Race Forward

Last updated
Race Forward
Formation1981
Type501(c)(3)
PurposeRacial justice, civil rights
Director
Glenn Harris (2017 - present)

Rinku Sen (2006-2017)

Gary Delgado (1981-2006)
Website www.raceforward.org
Formerly called
The Applied Research Center

Race Forward is a nonprofit racial justice organization with offices in Oakland, California, and New York City. [1] Race Forward focuses on catalyzing movement-building for racial justice. In partnership with communities, organizations, and sectors, the organization builds strategies to advance racial justice in policies, institutions, and culture. [2]

Contents

History

Race Forward was founded by Gary Delgado in 1981, and was known as the Applied Research Center until 2013. [3] [4] Delgado remained in leadership until 2006, after which point Rinku Sen became executive director. [5] In 2017, Race Forward merged with the Center for Social Inclusion and is now under the leadership of Glenn Harris, former President of the Center for Social Inclusion. [6] Rinku Sen remained with the organization as a Senior Strategist. [5]

Activities

Race Forward advances racial justice through research, media, and leadership development. [7] The work of Race Forward focuses on finding ways to re-articulate racism to draw attention to systemic racism. [8] Their work is based on an intersectional understanding of race and the impact of racism alongside other social issues. [3]

Race Forward emphasizes three principles: using specific and plain talk to say what you mean about race issues; focusing on impact rather than intention; and using strategic terms as well as moral arguments. [7] The organization has published research reports and editorials on issues such as millennials and their attitudes towards race, environmental issues and grassroots organizing, race and religion, and police accountability. [9] [10] [11] Race Forward uses research on community demographics and shifting populations of Black communities to understand and support community organizing efforts. [12]

Race Forward has endorsed the Movement for Black Lives. [13]

Publications

Publications from Race Forward include:

Race Forward publishes the daily news site Colorlines , published by Executive Director Rinku Sen. Colorlines was initially a magazine, and it transformed into a website in 2010. [8]

In 2015, Race Forward launched an interactive multimedia tool called "Clocking-In," designed to highlight race and gender inequality in service industries. [27]

Conference

Race Forward presented Facing Race: A National Conference. Facing Race is the largest national biennial gathering of racial justice advocates, journalists, community organizers, artists, and more. [28] The November 2016 conference in Atlanta featured speakers including Isa Noyola, Alicia Garza, Jose Antonio Vargas, and Michelle Alexander, and included discussion about strategic responses to the election of President Donald Trump, with a focus on solutions and opportunities to grow existing racial justice agendas. [1] In 2018, the conference in Detroit featured keynote speaker Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redlining</span> Systemic denial of services to some areas

Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities. Redlining has been most prominent in the United States, and has mostly been directed against African-Americans. The most common examples involve denial of credit and insurance, denial of healthcare, and the development of food deserts in minority neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental racism</span> Environmental injustice that occurs within a racialized context

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Critical race theory (CRT) is an interdisciplinary academic field focused on the relationships between social conceptions of race and ethnicity, social and political laws, and media. CRT also considers racism to be systemic in various laws and rules, and not based only on individuals' prejudices. The word critical in the name is an academic reference to critical theory rather than criticizing or blaming individuals.

Black feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses on the African-American woman's experiences and recognizes the intersectionality of racism and sexism. Black feminism philosophy centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because of our need as human persons for autonomy."

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Rinku Sen is an Indian-American author, activist, political strategist and the executive director of Narrative Initiative. She is also the co-president of the Women’s March Board of Directors. Sen is the former president and executive director of the racial justice organization Race Forward and publisher of ColorLines.com and Mother Jones magazine.

Black Women's Health Imperative, previously the National Black Women's Health Project, was formed in 1983 in Atlanta, Georgia out of a need to address the health and reproductive rights of African American women. NBWHP was principally founded by Byllye Avery. Avery was involved in reproductive healthcare work in Gainesville, Florida in the 1970s and was particularly influenced by the impact that policy had on women of color and poor women. Additionally Avery was also concerned with healthcare choices and wanted "to provide an environment where women could feel comfortable and take control of their own health".

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