As we brace for the year ahead, remember the victories that powered our purpose in 2025.
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Hi John, If you are reading this, you are someone who has stayed engaged during a very hard season. When you set this year’s stories next to each other, a single question keeps showing up: who is trusted to help govern this country, and who is kept on the outside?
Books pulled from classrooms. Educators punished for teaching real history. Efforts to turn diversity, equity, and inclusion into something suspect. ICE raids and the threat of mass deportation. Parts of the government (Department of Education, Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and others) that should serve the public treated as disposable. Safety net programs (USAID, Social Security, the Affordable Care Act) targeted for cuts. These are not random decisions. They are attempts to narrow who counts, whose experience is treated as legitimate, and whose future is allowed to feel secure. Every attack on inclusionary and equitable government is also an attack on racial justice, because the two rise and fall together.
At Race Forward, we do not accept the story that this is simply the way things will be. We see, every day, that multiracial governance is not a promise handed down from the top. It is a practice that diverse communities build together, especially when times are hardest.
What keeps me grounded is what I hear in conversations with local organizers, civil servants, and culture makers. Parents and teachers are joining forces to keep honest education in schools. Residents are helping shape city budgets so that housing, transit, and care are treated as essentials rather than extras. Experiments like No Kings Day are giving people language to name authoritarian tactics and reclaiming public rituals around the freedom to assemble, public accountability, and shared power. These efforts do not always reach the front page, yet they are real examples of racial justice as a way of governing, not only a value expressed in conversations.
We are also seeing small but important signs in national politics that suggest that the fight for the 'right of the people' is still unfolding. Some Republicans have chosen to speak out, to step back from Trumpism, or to leave Congress rather than sign on to an openly authoritarian agenda. Those decisions, combined with local organizing, remind us that the story of this country is not finished.
We remain committed—even in this challenging time—to helping communities of color win real governing power, to strengthening public institutions so they can advance democracy that is multiracial and inclusive, and to building durable collaboration between movements and government. Tools like our Narrative Toolkit < [link removed] > , the GARE Democracy Resilience Toolkit < [link removed] > , and our governance resources < [link removed] > were created with this moment in mind so people have practical support, not just analysis.
In this newsletter you will see some of the ways that work is taking shape. I invite you to pick one of these connections and act on it in 2026. Join or support a local campaign, share a resource with someone in your community or in public service, or bring these tools into your organizing space. If you are able, you can also help resource the work financially.
Wherever you step in, stay in the practice with us. Multiracial democracy is not an experiment that has already failed. It is a shared daily practice that we are building together, so that people of color can live, work, and govern with purpose and power.
In solidarity,
Glenn Harris
President, Race Forward
**In case you missed it
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**Just Narratives for Multiracial Solidarity
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Our first ever convening for narrative strategy was collaborative, powerful and needed in this current political moment. Just Narratives for Mutliracial Solidarity was a multiday convening lab focused on creating space to build just narratives and wield the power of storytelling.
Our first ever convening for narrative strategy was collaborative, powerful and needed in this current political moment. Just Narratives for Mutliracial Solidarity was a multiday convening lab focused on creating space to build just narratives and wield the power of storytelling.
The convening gathered more than 400 narrative strategists, communicators, creatives, storytellers, racial justice advocates, and movement builders in St. Louis, Missourif through November 13-15. Together, attendees strengthened the narrative infrastructure needed to advance racial justice and multiracial solidarity in this critical moment.
Stay tuned for recaps of what you missed!
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**Cultural Week of Action 2025
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True solidarity requires us to shift the narrative, reclaim the deeper meaning of democracy, and elevate the power of culture to shape what comes next. This year’s Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy brought together people in communities, cities, towns, and virtual spaces through music, storytelling, movement, and collective learning to take action to build a society where all are cared for.
From November 8-16, over a dozen events were curated across the nation, with each contribution serving as their own canvas for creative expression and collective power. Here’s a look at some of the events you missed:
- Digital Misogynoir and How to Report it on Bluesky < [link removed] > ,by Dr. Kay Coghill, Blacksky Algorithms
- Uncover Stories of Social Change with Ripple Effects Mapping < [link removed] > , by Radiance
- Learning About Kwanzaa < [link removed] > , by Five Star Women of Color, Inc.
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No matter what we look like or where we come from, most of us want the same things: A place where we feel that we truly belong, where we are free to be fully ourselves, and where every one of us – across races, genders, economic status, backgrounds, and zip codes – have the means to pursue our dreams.
**Take action
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**We Make History Everyday
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Racial justice isn't history. Racial justice is happening every day.
Shop online at our new store and choose from an array of products like shirts, water canteens, hats, and sweaters. No matter the weather, we make history together!
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**Services for Organizations
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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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