Reparations Daily (ish) Vol. 53
A Reparations Giving Tuesday Guide
Happy Tuesday! Tuesday’s are mostly uneventful, but this Tuesday, particularly in the nonprofit and philanthropy space is perhaps the most important Tuesday of the year, as it’s Giving Tuesday. For a full breakdown on the history of Giving Tuesday, check out this Fast Company piece.
Dollars donated on Giving Tuesday typically go to well-known organizations, many of whom receive a steady stream of donations throughout the year already. So, today’s Hot Takes section is a short little guide to some of the grassroots organizations in the reparations landscape, who might get overlooked today, that you might want to give to.
Today I'll be donating to two organizations. The first is Getting Out Staying Out (GOSO), an organization I’ve volunteered with for the past four years. GOSO works with formerly incarcerated men and boys in New York, most of whom are Black and Brown, and assists them on a journey of education, employment, and emotional well-being as they transition out of prison. The second, is Media2070, a project of Free Press, which is bringing attention to the ways the media has taken part in state violence against Black people and advocating for “media reparations,” a term they’ve coined.
Today’s newsletter is also filled with a lot of great articles in today’s newsletter. Here are some I recommend checking out:
This USA Today piece on the need for atonement by white people in America
This Atlantic piece on what slavery looked like in the West and how it has impacted Native communities in the United States.
YES! Media’s guide to climate reparations. Bookmark this.
For my fellow New Yorkers, as detailed in the Gotham Gazette, the Racial Justice Commission is nearing the end of its work and is considering several proposals that may end up on the 2022 general election ballot.
The Talbot County Council, located in Maryland’s Eastern Shore, have voted to remove a Confederate monument from a courthouse lawn…. but relocate it, according to US News & World Report.
With radical love,
Trevor
National News
YES! Media: A Guide to Climate Reparations
USA Today: Reparations call is a moral reckoning white Americans can no longer delay
The Atlantic: What Slavery Looked Like in the West
Wall Street Journal: Don’t Let Ideologues Steal Thanksgiving (Trigger Warning: Racist content)
The Atlantic: The Mantra of White Supremacy
Washington Post: The battle over critical race theory is as American as pumpkin pie
TIME: Jury Awards $25 Million in Damages of 2017 Unite the Right Violence
The Guardian: This is justice of a kind. But don’t forget Ahmaud Arbery’s killers almost got away
Baltimore Sun: It’s clear a lot of white people like their history well scrubbed
The New Yorker: Frantz Fanon’s Enduring Legacy
HuffPost: The Missing Voices In The Panic Over Critical Race Theory
USA Today: Charlottesville sends message to the hearts of Americans from the heart of the old Confederacy
Vox: A criminal justice expert’s guide to donating effectively
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Interview: Bringing an Anti-Racist Approach to Collective Impact
New York Times: Fighting Racism, Quietly
Ms. Magazine: The White Lotus: Lessons on Black Lives Matter, Reparations and Queer Liberation
PBS: How ‘The 1619 Project’ underscores connection between slavery and modern America
Regional News
Gotham Gazette: De Blasio's Racial Justice Commission to Vote on Potential Ballot Proposals for City Charter Changes
Episcopal News Service: Diocese of New Jersey co-sponsors rally for reparations
Desert Sun: Valley Voice: Palm Springs must take the hard road on reparations and help entire community
Cal Matters: Plan to protect land, water presents opportunity for Native Californians
Tennessean: Tennessee Department of Education rejects complaint filed under anti-critical race theory law
Washington Post: After Ahmaud Arbery’s Death, This Group Demanded Change
The Guardian: Alabama city told to keep Confederate street name or face $25,000 fine
US News & World Report: Contract Awarded to Move Confederate Monument
Washington Post: From slavery to Jim Crow to George Floyd: Virginia universities face a long racial reckoning
PBS: Students who launched pro-slavery petition at Missouri high school sue after suspensions, expulsion
Gothamist: Rutgers Confronts Its History of Slavery, With Mixed Results
New York Times: Georgia’s University System Will Not Rename Buildings With Ties to Slavery
Washington Post: The Black people who lived in Walden Woods long before Henry David Thoreau
International News
Amnesty International: Gambia: Truth and Reconciliation report must lead to justice and reparations for victims
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Land Back movement leader flagged by police as 'violent'
The Independent: ‘Slavery was an atrocity,’ Prince Charles says as Barbados becomes a republic
NPR: Former slaves brought Thanksgiving to Liberia — and rebooted it
Hot Takes
As I’ve noted in earlier editions of this podcast, there has been some conflation of donating as an act of individual reparations.
Individualistic acts of charity are not the same as reparations, and the two should not be conflated. I encourage folks to give, but we must not confuse the two. Why? Because if people are not in solidarity with the recipients of this charity, these resources will only create habits of codependency that result in labor exploitation and extraction of culture and natural resources that recreate the legacy of slavery and settler colonialism.
There are plenty of organizations doing reparations advocacy work. The below is not a comprehensive list of every organization in the reparations landscape, but a shortlist of folks who you may not be getting a lot of attention today given the number of voices fundraising today. There are also a host of racial/social justice organizations, who have/continue to engage in reparations work, that are not on the list, such as the ACLU and Human Rights Watch. Lastly, this is my personal and again not comprehensive list. There are so many organizations and individuals doing great work that I deeply admire, whose names may not be listed below. I hope to one day, do a longer and more comprehensive breakdown of the reparations ecosystem in the newsletter someday, but today is not that day.
My personal mantra for how to show up as an ally or advocate for any social issue is threefold. Give your time, voice, and dollars. Throughout the year, I hope that we are all creating space to volunteer our physical time to organizations pushing for a more socially and racially just world. I hope that we are using our voice, in personal conversations, in our workplace, and on our social media channels to uplift the messages of the organizations we support. And apart from Giving Tuesday, I hope we are giving our dollars where we can. Today, I hope you can give to at least one of the organizations below!
Media 2070: “Our mission is to make visible the ways that the media have taken part in and supported state violence and harm against Black people.”
Truth Telling Project: “The Truth Telling Project implements and sustains grassroots community-centered-truth-telling processes to amplify voices about structural violence. We share stories, facilitate solitary and healing, while supporting activists on the ground, educating the public, and continuing to seek justice for Black people and people of color affected by structural violence and systemic racism in the United States.”
Black Thought Project: “The Black Thought Project transforms public and private spaces into sanctuaries for the expression of Black thought. We envision communities where Black people are given safe spaces to reflect, are listened to, and honored for their experiences and perspectives.”
Where Is My Land: “Where Is My Land helps Black families reclaim stolen land through advocacy, research, and technology.”
Justice for Greenwood “Justice for Greenwood is a network agitating for reparations and justice on behalf of Survivors and Descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.”
African American Redress Network: “The African American Redress Network supports organizations on the grassroots, regional, and state levels in promoting reparations.”
Monument Lab: “At Monument Lab, we envision a society where monuments are dynamic and defined by their meaning, not by their hardened immovable and untouchable status.”
Racial Justice Collaborative: “Our mission is to heal our racial divide. Our programs work to transform the ever-present energy of white supremacy that historically and still today permeates the culture, structures, and policies of the United States.”