The Kansha Foundation
2020 RACIAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
2020 has been a wake up call, an education, a clarifier. The depth of institutional racism and lies of American exceptionalism have not only been laid bare but are front and center. Angela Davis reminds us "In a racist society, it’s not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist."
The Kansha Foundation is undertaking a Racial Justice Initiative in 2020 to support and enable organizations working to acknowledge, remediate and move forward against the racial inequities entrenched in American institutions. We are eager to work with organizations that offer solutions through legal action, community organizing, advocacy, education and democratic empowerment as well as those that provide direct relief in our efforts to become an ally to those fighting against or suffering from racial injustice.
We have selected the following organizations to receive grants in 2020.
Democratic Process / Legal / Policy
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Prepared to Vote and Voting Rights Defender projects. These complementary projects are working to protect voting rights and defend Black political engagement through advocacy, legislation and litigation.
Democratic Process / Legal / Policy
ACLU Foundation
The ACLU's work to protect the enduring values of freedom and equality is based on a three-pronged approach: litigation, public education, and lobbying. The ACLU Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation. Foundation gifts fund litigation and public education efforts.
Policy / Education / Rehabilitation
GRIP Training Institute
Guiding Rage into Power is an in-prison program designed to create the personal and systemic change that transforms violence and suffering into opportunities for learning and healing. GRIP seeks to rapidly address the ongoing COVID-19 situation in prisons by achieving expedited and compassionate releases, and will also be working toward long-term transformation of the system itself.
Policy / Education
Equal Justice Initiative
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
Democratic Process / Rehabilitation
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition
FRRC was instrumental in passing Amendment 4 in FL in 2018, with over 60% of the vote, which restored the right of returning citizens with felony convictions to vote after parole in completed (they were previously denied voting rights for life). But the FL legislature then instituted rules which required that all fines and fees be paid before voting. Just last week, the Circuit Court upheld this rule, challenged as a poll tax. FRRC has been raising funds to pay these fines and fees for those that cannot so that they can vote.
Education / Culture
Southern Poverty Law Center Teaching Tolerance
Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators—teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners—who work with children from kindergarten through high school. These resources include classroom lessons, webinars, grants, podcasts, policy guides and much more. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.
The program emphasizes anti-bias and social justice. The anti-bias approach encourages children and young people to challenge prejudice and learn how to be agents of change in their own lives. Our Social Justice Standards show how anti-bias education works through the four domains of identity, diversity, justice and action.