GCIR: Regional Funder Briefing - The Southeast
Hosted by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR)
Event Details
Southeast Briefing
"As the South goes, so goes the nation." Though initially a W.E.B. Du Bois aphorism of the Jim Crow era, this statement continues to resonate today, animating the work of countless community organizers, grassroots advocates, and strategists. Spanning over a dozen states, with nearly 40% of the nation calling the region home, the South has long been understood to have an outsize influence on the nation’s culture and politics. Yet, it is also known that philanthropic investment in the well-being and power of communities in the South has lagged far behind both its potential and its need, with only 3% of philanthropic funding going to the region, according to Grantmakers For Southern Progress.
The Southeast is home base for some of the largest workplace immigration enforcement actions in the country, as well as notorious immigration detention facilities such as such as "Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida, the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, and Angola Prison in Louisiana. The Southeast also experiences a constant barrage of xenophobic policy proposals and laws, such as attempts to end undocumented children's access to public education in Tennessee and mandating 287(g) agreements in Florida. The Southern U.S. region continues to be a key battleground for some of the most consequential attacks, targeting immigrants and refugees, and yet some of the most innovative power-building strategies.
This reality is even more pronounced for those with intersectional identities, including Black, LGBTQ, and disabled immigrants. Despite this, the South is home to some of the most innovative organizing happening across the country, led by grassroots organizations, coalitions, and networks. In the face of this uncertainty, grassroots leaders, organizers, and volunteers are showing up, building power, and working to mitigate harm while plotting the course to a more liberated and abundant future.
In this funder briefing, we will hear from three such leaders on how they are serving and building power with their communities to create a more just-South – and we will explore why philanthropy should commit to resourcing the region for the long term.
Speakers
- Sui Chung, Executive Director, Americans for Immigrant Justice
- Kara Dominguez, Executive Director, La Voz del Pueblo
- Becca O’Neill, Immigration Attorney & Co-Founder, Carolina Migrant Network
Regional Funder Briefing Series
Despite the barrage of troubling headlines out of Washington, D.C., the reality of how Americans experience their daily lives plays out at the state and local levels in the communities where they live. As has long been observed, states are the laboratories of democracy, where innovative and promising policies can be tested before being replicated in other states or at the federal level.
In the context of heightened threats to immigrant and refugee communities – and indeed to residents of any immigration status standing up against oppressive federal militarization – states and localities have advanced a range of policies designed to keep all of their residents safe, healthy, and thriving. With examples such as banning 287(g) agreements, limiting data sharing, pushing back against masked and unidentified federal agents, and expanding access to health programs and higher education, many of these ideas originated and were shepherded into law by community-based organizations and advocates at the state and local level. At the same time, mutual aid, legal services, and power-building strategies are being deployed to mitigate harm and lay the foundation for a better tomorrow.
In this regional series, GCIR, Four Freedoms Fund, and philanthropic intermediaries across the country are partnering to spotlight the work of creative and powerful organizations that will provide a current state of play in their home states and will uplift contemporary needs, strategies, and opportunities for funder support.