75 years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, humanity still has far to go in our journey to build a world where everyone is entitled to equal rights and freedoms without prejudice.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on March 21, in remembrance of the Sharpeville massacre of 69 people in Sharpeville, South Africa by the South African Police. A protest of about 7,000 stood against the unjust system of pass laws, or passports regulating the movements of black and brown Africans. Despite numerous accounts that the protest was peaceful, the South African Police opened fire and killed 69 people, and injured 180.
In our communities, and around the world, police violence is still commonplace. In Sharpeville, like in many U.S. cities, police presence and funding grew only after a population influx, fueled by tragedy without community support. A neighboring township, Topville, suffered pneumonia and residents were forcibly moved from their homes. Rather than invest funding to support newly displaced and unhoused residents, a new police station was built, and pass laws were enforced. These events fueled the racist Sharpeville massacre and shocked the world.
In honor of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Energy Allies recognizes the work of partners in the field to advance racial equity through community ownership and leadership.
Energy Allies recognizes the history of police violence in our fight to eliminate racism. We believe investing in communities and people, not policing, produces the best opportunities for us all.
The Chisholm Legacy Project is a non-profit, with it’s mission rooted in a Just Transition Framework. The Project serves as a vehicle to connect Black communities on the frontlines of climate justice with resources to traverse the path from vision to strategy to action plan to implementation to transformation. In support of frontline leadership, the project seeks to link movements and mainstream entities with the tools necessary to advance systems change centered in equity and justice. With Black women on the frontlines of advancing systems change, this project ensures that these leaders have the support they need as they transform society from extractivism to a living economy that cares for sacred relationships between people and with Mother Earth, through regenerative, cooperative, democratic systems.
The Greenlining Institute is a non-profit working towards a future where communities of color can build wealth, live in healthy places filled with economic opportunity, and are ready to meet the challenges posed by climate change.
The Solutions Project is a national non-profit organization that funds and amplifies climate justice solutions created by frontline communities building an equitable and regenerative economy.
Climate Justice Alliance is a national non-profit organization that funds and amplifies climate justice solutions created by frontline communities building an equitable and regenerative economy.
Just Transition Alliance is a non-profit, focused on community education, awareness and action that aims to ameliorate the lack of knowledge and the lack of choices that our communities and workers face when dealing with unwarranted toxic trespass.
One of the Alliance’s main objectives is shifting toward a sustainable economy that does not compromise people and our environment—one that is driven by those at the frontline and on the fencelines of unsustainable production.
The Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC) is a non-profit that pursues a high-road approach to greening our cities, building resilient regional economies and strengthening our democracy. By building cross-sector collaborations, acutely focused on those historically left out of the economic and community development process, we help communities unleash their capacity to build high-road economies that are more sustainable, economically just and democratic.
Just Solutions Collective is a non-profit working to broaden and deepen the understanding of equitable and effective policies and projects to build the capacity of communities to replicate, scale and build support for justice-centered solutions.
Energy Allies is a non-profit revolutionizing the energy system by centering climate-impacted communities in clean energy projects, policy advocacy, and education.
The benefits of our community-led projects flow back to our communities to share the economic, environmental, and social benefits long-term.