Community Empowerment Fund (Durham, NC)

On August 20th, 4pm to 6pm, @ the Bull, join the Community Empowerment Fund for a 30 for 30 rally! Thirty for Thirty is a rally advocating that 30% of future affordable housing developments be designed for people making 30% of the area median income and below. The most generous affordable housing developments at the moment offer 15% of their units for those at 60% AMI and below, so we would like to serve the bottom half of that threshold which is often overlooked as well as double the amount of housing reserved for them. There will be food, drinks, canopies for the heat, and speakers.

Community Organizing for Racial Equity (Chatham, NC)

CORE has changed our name to Community Organizing for Racial Equity! This change allows us to bring community organizing workshops and educational opportunities all across the state.  In fact, CORE has developed a new workshop: Race Equity in Faith. This inter-faith workshop explores the history of faith-based institutions in America, their role as leaders in communities, and how they can get involved with community organizing. Our pilot run was met with a lot of success and has already been requested beyond Chatham. We will be hosting our Racial Equity Fundamentals Community workshop coming up in late October for a small fee; click here to sign up. All proceeds from our educational opportunities go to fund community organizing and programs at CORE.

We had a successful 2022 Juneteenth with poet Dasan Ahanu and headlining band, New Band on the Block. Our Black Business Expo was booming this year, and our community resource section was full of community tables handing out resources, information, and more.  The most treasured part of our Juneteenth event was the Chatham African American Heritage Walk and storytelling by Griot Evette Evans. We are looking forward to Juneteenth 2023: Celebrating Black Arts.

CORE is pleased to announce the launch of our membership program come 2023!  We are working to build a broad-based, membership organization focused on getting our communities trained in relational organizing principles.

Dangers of the Mind (Durham, NC)

The current education system is dominated by political narratives devaluing the very people our schools are supposed to serve. Students, teachers, administrators, and staff are left underpaid and under-supported while scapegoated for the systemic problems facing these institutions. More specifically, this manifests in students, disproportionately Black and other marginalized identities, being suspended and over-disciplined, teachers burning out, and left without tools to manage classrooms.

The Black Student Experience is a safe space to develop black students’ social-emotional skills while hearing their true voices on what lived civics looks like from their perspective. Join us as we continue to build community and listen to the needs of our black youth.

Liberating Church

Black August is a time to renew commitment to the liberation of all black people through intensive personal and collective disciplines. Hush harbors were one of the covert organizations of enslaved Africans to practice a blend of African religions with Christianity and to plot for the abolition of chattel slavery. Come hear and participate in a conversation connecting these two traditions.

On Thursday, August 18 at 6pm EST, we invite everyone to join us for Black August in the Hush Harbor: a conversation on underground organization, prophetic spiritual formation, and Black liberation, virtually hosted by Liberating Church in partnership with NC Black Alliance, and Transform Network. Conversation partners include Sendolo Diaminah (she/he) – former training director at Black Organizing for Leadership & Dignity and currently the co-director and founder of the Carolina Federation – and several of the authors of Liberating Church, a manifesto on what the hush harbors can teach modern faith communities. Register with this link: bit.ly/BLACKHARBOR

Attendees can expect a panel style conversation between the speakers followed by a time of audience questions and comments. We’ll also be giving away free copies of the book that inspires this conversation: Liberating Church: A 21st Century Hush Harbor Manifesto! Find a free excerpt from the book of the chapter Steal Away at this link: https://collegevilleinstitute.org/bearings/steal-away/. Learn more about Sendolo in recent podcasts where he’s interviewed by adrienne maree brown and NonProfit Quarterly.

Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet (Greensboro, NC)

Thanks so much to Southern Vision Alliance for their support of the Juneteenth GSO Fest! We were able to host a 4 day festival in Greensboro, NC June 16 – 19 in several parts of town. Thanks to community contributions were able to produce 2500 copies of the Juneteenth GSO Magazine that was distributed throughout the city.  It helped everyone navigate the festivities, which included 6 events, as well as learn more about the various community organizations active in the city and the state. 

Serenity Hill Retreat Center (Central Piedmont, NC)

Have you heard about the Serenity Hill Retreat Center? It’s a non-profit retreat center in North Carolina’s Central Piedmont region that serves as a natural getaway that is accessible to the movement. You’ll find seven rustic cabins, a community meeting space, and a well-equipped kitchen on our private and wooded property. Our caretaker grows vegetables and medicinal herbs in season. Serenity Hill is ideal for groups looking to build community, conduct business meetings, or simply get away from it all. We encourage everyone to check out our space and see if we can host your next team retreat, co-working session, or strategic planning session.