On Monday we issued a statement in support of Black Lives Matter and the movement in support of justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the many lives lost to police violence.
As an act of solidarity with protests happening around the U.S., we pledged to donate $25,000 to a variety of organizations, both in Minnesota and nationally, that are working to end anti-Black racism, police violence and abuse.
To honor this commitment, we are donating to the following organizations:
The Movement for Black Lives
The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) was created as a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions, develop share assessments of what political interventions are necessary in order to achieve key policy, cultural, and political wins, convene organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared movement-wide strategy. Under the fundamental idea that we can achieve more together than we can separately, M4BL facilitated a week of action this week (June 1–6) and are an anchor for policy platforms, organizing support, and grassroots funding for over 100 local Black Lives Matter groups around the United States.
Northside Funders Group
In partnership with the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition, the Northside Funders Group is a group of 19 local and regional funders raising money specifically for businesses that have been affected by demonstrations in North Minneapolis, a predominantly Black neighborhood that often doesn’t get the same spotlight as other areas of the city. They are working closely with the West Broadway Business & Area Coalition, a black led, community-focused organization, to identify and distribute the funds. Most of these businesses did not have insurance and were hit very hard by having to close shop during the initial Covid-19 outbreak.
Know Your Rights Camp
The mission of Know Your Rights Camp is to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.Founded by Colin Kaepernick, Know Your Rights Camp holds educational seminars across the country for Black and Brown youth. They have served 1,400 Black and Brown youth in seven cities so far and are growing. In response to the current wave of police violence, they quickly responded and formed a legal defense initiative, engaging top defense lawyers nationwide to provide legal resources for those who have been arrested or have become victims of police brutality while fighting injustice across the nation.
The Loveland Foundation
The Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. They provide resources and initiatives that are collaborative and prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing. The organization was started in 2018 by Rachel Cargle, who raised over $250,000 on social media for therapy support for Black women and girls. They extended the effort and created the Loveland Foundation to provide fellowships, residency programs, listening tours, and mental health support to Black women.
We are making these donations in addition to the $250,000 already committed this year to support criminal justice reform measures designed to help end the mass incarceration of people of color imprisoned for low-level drug offences. Today, we issued another statement detailing our commitment to this important issue.
We are committed to working to end systemic racism however it manifests in our society, whether in police practices, government policies, or in everyday life. Together, we are All-One or None! All-One! Black Lives Matter!