Dear members and supporters, As we continue to process devastating news from mass shootings to Supreme Court rulings, we recognize that we are entering exceedingly regressive, authoritarian times. Virulence is intensifying, from a hostile political climate to worsening climate change to even more infectious strains of COVID-19. In this new dystopian reality, uteruses are regulated while military-grade assault rifles and fossil fuel behemoths are given free rein to wreak terror in our communities and around the globe. At the same time, movements are not backing down, bringing breathtaking power and sheer beauty to
these struggles, buoying our spirits and reinforcing our resolve. Our guiding principles are deeply rooted in love, acceptance, and affirmation for each other, for our BIPOC, LGBTQ+, poor and working class folks, frontline and fenceline communities, and upholding the sanctity of Mother Earth. We work toward a transformative future with a Feminist, Anti-racist, Regenerative Economy (FAREconomy) that centers life and well-being for all. Over the past few months, we’ve been building with grassroots organizations and community leaders in the Global South, taking sustenance in recent victories in Latin America as the U.S. slides toward authoritarianism. In Colombia, a historic
election seated former guerrilla fighter Gustavo Petro as President, along with the country’s first Black woman Vice President, grassroots environmental activist Francia Márquez. We are proud to have participated as international allies, collaborating with Afroresistance to send the largest-ever delegation of trained electoral observers in
the history of the Colombian Electoral Observer Mission (MOE). Our group, comprised of 19 Black and brown women and femmes, helped to protect the May 29 election amid concerns of electoral fraud, physical threats, and intimidation of voters and family members. Francia’s connection to the communities in Cali was clear and we could feel the building energy for the campaign's alternative vision. To hear more, join us at Struggle for Democracy: Colombia that we are co-sponsoring with the Center for Political Education on August 17, at
3:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. ET. In June, we were energized by the solidarity between Latin American and Caribbean countries, banding together to protest the Biden administration’s exclusionary Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. At the parallel People’s Summit for Democracy, our GGJ delegation of members and
organizers found inspiration in the video addresses from popular movement leaders across the Americas, as well as deepening relationships with Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres from COPINH, representatives from Albamovimientos, BYP100 (Black Youth Project 100), and local organizers from Dignity & Power Now. We bonded as a team, including many new members of GGJ from the African Bureau of Immigration & Social Affairs (ABISA), Equality Labs, and Freedom, Inc. We’ve also embarked on a new phase on the road to our Membership Assembly this year, gearing up to hold our first in-person all-member convening since 2018. Beginning with an extensive consulta process with individual member organizations in 2021, we identified key themes and
goals for our alliance. In May, we refined our work plan for the coming years with members of our Program Leadership Team, hosted by SouthWest Organizing Project in Albuquerque, discussing and shaping proposals that will be presented to our full Assembly this October. From seeding a political formation organizing school to divesting in harm
and investing in care through the framework of a FAREconomy, our vision for the future is hopeful, bold, and unapologetically left. In these very intense times, we invite you to join us and take action through rage, grief, and despair, drawing strength from our collective power to fight back with dignity, love, and solidarity. Together, we will create spaces to heal, collaborate in righteous struggle, and ultimately prevail. We look forward to sharing more about our upcoming plans, from the Membership Assembly to our November delegation to COP27 in Egypt. Will you make a donation today to maintain this momentum and sustain our work? Thank you for your support. With deepest gratitude, Margaret Kwateng
National Organizer |
