Communities of color have been systematically denied access to power. This includes power derived from organizing people, information and money. We recognize that organized power changes systems and systems must be reimagined and restructured to create more equity and justice. To do so, we use an organizing framework to shift power, so communities of color are self-defined and self-determined and systems are designed to ensure equity and justice for all.

Co-creating a just new world, requires a collective understanding of power and privilege and a willingness to shift power for the greater collective good. To do so, we root each engagement in an analysis of power and privilege, mutually agreed-upon values, and a vision for the work we will achieve together. To analyze power, we employ an intersectional framework, grounded in an understanding of race as an exponential multiplier of oppression and inequity. We also examine the implications of gender, sexuality, nationality, ability, age and class as drivers of inequity.

We understand that “power concedes nothing without a demand” (Frederick Douglass) and shifting power requires risk and exponential growth. We commit ourselves to the co-creation of a radically just new world where communities of color thrive, because as Assata Shakur reminds us “we have nothing to lose but our chains.”