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Dear John,
As we inch closer to the start of 2024, I’m compelled to center the fresh hope of a new year, a new start. Yet what I know to be true is that we’re all being called to move forward in the face of overwhelming adversity—all while holding the devastating realities of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the missing hostages of Israel, and the wars across Sudan and the Congo. We hold this while also struggling together to address the stark realities of the American political landscape and the inequitable impacts on communities of color.
I would be lying if I didn’t say I hold fears as we are facing assaults on democratic institutions. I have deep concerns for the future of public education as the far right works to control what teachers can teach and what students can learn. It is equally distressing to imagine what Black communities and all communities of color will look like in the near future if we can’t successfully address the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis. I fear a future where our great-grandchildren are fighting to dismantle the same structures of inequity that we’re addressing today.
But I know that centering fear gives too much power to hopelessness, to anger. So today, and always, I am moving forward with courage by centering the love and hope embedded in Race Forward’s everyday work.
And I'm calling on you to be courageous and join us by giving a gift today.
Achieving a just, multi-racial, democratic society is a long road, but it will bear the most stunning gifts. Every day, my colleagues at Race Forward work in deep alignment with community members, partner organizations, and brilliant organizers to do courageous, necessary work:
- Courage is one of our HEAL Together members, AJ Davis with the Lowcountry Black Parents Association in South Carolina, who is organizing to protect their communities’ access to a fully-funded public education–despite being in a state with the largest volume of chapters of Moms for Liberty in the nation.
- Courage is local government jurisdictions and federal agencies in our Government Alliance on Race and Equity mobilizing to build a racially equitable future for their communities—across environmental policies, housing policies, health, and so much more.
- Courage is our Policy Innovation Lab working with local, grassroots organizations with deep roots in communities of color who experience catastrophe most acutely, to build policy solutions to the climate crisis.
Our courage comes from the fact that we’ve been doing this work for over 40 years. We have faced backlash before, and we continue to persevere and grow. We know what needs to be done, and we know that our vision for the future is one that will give all people the opportunity to live, prosper, and thrive.
Even when we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, we know that we have one another and the courage to build a racially equitable future together. Thank you for sharing our vision for a future free from exploitation and oppression, and thank you for your courageous investment in the work it will take to get there.
In solidarity,
Glenn Harris
President, Race Forward
P.S. Your courage fuels our work - give a gift or sign up to become a monthly recurring donor before midnight on December 31!
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