Blog
We are not backing down.
We are not backing down.
On his first full day in office, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) that ended DEI programs in the federal government. While it is clearly within the President’s authority to shape and shift the focus of the agencies and departments of the Executive branch of government, this EO went beyond federal government programs to target private companies and nonprofit organizations as well.
It seems clear that the President’s action and his rhetoric are intended to achieve more than mere policy change. They are intended to strike fear in people’s hearts. He is signaling that he is willing to use the power of the federal government to go after companies, foundations, and nonprofit organizations that acknowledge and work to address racial injustice in our nation. And it is having the desired effect: Target was just the latest major corporation to announce it was ending its diversity commitments.
This is how power works: with a mere threat of unwanted scrutiny, people will fall in line. Momentum will be stalled. Progress will be undone. Injustice will grow. This is unacceptable.
Maine Initiatives has, for the past ten years, made advancing racial justice the center of our work. We do it because this is what injustice requires of us: to come together in community to ask and answer questions about what justice means and looks like and requires, to identify who is doing that work and support them, and to be changed individually and collectively through the process.
This is how the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. But the opposite is also true. If people deny that injustice exists or impede efforts to address it, it grows. The clock can be turned back.
To this, we say: Not on our watch.
We will continue to do the work of bringing people together around a shared vision that greater racial justice and equity are possible and imperative.
We will continue to organize our communities.
We will continue to center and prioritize the visions, voices, and leadership of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in this work.
We will continue to mobilize people and resources in support of this vision.
We know that advancing racial justice is possible. It is possible, but it is not inevitable. The reality is that this work has always been challenging. This is where you come in: We are inviting you to have courage. Stand with us. And join us in taking action.
Click here to learn about the organizations that are leading the work of justice and equity in our communities.
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Stand with us. Have courage. We need you.
In solidarity,
Phil WalshExecutive Director
