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.

Featured Speakers

Meet Our Event Speakers

Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele

Speaker

Monifa Bandele

Monifa Bandele

Speaker

Rose Berry

Panelist

Jennifer Ching

North Star Fund

Dara Cooper

DJ

Naimah Efia

Session Facilitator

Yonette Fleming headshot

Yonette Fleming

Speaker

Lukee Forbes

Panelist

Monifa Bandele

Kesi Foster

Panelist

Rae Liener

Panelist

Julian Manago

Session Facilitator

Abraham Paulos

Panelist

Yonette Fleming headshot

Janis Roushevel

Speaker

Farah Tanis

Session Facilitator

Monifa Bandele

Kellie Terry

North Star Fund

Cheryl Watts

Panelist

Argelis Wesley headshot

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.

 

Thank you to our

Let Us Breathe Forum Partners

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