“Striving for social justice is the most valuable thing to do in life.”
– Albert Einstein
At the Trauma Counseling Center of Los Angeles we believe becoming involved in and donating to deserving organizations is vital to creating sustainable change and building true equality. These are some of the organizations we recommend that are working every day for real change.
Stop AAPI Hate is a coalition addressing anti-Asian hate amid the pandemic. This is a collaboration among the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Asian-American Studies Department of San Francisco State University. At the organization’s home page visitors can report hate incidents in a number of languages, visit its social media sites and find out more about the coalition member organizations.
The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only organization focused on building power with AAPI women and girls to influence critical decisions that affect their lives, families and communities. Using a reproductive justice framework, the organization elevates AAPI women and girls to impact policy and drive systemic change in the United States. NAPAWF was founded in 1996 to realize the vision of 100 AAPI women who recognized the need for an organization that would amplify AAPI women’s stories and experiences.
The Boris Henson Foundation works to break and eradicate the stigma of mental health issues in the African-American community. The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2018 by Taraji P. Henson and led by Executive Director Tracie Jade Jenkins. The foundation is named in honor of Ms. Henson’s father, Boris Lawrence Henson, who suffered with mental health challenges as a result of his tour of duty in Vietnam.
Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer and bestselling author of Just Mercy, EJI is a private, nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons, challenging the death penalty and excessive punishment and providing re-entry assistance to formerly incarcerated people. EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment.
#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities by the state and vigilantes.
The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI) protects and defends the human rights of black transgender people by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power. The organization was founded both as a response to the murders of black trans women and women of color and how that is connected to our exclusion from social justice issues, namely racial, gender, and reproductive justice, as well as gun violence.
The Black Voters Matter fund advocates for policies to expand voting rights/access, including expanded early voting, resisting voter ID, re-entry restoration of rights and strengthening the Voting Rights Act. The organization also advocates for policies that intersect with race, gender, economic and other aspects of equity.
The Conscious Kid is an organization that uses thought-provoking books, interviews, and partnerships with other organizations to empower parents and educators to have powerful, productive conversations around equality, race, and identity development with children.
Lavender Rights Project (LRP) advances a more just and equitable society by providing low-cost civil legal services and community programming centered in values of social justice for trans and queer low-income people and other marginalized communities. Through direct representation and community programming, its by-and-for services aim to radically re-imagine the legal landscape for LGBTQ+ people while building community resilience, encouraging self-advocacy, and asserting the rights of marginalized populations.
Together Rising is a non-profit organization funded in large part by small donations from the general public designed to empower rapid, on the ground support and aid to those in dire need. Together Rising identifies what is breaking the hearts of its givers as they look around their world and their community, and then they connect their givers’ generosity with the people and organizations who are effectively addressing that critical need.
BLVC is a trans- and queer-led social-justice organization and legal fund based in Minneapolis. BLVC is committed to a long-term vision in which ALL black lives not only matter, but are able to thrive. Through the development of powerful strategic campaigns, the organization seeks to expand the power of black people across the Twin Cities metro area and Minnesota, while also advancing a shift in public narrative that connects to transformative, long-term change.