The Let Us Breathe Forum
Building Toward Black Liberation
February 9–10, 2024
Welcome to The Let Us Breathe Forum!
Here you’ll find the agenda for each day, as well as information about our speakers and about the Let Us Breathe Fund.
Additional links that may be useful:
Agenda
Day One:
Friday, February 9, 2024
9:00-10:00 am
Check-In and Breakfast
At check in, please let the North Star Fund team know if you will use Spanish interpretation services.
10:00-10:30 am
Kellie Terry, North Star Fund; Farmer Yonnette Fleming, Hattie Carthan Community Garden
Welcome and Opening Ceremony
Following opening remarks and introductions, we will begin our time together with a land and labor acknowledgment and ceremony/ritual.
10:30-10:45 am
Jennifer Ching, North Star Fund
North Star Fund History and Context
Sharing the narrative of the Let Us Breathe Fund over time.
10:45-11:00 am
Community Connection Activity
Through this group activity, we’ll create shared context about who we are and why and how we came to the Let Us Breathe Fund.
11:00 am-12:30 pm
Moderator: Kellie Terry, North Star Fund; Community Funding Committee Members: Janis Rosheuvel, Solidaire Network; Kesi Foster, Partners for Dignity and Rights; Grantees: Cheryl Watts, Community Voices Heard
Opening Plenary
Now is the Time: Building Liberation through Black-Led Organizing
Panel highlighting how the Let Us Breathe Fund has grown and sharpened its purpose since 2015; celebrating the leadership of the CFC in directing North Star Fund’s work—and disrupting traditional philanthropic models; lifting up the work of grantee partners; reflecting on North Star Fund’s journey stewarding the Let Us Breathe Fund.
12:30-1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30-1:45 pm
Jillian White, North Star Fund
Recap and Reflection
Engaging in a reflection as we move into our afternoon conversation.
1:45-3:00 pm
Moderator: Janis Rosheuvel, Solidaire Network; Speakers: Rose Berry, Black LGBTQIA + Migrant Project; Argelis Wesley, AfroResistance; Abraham Paulos, Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Afternoon Plenary
Black Liberation Movements: Local to Global
Building a shared global analysis of Black social movement organizing and connecting NY State/ NYC with transnational Diasporic networks.
3:15-3:45 pm
Jillian White and Kellie Terry, North Star Fund
Call to Action
Centering a long-term political and financial commitment to Black-led organizing and the Let Us Breathe Fund. Offering closing appreciations.
4:00-6:00 pm
Cocktail/Mocktail Reception and Dinner
Celebrate with food, drinks, music and dancing! Music by DJ Dandara.
Agenda
Day Two:
Saturday, February 10, 2024
9:00-10:00 am
Check-In and Breakfast
Please check in—even if you attended yesterday! At check in, please let the North Star Fund team know if you will use Spanish interpretation services.
10:00-10:30 am
Farmer Yonnette Fleming, Hattie Carthan Community Garden
Welcome and Opening Ceremony
Opening welcoming remarks and framing for the day. Joining together in a land and labor acknowledgment and ceremony/ritual.
10:30-11:00 am
Community Connection
Grounding activity to foster connection among grantees and Community Funding Committee members.
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Moderator: Kellie Terry, North Star Fund; Speakers: Lukee Forbes, We Are Revolutionary; Rae Leiner, Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative.
Opening Plenary:
Reflecting on Nearly 10 Years of the Let Us Breathe Fund
Taking stock and looking ahead to build a sustainable path for Black-led organizing in New York.
12:00-1:00 pm
Lunch
1:00-2:15 pm
Restore Forward/Black Women’s Blueprint
Cultivating Liberatory Leadership
Engaging in workshop/accompaniment training to build the capacity of grantee and movement leadership through a liberatory lens.
2:15-2:45 pm
Reflection and Connection Break
2:45-4:00 pm
Restore Forward/Black Women’s Blueprint
Healing Justice Workshop
Creating a shared space of restoration and safety and embedding these practices into sustainable movement strategies.
4:00-4:45 pm
DJ Dandara
Break, Music Energizer and Connection
4:45-5:15 pm
Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele and Monifa Bandele
Closing Remarks
Reflections from organizing with Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and a call to action for organizers.
5:30-7:00 pm
Community Dinner
Let’s enjoy food and celebration together in community.
Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele
Speaker
Monifa Bandele
Speaker
Rose Berry
Panelist
Jennifer Ching
North Star Fund
Dara Cooper
DJ
Naimah Efia
Session Facilitator
Yonette Fleming
Speaker
Lukee Forbes
Panelist
Kesi Foster
Panelist
Rae Liener
Panelist
Julian Manago
Session Facilitator
Abraham Paulos
Panelist
Janis Roushevel
Speaker
Farah Tanis
Session Facilitator
Kellie Terry
North Star Fund
Cheryl Watts
Panelist
Argelis Wesley
Panelist
Jillian White
North Star Fund
The Let Us Breathe Fund
The Let Us Breathe Fund is the only New York-based fund led by and for Black activists organizing around police reform and building Black liberation.
The origin of North Star Fund’s Let Us Breathe Fund—which supports Black-led organizing for justice—is painful. The fund was named in response to chants that reverberated across New York in the aftermath of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner by police on Staten Island. These protests built on generations of Black leadership and Black-led organizing. We formed a new Let Us Breathe Community Funding Committee (CFC) and committed to raising and distributing money to grassroots organizations taking on police violence.
Over time, grantees and Let Us Breathe Fund CFC members broadened the view of what it means to address anti-Blackness in New York City. We began awarding grants to a wider range of Black-led organizations addressing systemic oppression of Black New Yorkers, including economic and cultural work. In 2021, we expanded the fund’s geography to include grantees in the Hudson Valley.
Let Us Breathe Forum Resources — More coming soon!
- Racial Justice Programs Under Fire: Foundations Are Running Scared When They Should Double Down
Lori Villarosa, Ben Francisco Maulbeck, and Gihan Perera, Philanthropy.com, February 2024 - Justice Funders State of the Movement 2024: Navigating Towards Redistribution & Regenerative Economies
- 2023 North Star Fund Power Lunch
- 2023 Center for Third World Organizing Living Liberation Conference
- VidaAfrolatina
Thank you to our
Let Us Breathe Forum Partners
- Algarabía Language Coop, Interpretation
- Dara Cooper, DJ/Music
- Gerard Gaskin, Photographer
- Illustrating Progress, Graphic Facilitation
- Restore Forward/Black Women’s Blueprint