COVID-19 RELIEF

  • IN THE WAKE OF THE COVID-19 GLOBAL PANDEMIC, DOCTORS AND NURSES ON THE FRONT LINES WERE RISKING THEIR LIVES AND FORCED TO DO SO WITHOUT THE PROPER PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. WITH THE GENEROSITY OF OUR  COMMUNITY WE RAISED OVER $60,000 AND SECURED AND DONATED OVER 250,000 PIECES OF PPE IN THE FORM OF N95 MASKS, GOGGLES, FACE SHIELDS AND GLOVES TO 126 HOSPITALS AROUND THE COUNTRY AT THE MOST CRITICAL TIME. 

RACIAL JUSTICE

  • ALTHOUGH OUR NATION WAS FOUNDED WITH THE INTENTION OF EQUAL LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, THE REALITY IS THAT WE ARE STILL FAR FROM IT. WHILE CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISM THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES HAS LED TO BIG STRIDES IN LEGISLATIVE, EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL PARADIGMS, NO AMOUNT OF WINS CAN CHANGE THE FACT THAT OUR NATION WAS BUILT OFF OF THE BACKS OF THE ENSLAVED AND DISPLACEMENT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. THIS HARSH TRUTH, WHICH MANY HAVE YET TO ACKNOWLEDGE, MARKS THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR NATION AS BEING FOUNDED ON THE INEQUALITY AND MISTREATMENT OF PEOPLE OF COLOR. 

  • RACISM AND INEQUALITY MAY HAVE BECOME MORE COVERT AS GENERATIONS PASSED, BUT IT DOES NOT CHANGE THAT THEY ARE STILL RAMPANT. SYSTEMIC RACISM PERMEATES SOCIETY THROUGH INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS HOSPITALS, SCHOOLS, PLACES OF EMPLOYMENT, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND HOUSING SYSTEMS, ALONG WITH COUNTLESS OTHERS. IN ORDER TO DISMANTLE SYSTEMIC RACISM, WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE IT AND THE IMPLICIT BIASES WE CARRY. WE MUST TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES OF RACE THROUGHOUT OUR NATION’S HISTORY SO AS TO BEGIN TO MAKE REPARATIONS AND UPLIFT THE COMMUNITIES OF COLOR WHICH HAVE BEEN HARMED THROUGHOUT CENTURIES OF SYSTEMIC RACISM.

  • WE ARE COMMITTED TO UNDERSTANDING AND SPREADING AWARENESS ON THE EFFECTS OF SYSTEMIC RACISM AND OPPRESSION.

  • WE CURRENTLY SUPPORT AND ARE PARTNERED WITH THE CADENCE PROJECT: FOUNDED IN 2020, THE CADENCE PROJECT IS A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION BASED OUT OF NEW YORK CITY, WHOSE CALL TO ACTION IS EMPOWERING BLACK COMMUNITIES. WE AIM TO PROVIDE A WIDE RANGE OF INFORMATIVE AND ACTIONABLE RESOURCES IN AN EFFORT TO EQUIP THOSE STANDING WITH US IN OUR FIGHT FOR A BETTER FUTURE. WE BELIEVE IN AMPLIFYING AND PROTECTING BLACK STORIES, DREAMS, AND FUTURES, AND WORK DILIGENTLY TO DO SO THROUGH A VARIETY OF PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS. WE AIM TO CONNECT AND UPLIFT IN WHATEVER WAY POSSIBLE, AND BELIEVE THAT NO TASK IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL TO TAKE ON. 

  •  HTTPS://THECADENCEPROJ.WIXSITE.COM/WEBSITE

  • LINKS TO READINGS / WAYS TO GET INVOLVED:                                        

      LGBT RIGHTS AND EQUALITY

      • THROUGHOUT THE DECADES AND AS RESULT OF TIRELESS ACTIVISM, THE LGBTQ MOVEMENT HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY AND BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS. HOWEVER, THAT JOURNEY IS FAR FROM OVER. 

      • STATISTICS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY REGARDING LESBIAN, GAY, TRANS, AND QUEER PEOPLE OF COLOR, CONTINUES TO RISE AT ALARMING RATES. IN OVER 30 STATES, THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY STILL DOES NOT HAVE FEDERAL LAWS IN PLACE WHICH WOULD PROVIDE BASIC LEGAL NON-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTION FOR THE COMMUNITY. THE LACK OF LAWS IN PLACE LEAVE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE VULNERABLE TO VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMATION WHICH DIRECTLY IMPACTS THEIR SAFETY, HOUSING AND EMPLOYMENT SITUATIONS. 

      • WE BELIEVE EVERYBODY IS ENTITLED TO THE SAME EQUAL RIGHTS REGARDLESS OF WHO THEY LOVE OR HOW THEY EXPRESS AND IDENTIFY THEIR GENDER AND SEXUALITY. 

      • LINKS TO READINGS / WAYS TO GET INVOLVED:

      • HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN- HTTPS://WWW.HRC.ORG/

      • EQUALITY ACT OVERVIEW-   HTTPS://WWW.HRC.ORG/RESOURCES/THE-EQUALITY-ACT

      • AND HOW TO TAKE ACTION- HTTPS://WWW.HRC.ORG/EQUALITYACT

      • GAYS & LESBIANS LIVING IN A TRANSGENDER SOCIETY- HTTPS://WWW.GLITSINC.ORG/

      • THE OKRA PROJECT- HTTPS://WWW.THEOKRAPROJECT.COM/

      VOTING RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY 

      • IT HAS BEEN AN UPHILL BATTLE, SPANNING GENERATIONS FOLLOWING THE FOUNDATION OF THE UNITED STATES, TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO VOTE. WHILE IT MAY SEEM AS IF WE HAVE FINISHED THE FIGHT, WE ARE FAR FROM THE END. POLITICIANS ACROSS THE COUNTRY CONTINUE TO ENABLE VOTER SUPPRESSION WHICH DIRECTLY TARGETS LOW-INCOME AND MINORITY VOTERS. 

      • OUR NATION IS BUILT AROUND THE IDEA OF DEMOCRACY AND THE KEY COMPONENT LIES WITHIN OUR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO VOTE. IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE AN EQUAL AND JUST DEMOCRACY, WE MUST ALL PARTICIPATE WITHIN THE VOTING PROCESS. OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES DEPEND UPON IT. 

      • WE BELIEVE WE MUST PROTECT OUR FREEDOM TO VOTE AND COMBAT ANY FORMS OF SUPPRESSION. 

      • LINKS TO READINGS / WAYS TO GET INVOLVED:

      • ACLU VOTING RIGHTS- HTTPS://WWW.ACLU.ORG/ISSUES/VOTING-RIGHTS/PROMOTING-ACCESS-BALLOT

      • EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO VOTE: HTTPS://WWW.VOTE.ORG/

      • 6 WAY TO KEEP OUR DEMOCRACY HEALTHY DURING COVID-19- HTTPS://WWW.BENJERRY.COM/WHATS-NEW/2020/05/DEMOCRACY-COVID-19