | #LetUsBreathe Collective | Lifted Voices | Love & Protect | Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration | National Alliance for Filipino Concerns | Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD) | Pilsen Alliance | Pride Action Tank | Prison Neighborhood Arts Project | Raise the Floor Alliance | Service Employees International Union Healthcare IL/IN/MO/KS | Teachers for Social Justice | Ujimaa Medics | Village Leadership Academy | Workers Center for Racial Justice
ChiFresh Kitchen
ChiFresh Kitchen is part of a collaboration of urban farms, food operators, worker centers, policy advocates, and other community organizations led by people of color on the South and West Sides of Chicago, who are coming together to promote food sovereignty, racial justice, and equitable food access in the City. We currently operate out of The Hatchery, a food incubator located in Garfield Park on Chicago’s West Side.
TRACC (trauma response and crisis care) for Movements
TRACC (trauma response and crisis care) for Movements is project responding to trauma in social movements: providing community care, triage trauma and crisis response on the frontlines, & healer training and education to support activists and social movements. We believe that we are in a sociopolitical moment which multiplies the impact of trauma and burnout for activists and community organizers. We see this as equivalent to a public health crisis and one that we, in TRACC4Movements, as healing care providers, have a responsibility to respond to in an organized, ethical and coordinated way.
Action Now
Action Now’s mission is to organize working families and strengthen their voices on issues of racial, social and economic justice
Action Now is focused on building the “people power” needed to move the equity needle forward, mobilizing individuals and families members to fight for racial, social and economic justice. We engage in direct action and community organizing, and we wield our power to affect positive change across our communities, city, state and nation. Our primary campaign focuses relate to equity in education, community safety, housing, economic opportunity, and people of color centered leadership.
BYP100
BYP100 a national, member-based organization of Black 18-35 year olds dedicated to creating freedom & justice for all Black people through a Black Queer Feminist Lens.
Equity & Transformation
Founded and established for and by post incarcerated and marginalized Black people in Chicago, Equity And Transformation strives to uplift the faces, voices, and power of the vast disenfranchised and excluded Black workforce in Chicago. We organize with individuals that operate outside of the formal economy. They are childcare providers, the bucket boys that we pass on the way to the train everyday, the bootleg DVD man or woman at your local barber shop, the person selling loose cigarettes two for a dollar in front of the local liquor store, the trans and cis gendered commercial sex workers in our community—they are survivors. They are hip hop, they are jazz, they are artists, they are musicians, they are the hustlers that are the heartbeat of every inner city community in the U.S. As the original gig-workers, they work without the legal protections of formal employment. Their survival on the margins holds critical lessons for transforming the economy to one that is inclusive, just, and equitable.