With only three months left until the national election, our August Newsletter revisits the lessons from Freedom Summer 1964 as we navigate today's uncharted territory.
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How will you remember the summer of 2024?
Between President Joe Biden’s historic exit from the presidential race, Kamala Harris's ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket, and recent SCOTUS rulings that defy logic and democracy, this has been an unprecedented summer in US politics.
With Election Day just three months away, we stand on the brink of making history or repeating the worst moments from it. Voter suppression and growing extremism threaten to halt our collective progress. We must remain vigilant and undeterred in our commitment to co-creating a more equitable future.
This summer marks the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer, one of the last multiracial civil rights efforts of the 1960s. Volunteers and Black Mississippians braved voter intimidation and state-sanctioned violence to exercise their constitutional right to vote and register others to do the same. Their efforts, along with the work of organizers before them, raised awareness of voter suppression in the Deep South and helped lead the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Voting Rights Act, the legislative crown jewel of the Civil Rights Movement, turns 59 this week. Today, efforts to erode our voting protections are rampant. According to the ACLU, more than 400 anti-voter bills have been introduced in 48 states.
This summer also marks two other racial justice milestones: the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 158th anniversary of the 14th Amendment in July. These three legislative landmarks ushered in new chapters of freedom in American history.
We celebrate these wins by honoring the work of Black and brown leaders and everyday people who, through sheer grit and political will, laid the foundation for us to build upon. Building power across color, class, gender, and cross-sectoral lines is needed to sustain our wins and achieve the full promise of America.
When communities and public institutions organize around the vision of a true multiracial democracy, we ALL win. During Freedom Summer, 17,000 Black Mississippians attempted to register to vote but only 1,200 were successful.
Today, it’s on us to ensure that their efforts were not in vain. We encourage you to register, vote, and stay in the fight with us!
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For National Security’s Sake, The US Supreme Court Must Respect The 3 Branches Of Government
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Recent rulings by the Supreme Court suggest it has become dangerously partisan and tone-deaf, says Carlton Eley, Race Forward's senior director for federal strategies. The Chevron decision shifts power away from federal agencies, making it difficult for them to regulate the environment, public health, workplace safety and much more.
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"These rulings are an attack on democracy, and they are un-American. We can’t have a strong democracy when environmental injustice and economic injustice persist," writes Eley in NewsOne.
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jaboa lake with Movement for Black Lives’s Reparations June
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In June, the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) moderated a teach-in webinar on Reparations for Family Policing, featuring Black Families Love & Unite, Movement for Family Power, upEND Movement, Transfuturist Collective, and Race Forward. In conversation with others, jaboa lake, our senior director of impact evaluation, learning, and research, spoke from a personal capacity on being directly impacted by family policing, and how reparations frameworks can be used to address and prevent the harms of family policing systems and child “welfare” policies that target and disparately impact Black families.
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Remembering Freedom Summer 1964
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In the summer of 1964–Freedom Summer–more than 1,000 Northern white students traveled for the first time into the Deep South. It was nearly a year since Martin Luther King’s now iconic "I Have A Dream," speech but back then much of the nation was still either unaware of or uninterested in the ongoing campaign of legal terrorism visited by whites on southern Blacks. Freedom Summer, mainly a voter registration project, aimed to change that by waging nonviolence and using young, white bodies to prick the nation’s conscience. And at great cost, it did.
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To mark its 60th anniversary, we revisit the perspective from one Black teen whose life was touched by the moment.
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The Impact of #RaceAnd DEI: The Legal Fights
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The latest attacks on DEI represent an attempt to gut our historic Civil Rights laws and framework and re-whitewash America’s history of racial subjugation. These efforts seek to halt the pursuit of racial justice—or any progress towards a multiracial democracy at all.
This conversation between Cathy Albisa, vice president of institutional and sectoral change at Race Forward, and Dariely Rodriguez, deputy chief counsel at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, delves into the bills that have been introduced, the laws passed, the fights still in progress, the wins we have seen, and the implications of these attacks on the movement for racial justice.
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Seattle is Walking Back its Promises for Racial Equity in Housing.
Is Your City Next?
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SOURCE: Jean-Pierre Chamberland
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Promote Your Work at Facing Race 2024!
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The Facing Race Exhibition Hall will feature National and St. Louis based businesses and organizations led by people of color. We reaffirm our commitment to partner with vendors whose entity is owned, operated, or serves Black, Indigenous, people of color, and people who are trans-identified, non-binary, and or other members of the LGBTQAI2S+ community.
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This year the Facing Race Vendor/Exhibition Hall will be curated in partnership with St. Louis nonprofit Frizzy By Nature. This local business hosts Frizz Fest, a natural beauty festival aimed to encourage self-love and inspire confidence among women.
Join us in fostering an inclusive and empowering space at Facing Race. We look forward to receiving your applications!
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RSVP Now: Cultural Week of Action Kick-Off Event
Friday, September 27 in St. Louis
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We invite you to join us in celebrating the role the arts have played in shaping our culture and helping us envision a true, multiracial democracy. The kick-off event for the Cultural Week of Action will be a reminder of the joy in our movement for racial justice.
The night will include a live performance by Gangstagrass, a band that uniquely blends bluegrass and hip-hop, along with performances from talented local St. Louis creatives, and more!
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Building for a September Surge!
Wednesday, August 21
7-8 PM ET/4-5 PM PT
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As this fall’s elections approach, the stakes couldn’t be higher for our public schools, our democracy, and the future of our country.
Our partners at HEAL Together are hosting a “September Surge for Public Schools” to mobilize thousands of people to attend school board meetings nationwide. And we need YOU to bring the action to your local community!
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Join us on Wednesday, August 21, at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT to hear from inspiring leaders in battleground states and get the tools you need to bring a September Surge action to your district. Together, we can turn the tide and create a truly thriving multiracial democracy where all our children, regardless of race, gender, or zip code, can thrive.
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Building Racial Equity — Coming to St. Louis!
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Join us for our Building Racial Equity Foundations training in St. Louis on October 17, our first in-person session since the pandemic. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Ferguson uprisings, we'll tailor our training to focus on addressing systemic racism and advancing racial equity in ‘The Lou.’ In partnership with the Deaconess Foundation, this special session kicks off a series of events happening ahead of our Facing Race conference.
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Building Racial Equity Foundations
Thursday, October 17, 9 am – 4 pm CT
Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being
1000 N. Vandeventer Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63113
Lunch and Refreshments will be provided.
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Services for Organizations
Race Forward is committed to transformational, sustainable change for racial justice. We provide services to help organizations develop and advance racially equitable policies and practices.
Our services are developed and delivered by a multiracial and multigenerational team of experts with extensive knowledge and experience in various areas, including policy and program development, leadership development and strategic coaching, community organizing, and racial equity.
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We hope your August is one of celebration and progress. Visit raceforward.org to learn more about our work.
In solidarity,
Team Race Forward
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