we fund black miami.
we fund black miami.
we fund black miami. we fund black miami.
Transparency, Black leadership, accountability, and accessibility.
The South Florida Racial Justice Table was founded in July 2020. Racial Justice recognizes that from the human rights violation of kidnapping and enslavement, to Jim Crow, voter suppression, redlining to Black maternal mortality to mass incarceration—there is a direct line to Black people in America historically being denied basic rights and justice for centuries. And, yes, that includes here in South Florida. Although racial injustice has been part of the fabric of South Florida from the region's very founding, we recognize that we are a part of a lineage of people who have demanded better from this community in the past, and right now we continue building on that work to mobilize resources —people and financial —toward achieving equity, justice and liberation for all Black people.
We center racial and economic justice in our goal to secure $10 million dollars for Black-led organizations in South Florida. Funders are in a position to start to right the historic wrongs done to Black people and address the intentional resource divestment and disenfranchisement of South Florida's Black communities. We are calling on local philanthropic and funding communities to acknowledge and address the inherent biases in the funding pipeline for Black-led organizations. Our mission is rooted in the following core principles: transparency, accountability, accessibility, and trust and belief in Black leadership.
What We Do:
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Create a $10 million dollar fund for Black-led organizations in Miami-Dade that are committed to system-change work and can respond to issues while creating opportunities and support in the local Black community.
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We are an incubator that centers, supports and honors the leadership and knowledge of Black people in our community. Funding Black leaders equitably is necessary and a start in addressing racial disparities in philanthropic funding.
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We insist on funding Black-led organizations not as a trend or only during a crisis, but because these are the organizations creating transformational change even when under-resourced.
Racial bias in philanthropy whether conscious or unconscious is ever present. A number of studies have all concluded the same thing: Black-led organizations receive significantly less funding than white-led organizations.
In South Florida, this is no different.
National Trends
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Less than one-quarter of Black-led organizations (BLOs) have the financial means to sustain an unexpected financial hardship without having to make significant adjustments to their operations and/or programming.
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A 2020 study found there is a $20 million dollar funding gap between white and Black-led early-stage organizations in favor of white-led groups and that at the mezzanine level, Black-led groups get only 4% of funding.
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When it comes to the holy grail of financial support—unrestricted net assets— Black-led organizations have 76% less than their white-led counterparts.
Support Black Freedom
We want to re-imagine what is possible with philanthropy by ensuring that the act of giving aids in the liberation of Black communities in South Florida. We must uproot white supremacy not only in giving, but everywhere it permeates in our communities.
The South Florida Racial Justice Table members understand that structural inequalities and anti-Black ideas have shaped how and who gets investments in our communities. Make no mistake, it is possible to be a part of the problem even when you fund in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
Grant-making alone is rife with barriers that put less-resourced and smaller Black organizations at a cyclical disadvantage. We want to enhance the transparency of grant-making and approvals while creating community-controlled grant-making processes without the typical bureaucratic red tape.
We also underscore that extracting money by using "diversity lingo" while not actually practicing what that means in-house (internal employees and board members ) is unacceptable. An all-white/white-passing-staff and board is not it.
We encourage the redistribution of power and resources by specifically encouraging folks to give to Black-led racial justice organizations and creating funding match opportunities for local racial justice organizations.
And we acknowledge historically, there is a preference to fund social support services rather than addressing the root causes that make these support services necessary in the first place. Ultimately, we want structural change, not expensive short-term bandaids for gaping wounds.
At the South Florida Racial Justice Table, we also wholly believe that funding Black-led organizations should not only come in limited spurts during a crisis, but we deserve long-term recurring investments that are not solely rooted in our pain, but also Black joy.
We invite funders who invest in the South Florida ecosystem to untether resources and do better by Black-led organizations.
The Work
The mission and its funding benefit the following types of work, groups, and organizations:
Community organizers
Transformative policy advocacy
Black-led organizations that fight for racial justice
Black-led organizations doing organizing work
Black-led organizations doing systems-change work
Black-led organizations doing all sorts of work including arts, youth development, crime prevention, education, environmental justice, economic justice, community development, start-ups, cultural, reproductive justice, etc.
Table Members
