Local groups empower Black lives outside the national spotlight. Here's some worth knowing.
Across the country, local nonprofits have brought sweeping legal overhauls and incremental changes in the face of systemic racial violence and injustice. But often, they do so without national recognition.
These groups are on the front lines of mobilizing communities, empowering marginalized voices and creating systemic change. Many of them have been working for racial justice even before #BlackLivesMatter became a movement embraced by corporations and national nonprofits.
These groups know making change happen for their own communities at the local level can take many forms: empowering artists, reforming the criminal justice system or working to restore voting rights.
Here are five groups that are working to empower Black lives:
Hip Hop for Change
Where they are: San Francisco Bay Area
What they do: Founded in 2013, Hip Hop for Change teaches hip hop technique to tens of thousands of local students. The goal: reclaiming an important part of Black culture and pushing back against corporations profiting off the art form.
Executive director and hip hop artist Khafre Jay said he's seen how over time grassroots, authentic rap struggles to get off the ground and generate revenue in the U.S.
Artists mentored by Jay rap about the day's the most pressing issues: environmental problems, anti-Asian violence and the COVID-19 pandemic. Emotional topics that are top-of-mind for young people come through in hip hop and unite around causes, Jay said.
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Hip Hop for Change's non-profit platform helps local artists "own the means of production" and enables them to fight economic systems shaping the corporate music industry, Jay said.
Why they say it matters: A small number of billion-dollar corporations control most hip hop music, even though the genre has its roots in local Black communities.
Southern Fried Queer Pride
Where they are: Atlanta
What they do: Southern Fried Queer Pride creates events and spaces that wouldn't exist otherwise for Black queer and transgender artists to share their craft, said executive director Taylor Alxndr.
“Even though Atlanta is a Black capital of the country and an LGBTQ capital of the country, we didn’t see a lot of spaces for Black queer people, especially Black trans people," Alxndr said.
Since being founded in 2014, the group has grown to serve 10,000 people annually. Each June they have a weeklong arts festival and weekly galleries, parties and workshops throughout the rest of the year.
Why they say it matters: The South can be stereotyped as anti-LGBTQ, even though the region is home to the largest share of the country’s LGBTQ population. Alxndr co-founded Southern Fried Queer Pride to combat the idea the South is a "conservative hellhole," they said.
ReMerge
Where they are: Oklahoma City
What they do: ReMerge provides alternatives to jail for mothers with nonviolent felony charges. What's known as an "incarceration diversion" program, ReMerge works with a court team including a judge, assistant District Attorney, probation officer and public defender in Oklahoma County to divert convicted mothers away from jail and into their assistance program. Founded in 2011, ReMerge works with 60 moms at any given time.
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"Communities of color have historically had bad, unfair run ins with the criminal justice system," executive director Jenna Morey said. "Either people in communities in color don’t know to ask for a diversion program or you might have public defenders who say ‘you know what, just do your time.’"
The organization is one of only a few incarceration diversion programs for mothers in the country. Women who graduate from ReMerge have their charges dismissed and can have legal fines and fees waived.
Why they say it matters: Research shows alternatives to incarceration help reduce future convictions in people who have committed low-level offenses. The program is especially important in Oklahoma, because the state has the nation's highest incarceration rate for women.
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition
Where they are: Orlando, Florida, and across the state
What they do: In 2018, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition successfully advocated for an amendment to the state's constitution that restored voting rights to 1.5 million Floridians who had previously completed the terms of a felony sentence. Prior to Amendment 4, people in Florida with felony convictions could not vote under state law, even after completing the terms of their sentence.
Now, FRRC is continuing to help make sure people in Florida don't face sweeping restrictions to employment, housing and college just because of a former felony charge.
Why they say it matters: An estimated 5.2 million people are disenfranchised in the U.S. because of felony convictions. More than 6.2% of the voting age Black population is disenfranchised, compared with 1.7% of the non-Black population.
Reclaim the Block
Where they are: Minneapolis
What they do: In the aftermath of George Floyd's murder by police officer Derek Chauvin, Reclaim the Block organized thousands of community members to put a proposal on the ballot that would replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety. Their work, alongside the broader push organized by the Yes 4 Minneapolis Campaign, marked the first time a city charter amendment of its kind was put before voters in Minneapolis.
The proposal failed to pass in November, but 44% of Minneapolis voters supported the plan. Groups who organized for the ballot measure said 44% of the vote represents powerful potential for change going forward.
Reclaim the Block helped gather 20,000 petition signatures for the charter amendment and raised approximately $1 million.
"Where there's people, there's power," said Reclaim the Block narrative strategist D.A. Bullock. “To go from not having the conversation be in people’s minds at all to it being on everyone’s mind is a very strong victory for the people, because we were able to go to the voting booth and decide for ourselves."
Why they say it matters: Besides Chauvin's conviction, there is little precedent for police officers being held accountable in Minneapolis. Reclaim the Block said their Department of Public Safety is a better alternative to continued police department reform.