What inspires you? What keeps you in the fight? My inspiration for being in the movement for racial justice is my community and seeing the possibility of racial justice being played out again and again in our daily lives. Although we are impacted by structural racism and multiple layers of oppression every day, we still move with hope and possibility, knowing that we can change inequitable systems to work for us instead of against us. I am pulled into this energy—and put my whole self into our collective work.

I have been connected to Race Forward/the Applied Research Center since its earlier days in the mid-90s. I first met our founder Gary Delgado when he was on the board of the Institute on Race and Poverty, where I worked with the visionary john a. powell in my first years out of law school. Also on that board was Maya Wiley, the founder of the Center for Social Inclusion. In these relationships I’ve seen the thread of deep commitment and vision for this work, as well as the many powerful leaders, both then and now, who are building something beautiful together. It’s a thread that crosses organizations and pulls through the movement building that Race Forward is a part of. 

In recognition of our 40th Anniversary, I celebrate Race Forward’s role in the movement for racial justice and the way that we as an organization have offered a space for people committed to racial justice to learn and build together, as well as celebrate and find the joy of doing this work.

When I envision the next 40 years of Movement Capacity Building—it looks like the beauty and power of people coming together to organize for the change they imagine in their communities. Of course we hope and expect that real change in policies, practices, and the material conditions of Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities directly impacted by structural racism will happen in that time. Also important to this work is how we get there: with the leadership of communities of color, by living into the vision for racial justice that we imagine, organizing and finding our voices and power in a way that heals our communities from generations of trauma, building deep and authentic relationships across communities.

Join us with a gift before December 31, knowing that your generosity is more than investment in the work today - it’s a source of love for those in this movement now, and inspiration for those that have yet to join the fight.

In solidarity,

Vina Kay

Vice President - Movement Capacity Building

PS - Stay tuned in 2022 to learn about the next phase of Mass Freedom, as the future I envision includes an end to mass incarceration in all forms. Your gift today will make a meaningful impact in this work.