Understanding the Southern Social Justice Landscape

As a social justice consulting firm originating in New Orleans, Converge has accumulated rich experiences in supporting southern movement-building work. Often the South is depicted as sharing a common legacy of institutional racism.

However, not all Southern states are the same. Specifically, different regions within a state deserve more nuanced analysis. Converge’s 2022 Southern Landscape Scan research confirmed the need for a more nuanced understanding of the southern social justice landscape.

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What Is Landscape Scan Analysis?

Landscape scan analysis is a research methodology commonly used for identifying and mapping out a field (or a thematic topic) to discover needs and opportunities. It is also referred to as an environmental scan or field scan. 

Landscape scan analysis may benefit many leaders in the philanthropic space, including nonprofit organizations and funders. Below are a few sample questions that can be addressed by a landscape scan analysis:

• What funders and nonprofit organizations are active in health equity work in  XXX state?

• What types of reproductive justice work do advocacy organizations engage in? What best practices are there?

• What funders have been actively funding LGBTQ+ rights work in the region?

• What nonprofit organizations are accelerating in racial justice work?

• What other community foundations are providing similar community leadership programs? What best practices are there?

The Top 3 Benefits of Landscape Scan Research to Funders?

As one of Converge’s key service lines, landscape scan analysis offers three major benefits to philanthropic partners who are developing investment strategies. 

The Southern Movement Building Landscape Scan Research

Converge’s 2022 Southern Movement Building Landscape Scan is a data-driven, community-oriented research project committed to identifying and vetting BIPOC-led and/or BIPOC-serving nonprofits across thirteen Southern states. The purpose of this research was to inform funders who want to invest in southern movement-building work. 

For this project, Converge used surveys and interviews to capture pressing issues facing communities of color. By capturing data and narratives, we developed a report which tracked trends and patterns, identified innovative community-organizing solutions, and uplifted localized efforts by BIPOC leaders.

Converge will release a series of White Papers to share research findings with funders who focus on supporting Southern movement building. We hope the Southern Landscape Scan may be leveraged to:

• Track regional trends of philanthropic innovations

• Identify best practices for funder-grantee relationships

• Recommend strategic investment directions for funders

• Facilitate networking and alliance building among (1) funders and nonprofits, and (2) social justice and community organizing organizations that might not otherwise know about each other

As one of Converge’s key service lines, landscape scan analysis offers three major benefits to philanthropic partners who are developing investment strategies. 

Click to download the infographics and White Paper #01 below.

What Do Southern Movement Organizations Need Most?

Philanthropic partners may find it difficult to know what movement organizations need to further their mission without adequate research. Converge uses landscape scan analysis to center the diverse voices of BIPOC leaders and organizations in Southern states. Examination of past successful movements shows that infrastructure needs to be in place, and this includes an interconnected network of funders, policy-makers, media professionals, businesses, and nonprofit leaders.

Many movements are born out of systemic crises, such as racial injustice and climate change. The sustainability of movement depends on whether or not frontline change makers and organizations (1) grow in their capacity, (2) maintain mission alignment, and (3) share power with communities. All these key areas need support from philanthropic funders. 

Movement organizations also need trustworthy partners to work with. Through the Southern Movement Building Landscape Scan, Converge has collected narratives from BIPOC leaders on their experiences working with philanthropic funders. Please follow this series of white papers closely. 

Blog

Discussions about black land loss is still relevant for understanding racial wealth gaps today. Many Black landowners lost valuable assets for making their children and grandchildren prosper. While the offsprings of white landowners reaped the benefits of ready access to capital, including education and socioeconomic opportunities, injustices bore bitter fruits for generations in communities of color. Many families and activists in the South are still in this fight for justice. Watch this teen travel TV show about racism and black land loss in the South.

Does your organization struggle with the “how” of the mission? Have you ever envisioned the logical steps to get there? Do you need to flush out certain key concepts and processes? Do you wish that there is a logic model or a framework to guide implementation?

Converge College 

Converge College currently offers two learning programs: (1) Racial and Intersectional Equity, or RISE©, and (2) Power in Place©. Many foundation clients are sponsoring their grantees to undertake these learning journeys with us.

Converge College also has the capability to design and create customized curricula. Our curriculum development team is actively designing new courses. We would like to hear from partners like you about what courses may spark your interest. Please take a moment to complete the Survey (linked below), which will take about 5-7 minutes of your time.