If you would like to support organizations working on the movement for Black lives, consider the following organizations:

BLM Portland

BLM Portland was established as an organization dedicated to and aligned with the demands and mission of the national Movement for Black Lives*. We are a collective of local organizers, activists, and community members who are promoting racial justice and social consciousness by holding our shared community and government accountable.

Through our work, we seek to end the systematic oppression of Black people by:

• Dismantling the political and policing systems that oppress us;
• Investing in the Black community via direct support to Black owned businesses, Black-designated scholarships, and community support networks;
• Mobilizing a sustainable system of reparations;
• Protecting and advocating for ALL Black people including our siblings who are: disabled, undocumented, migrants, asylum seekers, homeless, working class, poor, women, queer, trans, bisexual, lesbian, gay, and everyone along the gender spectrum.

Website: https://www.blacklivesmattermaine.com/

Donation Link: https://www.blacklivesmattermaine.com/donate

 

For Us By Us Fund

The For Us, By Us Fund (FUBU Fund) is a flexible funding and organizing initiative that seeks to support the creative and organizing efforts of people of color (PoC) in Maine. The initiative, started after the election in November 2016, was the brainchild of two Portland-based Black women organizers. The fund was started in response to the needs the founders heard in their communities. After the election, PoCs in southern Maine expressed a need for funds, space, and opportunities to connect, collaborate, create, and organize. The founders are committed to keeping the fund flexible to respond to these needs.

Website: https://fubufund.org/

Donate Link: https://fubufund.org/fiscal-sponsor/

 

Racial Equity and Justice

Racial Equity & Justice brings racial equity and justice to communities across Maine. We provide valuable, historical, and experiential knowledge to those seeking to make changes to the way they engage with communities of color. For Non-Profit Organizations, Public & Private Sector Businesses, and Academic institutions, we provide analysis of systemic & individual racism through diversity training and consultations. Most importantly, we provide State of Maine certified solution based support & holistic approaches to healing for marginalized people of color who experience race based trauma, discrimination, and injustice in the forms of trainings, workshops, and advisory boards participation. As members of black, brown, & indigenous communities, we strongly believe in equity and just treatment systemically and individually for all our relatives regardless of race. With this work, we are challenging structural oppression, individual discrimination, and white privilege by educating agents of these systems and advocating and empowering the targets. We believe addressing the needs of the most marginalized members of Maine communities not only meets the needs of those people, but the needs of even the most privileged. In addition, we provide food security programs, resource distribution and allocation, as well as community based organizing centering the voices of communities of color.

Website: https://www.racialequityandjustice.org/

Donate Link: https://donorbox.org/support-racial-equity-justice

 

Maine Black Caucus

The Maine Black Caucus was founded in the summer of 2019 by Representative Rachel Talbot Ross to elevate and center the voices of Black Mainers in the programs and policies of the Maine State Government. Currently, their work focuses on the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color and in particular the African-American community in Maine. Recently, the Maine Black Caucus has called for African-American representation on the state’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Committee. 

For more information, email Representative Rachel Talbot Ross: rtalbotross@gmail.com

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