Black Lives Matter. George, Breonna, Ahmaud, Nina, Trayvon, Tamir, Eric, Iyanna. And––we all know––I could go on, and on, and on. The list is too long and the loss too great for any of us to be comfortable. We must stay uncomfortable until these lists no longer need to be made. We must stay uncomfortable in our struggle for justice.
We support the progressive partners throughout America who are lifting up the call for change, and now is the time to come together and commit to the steps we must take for our families, friends, and neighbors. We’ll talk about how we here at Open Progress hope to fit into that in a moment, but first, we want to center four key actions every one of us should take:
- Become a Member of your local NAACP chapter
- Make a Donation and Join Color of Change
- Call Your Local Mayor and Councilperson to commit to Project Zero’s 8 Can’t Wait
- Become a Member of your local Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) chapter
Gaining political power is just one stop on the path to justice. We are committed to using our platform to partner with and support organizations and candidates working to transform who holds that power.
Politics should not be transactional. It should be rooted in our communities and in our people and in the conversations we have together. We believe in this promise, and so we don’t shy away from listening, learning, and, yes, persuading through digital conversation. We fundamentally trust that in seeking and engaging in dialogue with communities, we are all stronger for it.
We have leapt at the opportunity to work with candidates and organizations of color whenever possible. We will always do our very best to center their visions and their words in the conversations we open up because it’s not about us––it’s about them. We are so proud of our small and diverse staff who dream up and implement the programs and tools which make an impact. We give our greatest thanks to our volunteers who have shown up and done the work, including building our Action Academy training materials which serve as an ongoing resource for every one of our volunteers.
And, yes, we hope that all this has translated into good work that has made a difference. But, that’s not the point. It’s not about where we’ve been or what we’ve done; it’s about where we’re going if we are to realize the full promise of this moment.
Our Text Troop community is ready to step up to change, and we are looking to you to keep us accountable to our values.
In the coming days, our Text Troop team will be announcing a plan to continue to improve and fortify our community for 2020. We do not expect to get it perfectly right every time, but we do expect to try and create a space that welcomes and supports all. We vow to you to hold ourselves internally accountable as we fight for accountable leadership externally.
We are announcing the following steps today—developed in partnership with our staff and our volunteer leaders:
- Implementing Community Guidelines for Text Troop
- Amplifying Content for Allies and Calls to Action in our Slack Community
- Instituting an Inclusivity SlackBot to unlearn our gendered, uninclusive programming
As always, we ask that all in our community tell it to us straight. If you have feedback or suggestions, please contact our team directly, and you are always welcome to drop a line in the #suggestionbox on Slack.
What has launched in the streets now in 2020 will not end in 2020, DemCast, and we’re here for it till the very end. This is the battle of our generation, and we can succeed.
Onwards!
