We are a company of people committed to justice, but we are by no means experts. We are always learning and trying to do better. Below is a list of resources and organizations that we support and look to for leadership.
National Campaigns/Resources:
Community:
Our studio has been located in Bedford Stuyvesant since 2014. Bed Stuy is a historically Black neighborhood in central Brooklyn with rich cultural history and deep intergenerational ties. Many parts of the neighborhood are underserved and we have benefited from our studio being in a large warehouse building with manageable rent. We are in debt to our community, and are committed to continuously improving.
We’d like to highlight the following organizations who are doing the work. We continually look for other ways to support our community, and we encourage you to find ways to support Black lives and take action in your own community.
The Campaign Against Hunger:
Founded in 1998 by Executive Director Dr. Melony Samuels as a Bed-Stuy neighborhood food pantry, TCAH is one of the most trusted anti-hunger nonprofits working vigorously to end hunger and build health in NYC. Since the beginning of NYC’s Covid shutdown, TCAH has served almost 1 million meals reaching upwards of 7,000 families a week, a number that will exceed 10,000 families a week very soon.
IG: @tcahnyc
TW: @tcahnyc
Bed-Stuy Strong Mutual Aid Network:
Bed-Stuy Strong is a neighborhood mutual aid hub of more than 3,000 volunteer members across Bed-Stuy, organized in response to the COVID-19 crisis as a network of neighbors helping neighbors. They crowdsource donations and use them to provide no-contact grocery deliveries for vulnerable members of the Bed-Stuy communities.
IG: @bedstuystrong
TW: @bedstuystrong
Brooklyn Movement Center:
Brooklyn Movement Center (BMC) is a Black-led, membership-based organization of primarily low-to-moderate income Central Brooklyn residents. They build power and pursue self-determination in Bedford-Stuyvesant & Crown Heights by nurturing local leadership, waging campaigns and winning concrete improvements in people’s lives. Through their intersectional organizing, BMC centers a full range of issues and Black identity that define a whole community. They are currently (as of June 2020) helping lead the fight for police accountability in NYC, as well as organizing around food justice and against street harassment, among other initiatives.
IG: @bkmovement
TW: @BKmovement
Environmental Justice:
Haptic Lab’s mission is to create positive, meaningful connections between people and the planet. The correlation between the climate crisis and its impact on communities of color is undeniable. These are the programs that we support to create a more sustainable, resilient future for our neighbors.
Founded in 2005, RISE inspires all generations of Rockaway residents to care for their environment and community. They provide civic engagement and youth development programs that advance social equity and the physical well being of the vibrant, coastal community that is the Rockaways.
IG: @RISERockaway
TW: @RISERockaway
Founded by Dominique Drakeford and Whitney McGuire, Sustainable Brooklyn works to bridge gaps between the sustainability movement and targeted communities through various modalities, including education and events. They provide access and insight to sustainability from the lens of the African diaspora to: 1) address the limitations of the current sustainability movement; and 2) implement holistic strategies that provide regenerative solutions for Black liberation - a fertile foundation upon which to thrive, unencumbered.
IG: @sustainablebk
BK ROT is New York City's first community-supported, bike-powered, fossil fuel free food waste hauling and composting service. Their project is staffed by young people of color who haul organic waste from small businesses and transform it into high quality compost. Their operations provide accessible jobs and sustained professional development for emerging environmental leaders.
IG: @bk_rot
TW: @bkrot
Justice in Education:
We support NYC student demands for culturally responsive education, citywide restorative justice in schools, an end to “zero tolerance” discipline, the removal of high school admissions tests, and getting the NYPD out of our schools. Below are some of the many organizations working to make these and other demands a reality.
Dignity in Schools NY Dignity in Schools NY is made up of 23 New York City organizations led by students, parents, educators, and advocates working to end school pushout, stop the overuse of suspensions, and end school-based arrests and summonses.
Teens tarted in 2017 as a platform for NYC high school students to share their experiences in the school system in front of adults and policy makers. They study present-day educational inequity and its historical roots, develop policy proposals to address specific problems, and lead advocacy campaigns targeting the city and school officials with the ability to enact their solutions.
Black Lives Matter at School is a national coalition organizing for racial justice in education. Their demands include ending “zero tolerance” discipline and implementing restorative justice, hiring more black teachers, mandating black history and ethnic studies in K-12 curriculum, and funding counselors not cops.
Integrate NYC is a youth-led organization that stands for integration and equity in New York City schools. As students, they are the best experts on the impacts of segregation and inequality in schools. At IntegrateNYC, they are also designers of solutions, advocates for transformative policy, and visionaries for a more just future.
YA-YA Network: (Youth Activists-Youth Allies)
YA-YA Network supports youth empowerment by providing opportunities that go beyond “traditional youth leadership” to include programs like community service and peer education. One program is Participatory Action Research, community-centered research that is integral to the organizing process. YA-YA’s actively work with community partners to support a policy agenda for NYC schools and scanning protocol.
