Anti-Racism Resources

BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES 

• Black Owned Businesses in Connecticut - Compiled by @100blackownedbizct
• Black-Owned Restaurants in CT - Compiled by CT Eats Out

NATIVE/INDIGENOUS ARTISANS

• List Created by Director and Screenwriter Peshawn Bread (Comanche/Kiowa/Cherokee)

LOCAL ORGS | MOVEMENTS

• Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale (the House) - The House fosters a vibrant community of Black scholar-leaders and others who are committed to preserving and promoting the historical, cultural, intellectual and social movement traditions of the African Diaspora at Yale, in New Haven, and throughout the world. 
• Artsucation Academy Network - The mission of the Artsucation™ Academy Network is to provide young people, ages 3 to 21, with passion, drive, and creative and leadership skills in order to elevate their sense of self-worth and make them more productive adults in society by offering instructional programs in dance and music that are embedded with history, literacy, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and social context elements, whereby the participants will be given responsibilities and opportunities to experience success in every lesson.
• Black Infinity Collective- The collectives work defends the rights of marginalized people and dismantles systemic racism in our state.
• Black Lives Matter New Haven (BLMNH) - BLMNH's mission is to demonstrate integrity through educating individuals with knowledge of laws and their rights. They are dedicated to empowering our community.
• Citywide Youth Coalition (CWYC) - CWYC are creating a courageous community where ALL YOUTH can Succeed.
• Cultural Equity Plan: City of New Haven Released in 2022 is a collection of ideas, stories, questions and practices that we can all use to manifest cultural equity in our lives and weave it into our systems. The document includes a list of action items for the City and other cultural leaders in our communities. It is not a complete or finished document. It is the beginning of a conversation we must continue having with one another forever.
• ConnCAT - ConnCAT creates a learning environment that inspires hope, innovation, creativity, and excellence while providing a path for individuals to revitalize the landscape of the urban community.
• CT Bail Fund - CT Bail Fund's mission is to reduce the direct harms caused by criminalization, incarceration, and deportation while building power among the people and families in our community who are most impacted by these systems. Their strategy is to pay bail for people who are being caged due to poverty, organize in opposition to the incarceration and deportation of community members, and educate and advocate towards a radical vision for safety, justice, and healing.
• Desegregate CT - Desegregate CT is a collaborative of people and institutions who believe that we have a moment to change statewide land use laws to ensure a more just and equitable Connecticut.
• Hamden Action Now - Hamden Action Now is a Hamden community activists page.
• Hearing Youth Voices - Hearing Youth Voices is a youth-led social justice organization in working to create systemic change in the education system in New London, Connecticut.
• Literacy Volunteers of Greater New Haven - Literacy Volunteers is an adult education organization dedicated to improving English language skills to lift the lives of Americans and international immigrants, refugees, residents, and visitors.
• LoveFed Initiative - Love Fed [New Haven] Initiative helps our neighbors grow their own food at home and cultivates a growing community that actively works towards practicing food sovereignty while supporting personal wellness and environmental health through land stewardship, agricultural education and training, and culinary education.
• Moral Monday CT - Moral Monday CT gathers voices in the struggle for freedom and justice for black and brown people.
• The Narrative Project - Through socially responsible communications consulting, The Narrative Project works to help emerging and established mission-driven organizations reach their diverse publics, build their image, further their mission, and achieve their goals. More must be done to level the playing field for those who seek to do good in the world through non-profit organizations which are historically underfunded and under-resourced.
• New Haven Free Public Library (NHFPL) -  NHFPL fosters lifelong learning, inspires curiosity, and builds community through shared access to resources, experiences, and opportunities for all. 
• New Haven Rising - New Haven Rising is a community organization of residents committed to winning economic, racial, and social justice through collective action.
• One Village Healing (OVH) - Established in April 2019, at the intersection of arts, liberation, and healing justice, OVH is an emerging New Haven based wellness and resilience initiative dedicated to creating spaces, gatherings, and programming, rooted in the values of the healing justice movement. OVH has emerged to assist in creating healing community for everyone. 
• People Against Police Brutality - People Against Police Brutality has been organizing around police accountability in New Haven since 2010. Right now they are focused on a statewide campaign to empower every city in Connecticut to build a real tool for police accountability--a Civilian Review Board with subpoena power.
• Possible Futures - Possible Futures is a neighborhood bookspace that is grounded in respect for the dignity of all beings, the importance of reciprocal relations, and the transformative power of radical love. It is a place to purchase, yes, but also encounter, trade, talk about, and fall in love with books, especially books for children, youth, and "reluctant" readers and books that might not be as easily found elsewhere, such as books by authors of color, Indigenous authors, LGBTQ+ authors, bi/multilingual authors, local authors, and poets of all kinds.
• Semilla Collective - The Semilla Collective of New Haven is a grassroots collective formed in the Fall of 2019 to fight side by side with immigrant and working families, and to host cultural events in our community. Check our the Food Garage and the Semilla Collective Fund.
• Spanish Community of Wallingford SCOW "Our mission is to respond to the needs of the Latino Community by assisting them to succeed in U.S. society and to enable Latinos to maintain and share their rich varied cultures with the broader community."
• Students for Educational Justice (SEJ) - SEJ is a youth-led, intergenerational organizing body that drives efforts for racial and educational justice in Connecticut. They consider “youth” and “young people” to mean high school-aged students and recent high school graduates.
• Sustainable CT - Sustainable CT communities strive to be thriving, resilient, collaborative, and forward-looking. They build community and local economy. They equitably promote the health and well-being of current and future residents, and they respect the finite capacity of the natural environment.
• Waterbury Mutual Aid (WMA) - WMA is here to provide solidarity, direct action, and a move towards economic democracy in Waterbury and its surrounding areas.
• Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP) - YIPAP works to promote and cultivate indigenous storytelling and performance to further authentic representation at Yale and in Indian Country. Their core values are Performance, Research, Academics, and Outreach in an effort to bare the importance of indigenous storytelling and help develop a space for Native performers in all capacities.  

