It’s with mountains of pride & gratitude that we’re writing to update you on upcoming organizational shifts. As 2020 comes to a close in just under a month, so too will the Racial Justice Action Center. As part of our commitment to collective liberation, we are closing up shop as a nonprofit corporation. It is, we believe, the right next step for generating the new growth and new ideas we need for a radically transformed Atlanta, nation, and world.
For the past 8 years, Racial Justice Action Center has been committed to putting abolition into action and reimagining Atlanta as a city where we no longer rely on cops and cages for our safety and wellness; where all people have the resources and supports needed to thrive. We haven’t been in it alone. We couldn’t be prouder to be part of the ecosystem of Black and Brown organizations and communities in Georgia who fight against all odds to put an end to the injustices of our time and move us all toward liberation. Our organizations and our people have been working tirelessly and faithfully, through many losses and much despair, to build, bit by bit, the world that we want for our children, our elders, ourselves.
RJAC was blessed to be a part of that great work and was shaped and inspired by it also. We are humbled by the brilliance and tenacity of so many we have worked with and we are honored to have been able to contribute to this part of the journey.
So, as of January 1, 2021, the Racial Justice Action Center will no longer exist as a non-profit corporation. But our legacy lives on through the changes we’ve made throughout the Atlanta metro area, through the incredible leaders we’ve supported, and through the work of the projects we helped incubate: Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, Women on the Rise and the Atlanta/Fulton County Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative.
Our legacy also lives on through the work of LaGender, Inc. whose Executive Director, Ms Dee Dee Chamblee played a critical role in the founding and leadership of SNaP Co and the community hub known as the Blue House.
Leading the work of RJAC has been a gift and in a gift economy (in contrast to capitalism) one cannot horde what one has been given. You must keep giving forward in order for the community to thrive. Through our sunset, we say thank you to everyone who has made the last 8 years possible and we send courage, power, and strength to those taking up the gift in the years ahead. There is a massive change on the horizon in this country. The people of Georgia and the South are leading the way.
For trans & queer liberation. For Black freedom and power. For immigrant justice and joy. For an end to human cages. For the loving interdependence of all people and all living beings,
Xochitl Bervera