Winston-Salem, NC (June 11, 2020) – Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR) is awarding grants to eight organizations totaling $200,000, including several current ZSR grantees, to support grassroots, community-based efforts to address criminal justice and law enforcement accountability, equity and transparency, particularly related to the treatment of Black and African American communities.
The core values of ZSR embrace equity, dignity, fairness and justice. The Foundation supports dismantling of systems and structures that limit opportunities for individuals, groups and communities to reach their full potential and strongly believes that a person’s racial identity should not be a predictor of one’s life outcomes. Recent events, including the utterly tragic death of George Floyd, a native of North Carolina, at the hands of law enforcement, compounded with the COVID-19 pandemic that is disproportionately impacting people of color, have highlighted vast endemic disparities and racial injustices that communities of color, particularly Black and African American communities, continue to endure.
ZSR Trustees and the Foundation’s executive director have issued a statement condemning acts of violence toward individuals and communities of color and challenging all North Carolinians to work urgently, both individually and collectively to dismantle racism. The Foundation’s full statement is included as an attachment and can be found
here.
ZSR stands in solidarity with its grantee partners who have been actively working to address systemic and structural racism for many years as they continue to work towards equity and justice. To this end, ZSR is awarding grants to eight organizations totaling $200,000, including several current ZSR grantees, to support grassroots, community-based efforts in the areas of criminal justice and law enforcement accountability, equity, and transparency, particularly related to the treatment of Black and African American communities. These organizations are:
- Alternate ROOTS, Inc. for the work of SpiritHouse
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of NC Legal Foundation, Inc.
- Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, Inc.
- Blueprint NC for the North Carolina Statewide Police Accountability Network (NC SPAN)
- BYP100 Education Fund Durham Chapter
- Carolina Justice Policy Center (CJPC) for its Emancipate NC project
- Forward Justice
- YWCA of Asheville and Western NC, Inc. for the Racial Justice Coalition (RJC)
The Foundation’s full statement can be found
here.