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The question of who belongs in America was supposedly – or should have been – settled over 150 years ago. When Juneteenth brought news of freedom to 250,000 Black people in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, and the 14th Amendment was ratified three years later on July 9, 1868, these were moments that seemed to establish fundamental principles about liberation and belonging.
Yet this week, as military-style ICE raids terrorized communities across Los Angeles and the nation—we're reminded that the same forces that opposed inclusive democracy are once again using state violence to re-litigate who gets to belong. The same systems that sought to undermine Reconstruction are once again attacking the basic principle that everyone deserves dignity, due process, and humane treatment.
We cannot take this sitting down. Just as the newly freed people of 1865 understood that liberation required more than just an announcement, our communities are responding with the same resilience and solidarity that has always sustained resistance through periods of terror.
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In Los Angeles and around the country, advocates documented enforcement at multiple sites, protesters surrounded federal buildings demanding release of detainees, and community members engaged in rapid response networks to protect their neighbors. Legal observers monitored arrests and mutual aid networks mobilized resources.
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SOURCE: Getty Images/Anadolu
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This is what making freedom real has always looked like: communities coming together to resist, reclaim, and continue our push for a more equitable democracy.
It’s important that we place what’s happening in historical contexts so that we can respond effectively with strategies rooted in a deep understanding of our nation’s past. What we’re witnessing mirrors the tactics used to terrorize Black communities during Jim Crow—mass roundups, arbitrary detention, the criminalization of entire populations, and the targeting of anyone who provides support—which are now being systematically deployed against our immigrant neighbors with military precision and federal backing.
When ICE seeks to create what its own director calls "Amazon Prime for human beings," reducing people to packages to be efficiently disappeared, we see the same dehumanizing logic that slavery and Jim Crow used to justify excluding Black communities from the promises of American democracy.
Understanding these historical patterns helps us see that current attacks aren't anomalies—they're the backlash from forces that have never accepted multiracial democracy and will use any means necessary to maintain hierarchies of belonging.
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But history also shows us that communities of color have always found ways to expand the circle of belonging, even in the face of oppression and repression. As we commemorate Juneteenth this year, we honor not just the moment when rumors of freedom became reality, but the ongoing work of making both freedom and belonging real for everyone.
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SOURCE: Getty Images/Go Nakamura
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Dangerous Memories: Dorothy Cotton and Juneteenth Teach-Ins For Action
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In what ways can memory, history, and collective vision inform the necessary pathways that we must create in order to build multiracial democratic power? Where can we amplify a commitment to historical rigor within our practices of political education, as a necessary precursor to strategic action? What lessons of purpose, self-determination, and strategic resolve can we carry forward from our past into the fights of our present?
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SOURCE: Getty Images/Michael Ochs Archives
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Revisit Dangerous Memories, Colorlines' week-long series of political education events to honor the legacies of Dorothy Cotton and Juneteenth. In deep collaboration with our friends from The Dorothy Cotton Institute, PhotoSynthesis Productions, and The Institute for Common Power, hear from movement partners across the country to contextualize our world through conversations about their work, and come away with practical steps on how to take action on key issues.
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Momentum — More Than a Moment
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In the latest episode of Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast, host jaboa lake joins in conversation with Minister JaNaé Bates, Co-Executive Director of ISAIAH, for a powerful reflection on the five-year anniversary of the Summer 2020 uprising following the murder of George Floyd. Together, they explore how that moment was not a spontaneous eruption, but part of a long continuum of organizing, resistance, and community-led demands for justice. Grounded in Minneapolis and guided by deep movement memory, the conversation unpacks the historical throughlines that connect past uprisings to today’s fight for racial equity.
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Minister Bates shares critical insights from her work at the intersection of faith, organizing, and narrative strategy—reminding us that real change doesn’t come from moments alone, but from sustained, strategic, collective action. This episode echoes that real progress doesn’t come from headlines—it comes from the people who organize long after the cameras are gone. As they honor George Floyd’s legacy, they uplift the communities whose daily work makes justice not just imaginable, but inevitable.
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New Southern Strategies Playbook: Innovation for Racial Equity in Government
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The New Southern Strategies Playbook is a bold, hands-on guide for government practitioners committed to advancing racial equity in the South and anywhere injustice shows up in systems and structures. Developed by and for racial equity practitioners in government, it offers adaptive tools, strategies, case studies, and reflection prompts to help practitioners embed racial equity in policy, practice, and culture.
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Rooted in the Southern experience, the New Southern Strategies Playbook’s lessons resonate far beyond state lines - because the legacies of racism, and the opportunities for transformation, stretch across this entire country. We encourage you to use the Playbook as a starting point to act, innovate, and reimagine what is possible.
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Democracy Resilience Toolkit
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As a network of racial justice advocates, builders and believers, we know that equitable systems benefit everyone. Democratic values safeguard the rights and governing power of marginalized communities.
