Last month, a New York Times article by journalist Yamiche Alcindor highlighted the work of the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) a grantee of the Transforming Movements Fund (TMF) and Black-led Movement Fund, and Mijente, also a TMF grantee. The article focuses on recent efforts of these two national organizations and others across the country to build capacity for social movements by working collaboratively and across sectors.
The Black Youth Project 100 is a member-based organization of black 18-35 year olds that engages in local and national campaign work through a “Black feminist and queer lens.” Mijente, meanwhile, works with U.S. and foreign-born Latinx communities to purse more just and humane immigration policy.* Though the scope of each group’s mission varies, leaders in both organizations have begun working collaboratively on common issues of importance.
As the article notes, the BYP100 and Mijente worked together to organize a demonstration related to police accountability during the annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, held in Chicago in 2015. Both groups also helped organize demonstrations at airports following an Executive Order from the new administration that attempted to restrict travel from seven Muslim Majority countries. More recently, the organizations have begun working with local jurisdictions to expand the concept of sanctuary to include protections not only for undocumented immigrants, but also for Black communities and others who have been harmed by over-policing and criminalization. For instance, in early March, they spearheaded a convening of organizations based in Muslim, transgender, immigrant, and Black communities. Over 200 people came together for this cross-movement strategy session with a goal of expanding the reach of sanctuary to protect the most vulnerable communities in the current political climate.
Left unsaid in the article, however, is another important characteristic shared by both groups—LGBTQ young people of color are helping lead both organizations. The TMF operates with the knowledge that LGBTQ young people are key leaders on a diverse array of issues and movements, including reproductive justice, immigrant rights, and police accountability, in addition to those related to LGBTQ rights. They do so not only out of solidarity, but because the LGBTQ community is part of and directly impacted by issues affecting each of these communities.
Identifying, highlighting, and resourcing LGBTQ young leaders who are working within and across movements in this way is a key principle of the TMF grantmaking model. For more information, see our recent article on “intersectionality” and visit the TMF page on our website.
*Latinx is a gender-neutral term for people of Latin American descent.