Read on Twitter
hello, twitter, this is gonna be a thread about the Los Angeles Dodgers and something that means so much to me that it's literally now my career. I hope you don't mute.
if you don't already know, I moved from just being a sports writer to being a nonprofit program coordinator in 2018. I work at @ylinstitute and honestly, I wrote on my grad school applications that I wanted to work with youth in journalism and I'm doing just that.
The Dodgers have an "In This Together" shirt being sold to raise money for the California Funders of Boys and Men of Color, which, if I'm being honest, I never would've expected. You can find the shirt at http://dodgers.com/together
Our Fresno office runs a BMOC program. So you can see, this is something close to me!
So I wanted to use this thread to tweet about the organizations listed on the Dodgers' fundraising page and what they do.
(I haven't worked with ALL of these orgs, but I am at the least very familiar with them.)
First, there's the @CABMOCFunders. It's a coalition of different funders across California that do a lot of work in advocating for equity, especially for BIPOC boys and men. https://cafundersforbmoc.org/
There's the @AIYNetwork: "A interdisciplinary collaborative that provides exceptional arts programming in order to build resiliency and wellness, eliminate recidivism, and transform the juvenile justice system." https://www.aiynetwork.org/
And then there's @AntiRecidivism, which works to end mass incarceration in California and supports formerly and currently incarcerated folks. I can't even begin to tell y'all how much impactful work they've done. Just check them out. https://antirecidivism.org/
There's @BCrusade, which works in South LA to improve quality of life and also advocates for folks so that their needs are met. They have so many programs and community events that help make so many things accessible. https://brotherhoodcrusade.org/
There's @BrosSonsSelves, which is part of the @AllianceforBMOC. There's a lot that BMOC does, such as providing resources for young Black/Latinx men and also advocating for the end of the school to prison pipeline. https://www.innercitystruggle.org/brothers_sons_selves
The @cdfca advocates for policy change and work with youth and children in California, and especially those who are most vulnerable to systemic inequities. https://cdfca.org/
The @CoCoSouthLA does a lot of work in South LA to create transformative change, develop leaders within the community, and advocate for their community as a whole. http://cocosouthla.org/
The @ICSEastLA works with young folks in East LA and again, it's a lot of community-based work and really working to advocate for their communities. https://www.innercitystruggle.org/
There's @kgalb, which is an org lead by Southeast Asian women in Long Beach that advocates for gender, racial, and economic justice. They do a lot of work within the Southeast Asian community and the Long Beach community as a whole. http://kgalb.org/
There's @Leaders_Up, which helps to get young folks, of many different skillsets, connected with employers. https://leadersup.org/
The @SJLI_CA works to educate and empower youth and community members as a whole and do a lot of capacity building. They do a lot of leadership training, as well. https://sjli.org/
The @UrbanPeaceInst does a lot of work within community safety, just policing, and systems reform to end violence and mass incarceration, along with advocating for community-based alternatives. https://www.urbanpeaceinstitute.org/
(I have to re-do one because I just noticed that I have the @ of a different org in there; my apologies.)
LA Youth Uprising does a lot of work to dismantle the Los Angeles juvenile justice system and the school to prison pipeline to push for systemic change at the highest level possible and advocating for shifting resources to youth development. https://layouthuprising.org/
The @YouthJusticeLA (which I incorrectly @ to a different org; so sorry!) challenges the system as it is and works to dismantle policies and institutions that have lead to a lot of injustice, especially in policing and the prison industrial complex. https://youthpassageways.org/partners/yjc/
These are all the organizations listed under California Funders for Boys & Men of Color Southern California. These are all organizations that have been on the ground and have been doing so much work in their communities. I hope you follow, check them out, and get involved.
I can't speak about MLB teams in other states and the work they're doing, but I can speak about California. I mean, again, I haven't worked with all of these orgs, but I am very familiar with the work they do. And they do a LOT of work in Los Angeles communities.
Believe me, the more funding for these orgs and all orgs like these, the better. There is always going to be a need for funding, especially for orgs that serve Black youth and orgs that call for ending mass incarceration. Share, donate, whatever you can.
If you don't wanna buy a shirt with the Dodgers' logo on it, consider donating to these orgs directly. Tell your friends in the LA area about them. Share this thread. Get the word out. It's so important.
