John,
Whether you are taking Juneteenth to reflect on the legacy of racism in our country, engaging in important conversations, or joining protests for the movement for Black Lives, I wanted to offer up one more option: Support our 47 Black candidates who are running for office (and help us recruit more folks like them).
Electing more Black people isn’t the only solution to systemic racism, but it has to be a part of it. It is not enough for folks to push for change from the outside -- we have to put power in the hands of people who’ve experienced oppression and marginalization.
As our team said yesterday, participating in local politics is part of living an anti-racist life.
So if you can, please consider donating to one, several, or all of our 47 endorsed Black candidates.
You can do so here with one quick donation. Your generosity also helps us recruit even more Black folks to run in years to come.
Thanks and stay safe,
Amanda Litman
Co-founder
Run for Something
P.S. If you’d like to join Juneteenth actions for Black Lives today and this weekend, you can find all kinds of events here:
https://sixnineteen.com/
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From: Run for Something
Subject: How you can celebrate Juneteenth: Donate to Black candidates
John,
Tomorrow is Juneteenth, a holiday which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. If you have not heard of Juneteenth, you are not alone. While most Americans look at July 4th as their day of independence, Juneteenth is the day when enslaved people in Texas were told they were free… two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
Although slavery in the U.S. may have ended centuries ago, its legacy and consequences remain today.
The last few weeks (and the continuing pandemic) have shined a harsh light on the glaring inequities that still exist, particularly for Black and brown people.
Right now, we are all coming to terms with what that means and doing the work to combat structural racism and rooting out white supremacy from our institutions. And while a whole lot of energy is directed at replacing our current racist president, we also need to work to make our communities safer by electing more Black people to state and local office.
Today, we are asking you to commit to support a Black candidate running for local office in 2020. Your contribution will be split between 47 candidates running in states across the country and Run for Something.
Chip in now -- every cent goes directly to their campaigns and to efforts to recruit more folks like them >>
Let’s be clear: Participating in
local politics is part of living an anti-racist life. From terminating police contracts with public schools to pushing for the reallocation of police funding to social programs, this is the invisible, yet necessary work.
The most recent data from the National Conference of State Legislatures (2015) showed over
80% of state legislators were white, despite only 60% of Americans identifying as white. When our leaders do not reflect the diversity of our communities, we cannot begin to reconcile the pain and injustice imposed on people of color by our government.
We can create an equitable nation where Black Lives Matter. And we get there by electing young, diverse, progressives to every electable seat.
Thank you, and stay safe,
Run for Something
