….because the reality is as much momentum we have right now in this time it will simmer and it will be our individual responsibility to ensure the good fight continues! With that said, one of the most effective things you can do is GET INVOLVED within YOUR COMMUNITY! I live in the Bay Area which includes 9 counties, 101 cities/towns, with a growing population of over 7 million people. However when we talk or think about communities in the region it’s always San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. It is not enough to have effective change in 3/101 cities, our reach has to extend!
For my friends and family in the Bay Area, this is a guide to several non-profits and organizations that you can join right here at home and demand for change to systematic oppression. This is not an exhaustive list and I challenge you to find more. To my fellow bloggers, influencers, writers, etc. I challenge you to do the same in your community and connect people to different resources and organizations because the fight does not end with George Floyd.
I’ve included a mix of organizations with different initiatives and priorities and led by diverse leaders, Black, brown, white, etc. I’m sure you can find something that aligns with your morals and maybe even fits your knowledge and expertise.
SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), Bay Area chapter, is part of a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice. There are over 150 chapters and affiliates nationwide. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice, with passion and accountability.
San Francisco Chapter
Sacred Heart and South Bay Chapter
Fly (Fresh Lifelines for Youth) – FLY’s mission is to prevent juvenile crime and incarceration through legal education, leadership training, and one-on-one mentoring.
East Oakland Collective – a membership cohort of millennials and are invested in making impacts in Deep East Oakland.
Anti Police-Terror Project – The Anti Police-Terror Project is a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition that seeks to build a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color.
OCCUR – OCCUR is committed to creating capacity building opportunities to support the well-being, economic development and civic inclusion of marginalized communities.
National Lawyers Guild SF – The National Lawyers Guild has served as the legal arm of movements leading the fight for meaningful social change in the United States. As a progressive and leftist legal organization, the NLG has represented and defended activists in the courtrooms and on the streets.
Black Organizing Project – The Black Organizing Project is a Black member- led community organization group working for racial, social, and economic justice through grassroots organizing and community building in Oakland, CA.
Bay Rising Action– Bay Rising Action builds the power of communities of color by working with local grassroots organizations.
Ella Baker Center of Human Rights – works with Black, Brown, and low-income people to shift resources away from prisons and punishment, and towards opportunities that make our communities safe, healthy, and strong.
Oakland Rising Action – Oakland Rising Action is a community-led political organization focused on supporting candidates and issues that drive a progressive agenda for Oakland’s working-class, immigrant and communities of color living in the flatlands of Oakland.
Community Ready Corps – their prime objective is to build and/or contribute to self-determination in disenfranchised communities. CRC believes that in order to be truly self determined, a community needs to be able to express power where power is being expressed.
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice –
CURYJ unlocks the leadership of young people to dream beyond bars.We look to young people to lead the way by transforming their community and investing in their healing, activism, and aspirations.
SPUR – the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association. We bring people together from across the political spectrum to develop solutions to the big problems our cities face. With offices in San Francisco, San José and Oakland, we are recognized as a leading civic planning organization and respected for our independent and holistic approach to urban issues.
AACSA – located right here in San Jose!
AACSA is the only multi-service African American Center in Northern California. We don’t focus on one area because it’s never been our mission. We aim to provide the needs of the people through our membership or client services.
I will add and share more as I further research and learn myself…..please take care of yourselves and be gentle to yourself and those are you during these trying times.