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GARE has constructed this two-part Democracy Resilience Toolkit to prompt discussion and action on protecting racial equity in the face of political disruption. Divided into two parts, the Democracy Resilience Toolkit includes:
- Prompts and Actions Pocket Guide (this PDF) - A practical guide to help you identify and implement strategies that support resilience in your work.
- Interactive Online Community Toolkit (member-only) - A space for collaboration and ongoing learning with additional resources, opportunities for discussion, and updates on upcoming events designed to provide support and foster sense-making.
This two-part toolkit will aid practitioners in sustaining systems that prioritize racial equity, bolster democracy, and secure progress for future generations. Gather with trusted colleagues to review the prompts and actions in this PDF pocket guide.
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Join the Network!
Want full access to the New Southern Strategies Playbook and Democracy Resilience Toolkit? Join the Government Alliance for Racial Equity, a network driven by 13,000+ racial equity practitioners, working in local, regional, and state governments.
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#RaceAnd Protecting Freedoms — June 17
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Freedom in this country has never been handed freely to communities of color—it has always been fought for.
And today, we find ourselves once again in a fight for our fundamental rights.
This #RaceAnd conversation promises to share proven strategies for resistance while charting a path to fortify our movement to be resilient, defiant, and unstoppable.
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Panelists include:
- Glenn Harris, President at Race Forward
- Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director at Advancement Project
- john a. powell, Director at Othering & Belonging Institute
- Moderator: Karla Bruce, Chief of Staff at Race Forward
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Learning Lab: Scaling Up Racial Equity in a Time of Backlash — July 9
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Racial equity work is under attack, but this is no time to retreat. Join Race Forward for a special 4-hour Learning Lab designed to help organizational leaders and practitioners respond to backlash with clarity, courage, and strategy. Learn how to build resilience, counter disinformation, and advance measurable equity outcomes. Led by national leaders Glenn Harris and Julie Nelson, this interactive session provides the tools and resolve to not only withstand attacks but also to grow stronger in the face of them.
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Just Narratives for Multiracial Solidarity
Join our first ever multi-day convening for narrative strategists, communicators, creatives, storytellers, racial justice advocates, and movement builders. Just Narratives for Multiracial Solidarity – the anchor event for Cultural Week of Action 2025 – represents Race Forward’s commitment to building both the narrative and cultural power needed to advance a just, multiracial democracy.
At Just Narratives, we'll:
• Align our narrative and cultural strategies to shift hearts, minds, and policies towards a more just and thriving future
• Strengthen cross-racial, cross-movement solidarity to withstand our opposition’s efforts to divide us
• Identify and advance impact storytelling for collaborative governance that our communities and movements need and deserve
• Share lessons learned using art, culture, and media to amplify narratives for racial justice
• Ignite the mass courage needed to make our racially just future undeniable
Limited tickets are available. Get yours today and join us in St. Louis November 13-15!
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Support Relief Efforts in St. Louis
As we prepare to convene in St. Louis, we remind you that our St. Louis community is still recovering from the devastating tornado that struck the city in May. We encourage you to support the recovery efforts by donating to Action St. Louis, Power4STL, and Better Family Life.
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Racial justice isn't history. Racial justice is happening every day.
Shop online at our new store and choose from an array of products like shirts, water canteens, hats, and sweaters. No matter the weather, we make history together!
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Subscribe to The Fire We Face Newsletter
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The Fire We Face is a newsletter for those committed to protecting democracy, racial equity, and public service in the face of systemic threats. As we monitor the Trump Administration’s embrace of Project 2025 and other anti-democratic, racist initiatives, The Fire We Face will document actions targeting federal agencies and civil servants striving to serve the public equitably. Through in-depth analysis, reflections, and tangible examples, this newsletter aims to empower readers with the knowledge to understand and navigate these challenges.
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Follow us on Bluesky!
Given the current political climate and our declining engagement on Twitter, we have made the decision to remain inactive on Twitter until further notice.
To keep the conversation going, we encourage you to join us on Bluesky. Be a part of an ever-growing network of racial justice advocates as we continue to share engaging content that moves the needle to a just, multiracial democracy.
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John, as we commemorate Juneteenth this year—honoring both the moment when freedom became real and the ongoing work of making belonging meaningful for everyone—we recognize that the question of who belongs in America has never been definitively settled. It requires constant defense, continuous organizing, and the understanding that constitutional and civil rights become real when communities build the collective power to enforce them.
Today, as military-style raids attempt to terrorize entire communities into accepting exclusion, making belonging real requires all of us to understand that our freedom and safety are interconnected—that the democracy we're building must be strong enough to protect everyone who calls America home.
In solidarity,
Race Forward
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Services for Organizations
Race Forward is committed to transformational, sustainable change for racial justice. We provide services to help organizations develop and advance racially equitable policies and practices.
Our services are developed and delivered by a multiracial and multigenerational team of experts with extensive knowledge and experience in various areas, including policy and program development, leadership development and strategic coaching, community organizing, and racial equity.
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