Washington, DC (August 2018). Photo courtesy of Mobilus in Mobili

Washington, DC (August 2018). Photo courtesy of Mobilus in Mobili

Action Steps

  1. Show Up for Racial Justice Base-Building Organizations

It is critically important that those who support racial justice have a consistent, organized presence to advance that agenda. Fortunately, there are already numerous grassroots racial justice organizations all across the United States, within every single state. Thus, if you are inclined to want to advance racial justice, start by finding an organization near you and seeing what you can do to help move its agenda forward. If you need a place to start, below are some of the best and most strategic racial justice organizations in the country. There may be nothing more valuable that individuals could do to advance racial justice than contribute whatever time, energy, and money they have available to support the work of these or other like-minded organizations.

 

2. Create Community Equity Assemblies

Beyond plugging into the racial justice infrastructure that has already been built, we also need to create new structures for more people to become involved, particularly for the members of communities that have been systematically excluded from the political process for generations. In every community in the United States that struggles with equity issues (which is to say, every community in the United States), we need to create “community equity assemblies” where regular people can come together to learn about systemic racism and other forms of oppression and then get to work in dismantling them. These need not be formal bodies, particularly initially; just places where community members can gather together and find ways to collaborate. They also don’t have to be large. As is demonstrated every day all across the country, even small groups of dedicated advocates can have a remarkable impact within a community.

However, over time, if we can grow these assemblies by bringing in more like-minded people from our neighborhoods, workplaces, community groups, religious institutions, student groups, labor unions, volunteer organizations, and other formations, then the possibilities for what we can accomplish together begin to grow dramatically. All of a sudden, the many people of all races and ethnicities who care about these issues can become transformed from a collection of individuals into a powerful political force. From there, they can start influencing policy decisions, they can demand a seat at the table for budgetary decisions, they can hold policy makers accountable in far more meaningful ways, and in relatively short order they can create truly transformative change in their communities.