There is an awakening happening in our country, a new movement of advocates and activists that are countering the narrative that we’ve moved to a post-racial era. It’s a movement that is standing up for black lives and insists that all of us acknowledge the deep systemic structural racism that exists in our country today. It’s a movement that demands that we confront the injustices of the past and present so that we may move forward together to build a nation of liberty and justice for all.
It is true that while we may have fewer overt racists, racism is still deeply embedded within systems like our schools, workplaces, the criminal justice system and hospitals, to name a few. Think about it: because white people occupy a disproportionate number of positions of power in our society it comes at the expense of people of color.
Our Partners
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Advancement Project is a next-generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, they exist to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive, and just democracy. Advancement Project uses its strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high impact policy change.
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Power U Center for Social Change is developing youth of color to lead and organize their own communities in order to build upon the struggle for a more equitable just society.
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The Close the Workhouse Coalition aims to attack mass incarceration without legitimizing or justifying the continued caging of people as punishment. They are calling for the immediate closure of the St. Louis Workhouse Jail, an end to wealth based pretrial detention, and the reinvestment of the money used to cage poor people and Black people into rebuilding the most impacted neighborhoods in the region.
Take Action
When we took a stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, we received a massive response--mostly of overwhelming support, but also mixed with misunderstanding, sincere questions and sadly, some hatred. But one thing became clear: it started a conversation.
We invite you to join us on a journey to better understand issues of race in our country, to acknowledge the existence of systemic racism and the implicit biases that all of us carry, and to ultimately commit to what Rev. Barber called on all of us to do: join hands, and move forward together.