OTHER RESOURCES

• ADL Challenging Anti-Semitism and Bias in the Workplace 

FUNDING | OPPORTUNITIES

• Arts Administrators of Color: Arts Leaders of Color Emergency Fund - Arts Administrators of Color has created the Arts Leaders of Color Emergency Fund, which supports BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) artists and arts administrators impacted by COVID-19 through $200 microgrants.
• artEquity's BIPOC Leadership Circle (BLC) - Being a Black, Indigenous, Person of Color (BIPOC) in a predominantly white sector or organization has its challenges. Try doing that as a BIPOC person in a leadership position! Most organizations, even those that are primarily BIPOC, or BIPOC-friendly, do not offer systems of support and affirmation for BIPOC leaders. This six-part series (November 5 - December 17, 2020 via Zoom Meeting) brings together BIPOC leaders of cultural institutions from across the nation to provide support, strategies, and systems of accountability in creating dynamic, new leadership models that center BIPOC experiences. For inquiries regarding this program, please contact us at BIPOCLeadershipCircle@artEquity.org.
• Art Hoe Collective (AHC) - AHC was started by Queer Black People to provide a safe space for creatives of color. Guidelines for micro grant and work submission opportunities available on their Instagram account - submit via arthoecoreps@gmail.com. 
• Black Art Futures Fund (BAFF) - BAFF is a collective of emerging philanthropists promoting the elevation and preservation of Black arts & culture. Through grant making, board-matching, and organization-to-donor cultivation, they seek to amplify and strengthen the future of Black art. They provide grants to small (operating budget of $750,000 or less) Black Arts nonprofits working to enhance the future of Black arts & culture. Application is now closed for Spring 2021.
• Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG) - BADG is currently seeking experienced artists + designers who are self-employed, actively practicing their craft and identify as Black and of the African diaspora. They are accepting applications in the following areas of concentration: fine art, furniture design, ceramics, textiles, interior design, and architecture.
• Black Artist Fund - The Black Artist Fund is an initiative giving money directly to Black artists to combat systemic inequity in art.
• Black Girl Magik - Black Girl Magik seeks to create a community among women of African descent to explore, express, create and conjure conversation, art, and self-care. Our programming and production connect talented black women across creative industries.
• The David Rockefeller Fund aims to foster and embody a more just, creative, and flourishing world. The Fund currently provides support to nonprofit organizations nationally in three program areas: Arts, Criminal Justice, and Environment. The Arts Program focuses on cultivating, showcasing and disseminating the stories of innovative art for social change; Criminal Justice supports bold new ideas and policy initiatives for transforming U.S. detention and incarceration policy; and Environment supports new ideas, initiatives and policy breakthroughs in support of bipartisan U.S. climate leadership. They will review brief 1-2 page letters of inquiry related to our program priorities on a rolling basis throughout the year. Please submit any such letters to LOI@drfund.org
• Racial Equity 2030 - Racial Equity 2030, administered by Lever for Change and sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is a $90 million global challenge to drive an equitable future for children, families, and communities across the world. This challenge seeks ideas from anywhere in the world and will scale them over the next decade to transform the systems and institutions that uphold inequity. Solutions may tackle the social, economic, political, or institutional inequities we see today. Applications must embrace and reflect the values of racial equity and justice, and proposed solutions should be led by an experienced team that includes communities closest to the issue as part of leadership in the project. Teams of visionaries, change agents, and community leaders from every sector are invited to join. U.S. nonprofit organizations as well as organizations outside the U.S. with equivalent status are eligible to apply. The registration deadline is January 28, 2021; applications will be due February 25, 2021. Visit the challenge's website to take the Organizational Readiness Tool.
• Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants program provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent, unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies experienced by artists in need who are practicing in the disciplines of visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, or choreography. Deadline October 4. APPLY HERE!
• SPICY - Spicy strives to be a platform dedicated to uplifting women of color and queer + trans people of color. Their vision for Spicy prioritizes your individual outlooks and experiences - this is why they want you to submit articles, poetry, illustrations, photos, videos, and more to our online zine. Whether you have a piece that is finished or want to pitch a new idea, we want to hear from you! Submissions will be closed as of February 23, 2021 - check back soon. Click here to submit.
• The Partnership Loan Program for Minority-and-Women-Owned Small Businesses in New Haven and Lower Naugatuck Valley - HEDCO, Inc., The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the City of New Haven, and The Amour Propre Fund are collaborating to provide financial relief and recovery resources to minority-owned and women-owned small businesses (the “Program”). Under the Program, a qualifying small business with 20 or fewer employees (1-20 employees) may apply for a four (4%) percent term loan for up to $25,000 (twenty-five thousand dollars). For additional information about the program and assistance with the completion of your application contact: Kim Hawkins, HEDCO, (860) 527-1301.