LibGuides: Antiracism: A Resource Guide: Organizations

Be Informed, Make Connections, Find a Cause, Get Involved!

The good news is there are oodles of organizations devoted to antiracism, racial equity and social justice issues, including groups at Skyline College.

While it's impossible to list them all, below are a few places to start--suggestions of organizations and groups that might inspire or assist you with your own journey to be an antiracist.

Working for Change...

Black Lives Matter #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.
Color of Change Color of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Color of Change leads campaigns that build real power for Black communities. We challenge injustice, hold corporate and political leaders accountable, commission game-changing research on systems of inequality, and advance solutions for racial justice that can transform our world.
Poor People's Campaign In 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others called for a “revolution of values” in America. They sought to build a broad, fusion movement that could unite poor communities across the country. Their name was a direct cry from the underside of history: The Poor People’s Campaign. Today, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up this unfinished work and people are coming together to confront the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. We understand that as a nation we are at a critical juncture — that we need a movement that will shift the moral narrative, affect policies and elections at every level of government, and build lasting power for poor communities.

Inspired by Students...

It Gets Better Project The It Gets Better Project is a nonprofit organization with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth around the globe. Growing up isn’t easy, especially when you are trying to affirm and assert your sexual orientation and/or gender identity. It can be a challenging and isolating process – but, the good news is, no one has to do it alone.
March for Our Lives Our mission is to harness the power of young people across the country to fight for sensible gun violence prevention policies that save lives. We cannot allow one more person to be killed by senseless gun violence, to experience the pain of losing a loved one or to wait for a call or a text that never comes. We cannot allow the normalization of gun violence to continue. We must create a safe and compassionate nation for all of us.

Skyline College Clubs and Learning Communities

Black Student Union
Center for Innovative Practices through Hip Hop Education & Research We make education hyper-relevant. CIPHER is a hip hop and social justice community that seeks to foster leadership development and creativity both in and out of the classroom. CIPHER strives to reach youth and students through hip hop music, tying their education with topics that are relevant and interesting to their generation.
Umoja-African-American Success Through Excellence and Persistence Learning Community Since 1982, The Skyline College Umoja-ASTEP Learning Community has assisted students of all ethnicities in identifying their abilities, strengths and talents. The program is designed to aid, support and encourage students to fulfill their academic and educational goals of transferring to a four-year college, university, or earning an Associate’s degree or vocational certificate. Umoja-ASTEP courses are taught by an eclectic cohort of wonderfully motivated instructors whose goal is to create an engaging atmosphere where learning is innovative, artistic, and intellectually inspiring.
Women's Mentoring and Leadership Academy WMLA is empowering and transforming women at Skyline College to achieve personal and professional growth. We seek to accomplish this mission by providing women from disproportionately impacted groups with social and academic support via individual, group and peer mentoring, and through leadership development opportunities. WMLA aims to provide contextualized and experiential learning that will foster intellectual, cultural, social, economic and personal fulfillment for women who participate in the academy.

Educating...

Boston University Center for Antiracist Research Founded and directed by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi in 2020, the center's mission is to convene varied researchers and practitioners to figure out novel and practical ways to understand, explain, and solve seemingly intractable problems of racial inequity and injustice. We foster exhaustive racial research, research-based policy innovation, data-driven educational and advocacy campaigns, and narrative-change initiatives. We are working toward building an antiracist society that ensures equity and justice for all. Whereas racist research historically has posed the question “What is wrong with people?” antiracist research now asks a different question, a better question: “What is wrong with policies?” Our belief is that framing research on race and racism around antiracist questions leads to antiracist narratives, effective policy solutions, and advocacy campaigns that cut to the root of racial inequality: racist policy.
Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration The Legacy Museum, built on the site of a former warehouse where enslaved black people were imprisoned, dramatizes the enslavement of African Americans, the evolution of racial terror lynchings, legalized racial segregation and racial hierarchy in America. Relying on first-person accounts of the domestic slave trade, research materials on segregation, videography, and exhibits on lynching, this museum explores the history of racial inequality and its relationship to a range of contemporary issues from mass incarceration to police violence.
National Memorial for Peace and Justice The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opened in 2018, is the nation’s first memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people, people terrorized by lynching, African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim Crow, and people of color burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence. The Memorial was conceived with the hope of creating a sober, meaningful site where people can gather and reflect on America’s history of racial inequality.
National Museum of African American History and Culture NMAAHC is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, it was established in 2003 following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. NMAAHC provides an opportunity for those who are interested in African American culture to explore and revel in this history through interactive exhibitions; helps all Americans see how their stories, their histories, and their cultures are shaped and informed by global influences; explores what it means to be an American and share how American values like resiliency, optimism, and spirituality are reflected in African American history and culture; and serves as a place of collaboration that reaches beyond Washington, D.C. to engage new audiences and to work with the myriad of museums and educational institutions that have explored and preserved this important history well before this museum was created.

Seeking Justice...

Black Alliance for Just Immigration The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) believes that a thriving multiracial democracy requires racial, social and economic justice for all. African Americans and black immigrants are stronger together and we can win by becoming leaders in the fight against structural racism and systemic discrimination. BAJI was formed to bring Black voices together to advocate for equality and justice in our laws and our communities. Local BAJI Organizing Committees in New York, Georgia, California and Arizona build coalitions and initiate campaigns among communities to push for racial justice.
Equal Justice Initiative EJI 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. Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, EJI provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons. We challenge the death penalty and excessive punishment and we provide re-entry assistance to formerly incarcerated people. EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment. We are committed to changing the narrative about race in America.
NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.

Protecting Civil Rights...

American Civil Liberties Union The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union — beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees. The ACLU evolved from a small group of idealist lawyers in 1920 into the nation’s defender of the rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. With more than 1.5 million members, nearly 300 staff attorneys, thousands of volunteer attorneys, and offices throughout the nation, the ACLU of today continues to fight government abuse and to vigorously defend individual freedoms. The ACLU stands up for these rights even when the cause is unpopular, and sometimes when nobody else will.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Founded in 1909 in response to ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP is the largest civil rights organization in the nation with more than 2,200 units and branches across the nation and well over 2 million activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.

Assisting the Vulnerable...

The Okra Project The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home-cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever we can reach them. During the Middle Passage, our African ancestors snuck okra onto captive ships to sustain themselves and plant in the new world. Black Diasporic cooking traditions often use the okra plant for its versatility and it is often associated with health, prosperity, and community. In this spirit, The Okra Project extends free, delicious, and nutritious meals to Black Trans people experiencing food insecurity.