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ForWARD Focused

An Exclusive 904WARD Donor Newsletter 
 

Hey Ashley, 
This year has been a whirlwind already, and we are grateful to have you alongside us on this journey! There are many great things taking place at 904WARD. I just want to share this exclusive update with you and let you know what's to come. 

In this newsletter, you will find updates on:

Race Cards
Jacksonville Community Remembrance Project
Community Forums and Learning
Advocacy
What's On The Horizon?


I will be reaching out over the next couple weeks to touch base and answer any questions you may have, but also feel free to reach out to me anytime to get connected using the link below. 


In Solidarity,



Kimberly A. Allen, Ph.D.

904WARD CEO
Get Connected with Kim :)

Race Cards

To celebrate Jacksonville's bicentennial anniversary this year, we launched 200 Conversations for 200 Years campaign in January. Our goal is to bring together many people across the Jacksonville community throughout the year to engage in courageous discussions about our history with race, reflect on where our city is right now and dream aloud about the legacy we want to leave for the future. We hope to have small conversations on a massive scale throughout all of 2022 so that our city heals from racial wounds of the past and builds the kind of future where everyone is thriving. To date, there have been 47 conversations towards our goal of 200!

As part of those conversations, we partnered with Sel & Angie Buyuksarac on for their annual Ramadan dinners to bring more than 70 community members together for An Evening Without Labels: Friendship & Gratitude Ramadan Dinner. We were overwhelmed by the learning and conversations that took place and are looking forward to continuing to grow this relationship!

There are three ways you can get involved:

  1. Click the button below to sign up to host your own conversations in your spheres of influence. 
  2. Complete our Race Cards Inquiry Form to have our highly skilled and passionate volunteers to facilitate the conversations for your groups.
  3. Register to attend one of our upcoming Race Cards events and bring a friend. 
Sign Up to Host Conversations

Jacksonville Community Remembrance Project

  1. In January, we partnered with Yellow House on the Screams Echo art exhibition. 
  2. In February, we hosted our sixth of seven soil collection ceremonies to commemorate an unknown man. Our research team submitted 19 additional cases of racial terrorism acts to the Equal Justice Initiative for review in March to determine if they are classifiable lynchings.
  3. Since December, we've hosted three pilgrimages to the Equal Justice Initiative's National Memorial for Peace and Justice and newly expanded Legacy Museum, including a group of students. 
  4. In partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, we awarded our essay competition winner, Avi Patel, with a $5,000 Scholarship for his essay in titled, "Liberating the Prison Front: The History and Impact of Felony Disenfranchisement in Florida."
View the Conversation with Screams Echo Exhibition Artists

Community Forums & Learning

  1. We've developed a two-part course to help people in the community have the skills, language, and confidence to engage in conversations about race entitled, Intro to Racial Discussions
  2. We also launched a quarterly book club to help community members learn more about race through reading and dialogue in a safe space.
  3. We've been working with other Racial Equity Partners on how collaboration can transform our city. Earlier this month, we had a day-long retreat to flush out what we hope to accomplish together. 
Sign Up for One of Our Upcoming Sessions

Advocacy

  1. During this year's legislative session, we prioritized speaking out against HB7-Individual Freedoms (a.k.a. Stop WOKE Act) and in favor of African-American and Asian-American History and instituting a minimum age for children to be prosecuted as adults. 
  2. We were actively engaged in the changing the names of the schools, and we are now in the midst of advocating for the removal of confederate monuments.
  3. We teamed up with one of our donors on an op-ed earlier this year, advocating for the removal of the monument--click the link below to reach the article. 
Check Out the Op-Ed in the Times Union
What's On The Horizon? 
  1. We have been named as a partner for the Florida Blue Foundation's Center for Health Equity and Social Justice--a $3.7M grant awarded to the UF Health Jacksonville’s Urban Health Alliance. Check out the press release here
  2. There was so much interest from the students trip to Montgomery and those around the city that we're creating opportunities to work with students this summer through an internship and Student Advocacy Training Institute. If you know interested students and educators, please send them our way!
  3. Our partnership with Yellow House Art Gallery has grown! We working to place 20 Little Free Diverse Libraries around the city of Jacksonville with BIPOC stories and authors of color! We've started collecting youth and adult book donations at our events. We can't wait to show you more!
  4. For the past eight months, we have been working with Do Good Communications on a newly designed website! Stay tuned for the announcement!
Thank You for Partnering With Us!
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904ward · 40 E. Adams Street · Suite 34 · Jacksonville, FL 32202 · USA