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Rashad Robinson Is Holding Corporations Accountable & Building Black Political Power

Forbes features Rashad Robinson as an innovative leader working to dismantle racism by tackling it from all directions. Going into the elections, Color Of Change stepped up efforts to stop voter suppression and reaffirm the right to vote. But in a year when economic and social inequalities between white and Black people gained global attention, the organization has been seizing the moment and building power for Black people in nearly every area from corporate accountability and economic relief during COVID-19 to how police are portrayed and racism is often rendered invisible on TV.

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Shifting Corporate Culture in 2021: 5 Tactics to Foster a More Inclusive Internal Workplace

In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, nearly every major corporation pledged their commitment to solving racial inequity. But what can they really do? Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson says it’s important to fix the systems that exclude Black people rather than trying to blame or change people. The most productive areas to focus on are: hiring, promotions, and performance reviews that influence career mobility; equity in who gets to represent the company externally; and investing resources in accountability.

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PPP Loans Were Supposed to Prioritize Low-Income Areas During the Pandemic

Congress says it wanted the US Small Business Administration to ensure that PPP loans prioritized small businesses in “underserved” markets, meaning low-income communities, rural areas and businesses owned by people of color, women and veterans. But by time it told lenders that, nearly all the loans had been issued. A survey by Color Of Change and UnidosUS found Black and Hispanic business owners were often denied help, and many feared their firms would not last the year. COC’s Vice President Arisha Hatch is quoted, “Instead of providing desperately needed relief to qualifying small businesses, the PPP propped up so many barriers and reinforced so many racial inequities.”

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How One Writers’ Room Is Rethinking Policing on TV

The Hollywood Reporter looks at Color Of Change Hollywood’s work–releasing Normalizing Injustice and going behind the scenes to work with TV writers and producers. One writers’ room at a time, the group is shifting how policing is portrayed on TV and pushing Hollywood to tell the truth about what Black people experience at the hands of law enforcement and our criminal justice system. “What we see on TV impacts the way we vote, the way we react to people and even whether we believe Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization,” says Culture & Entertainment Director Kristen Marston.

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Harris Smashing Glass Ceiling Is Victory for Women of Color

Kamala Harris has broken through one of the final glass ceilings for women with this election, becoming the first female vice president in the US. A record 130 Black women were congressional candidates this election cycle and Black women were a driving force behind Biden’s victory over Trump. Color Of Change Vice President Arisha Hatch says the support of Black women must be reflected in Biden’s policy agenda. “When we’re talking to Black women, especially out in the field, they want to see a competent response to a pandemic… They want to see shifts in the way that our families are policed, overpoliced and overincarcerated. … They want to be able to put food on the tables for their kids and send them to schools that are not only safe but allow their children to live their best lives in the future.”

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Let’s Talk About The Black Vote

Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson is interviewed by Brian Lehrer in the wake of Biden-Harris’s historic victory. Rashad talks about the powerful message this sends to politicians who base their campaigns in demonizing immigrants and people of color. He says, “Racial justice helped to propel this win. We had seen a bottoming out of enthusiasm (in voter registration) until the uprisings the summer…. We saw those people then to go to polls. We saw real changes in prosecutor offices across the country from big wins in Chicago and LA and Orlando and across Georgia.”

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President-Elect Joe Biden’s Transition Team Is One of the Most Diverse Ever

Biden wants his administration to “look like America.” His transition team is a start. So far, 46 percent of Biden’s transition staff are people of color and more than half — 52 percent — are women. Advocates say they welcome the administration’s focus on representation but that is just a first step. They’ll be keeping an eye on Biden’s policy proposals. Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson is quoted, “How that representation translates into what they deliver is what’s most important to me. We are going to look for who’s going to stand up to corporate power.”

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Newly Elected DAs Vow To Continue Reforms, End Policies Deemed Unfair

The 2020 elections, after the mass uprisings against racial injustice, were seen as a test for criminal justice reforms. This was especially true for progressive DAs. In Chicago, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx won her bid for re-election. She is the first Black woman to lead the 700-attorney office and is one of the country’s most prominent progressive prosecutors. In Austin, Texas, voters overwhelmingly chose Jose Garza, a former public defender, to serve as the DA of Travis County. Color Of Change’s Director of Criminal Justice Campaigns Scott Roberts is quoted. “We think we caught a lot of those folks off guard. They weren’t ready for a movement that would focus on prosecutor elections.”

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OP-ED: Fighting Racial Injustice Is About More than Rhetoric, Political Pandering

COC President Rashad Robinson writes about how In the US, the rules are still rigged against Black success. With grassroots organizing and protest, we can change that. Because whether it’s the rules of work in an Amazon warehouse, the rules for police in our neighborhoods, or the rules that determine which schools and hospitals get funding, which diseases get researched, which businesses get COVID relief loans, the rules are still rigged against us. Corporations still exploit Black people without consequences—and it’s still costing us our lives.

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On Black Men & Donald Trump

Madame Noire spoke with Color Of Change Vice President Arisha Hatch about the 12th hour support for Trump from celebrities like Ice Cube and what to make of Black men who support Trump. Hatch says a lot of them may be drawn in by toxic masculinity. “I’m not confident that a lot of Black men are actually identifying with Trump and his message, although I understand that’s the narrative… There are a set of men in this country who are nostalgic for days long ago and are resistant to the idea that women should be equal partners, that women are competent decision makers, that we shouldn’t be harassed in the workplace… And rich Black men can make an argument that they’re voting in their economic interests. In order to vote as a rich person, you have to close your eyes to the racist, cultural things being promoted by Trump. Rich white people have the privilege of doing that. I don’t believe that rich Black men do.”

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A Mayor, a Filmmaker, a Navajo Nation President: Our Country’s Leaders of Change

Color Of Change President Rashid Robinson is featured on this piece on tomorrow’s leaders in the fight for true equality and justice. USA Today set out to find the next John Lewis, that leader who is going to guide us through the chaos of today’s civil rights fight. Rashad is quoted, “In America, changing the very structure of society is what’s required for Black people to live in peace and security… Everyone wins when racial justice wins. And it will take everyone to win racial justice.”

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How Activists Geared Up to Stop Trump from Disrupting the Ballot Count

From street protests to lobbying social media, activists are using a variety of tactics to get ahead of Trump’s attempts to interfere with the election results. Win 1, when Trump declared victory Election Night, media outlets didn’t take him seriously. Win 2, the work Color Of Change is doing to stop the flow of dangerous misinformation. COC Chief of Campaigns Arisha Hatch is quoted, “We’re holding tech companies accountable, asking them to not allow Trump to have a free platform to expound misinformation about what’s actually happening. We’re now calling for both Facebook and Twitter to temporarily suspend him, given the misinformation he continues to spout.”

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