Dear friend,
With the barrage of cellphone footage revealing the violence inflicted by federal agents in communities across the country, more and more Americans are being confronted by the realization that the only people coming to save us are each other. As Adam Serwer describes it, cruelty is the point of the Administration's policies, creating a dual state in which “Only the president and his allies, his supporters, and their anointed are entitled to the rights and protections of the law, and if necessary, immunity from it. The rest of us are entitled only to cruelty, by their whim.”
To be clear, immigration, deportation, and carceral systems have always been violent, this past year only laid bare its viciousness for more to see. Though intentionally difficult to track, we know that in 2025 dozens of people have been killed or injured in ICE and CBP raids and while in detention. This sprawling violence isn’t limited to the ethnic cleansing of people perceived to be immigrants. The recent deployment of the National Guard and multi-agency taskforces have primarily targeted Black-led cities under the pretext of “combatting crime and lawlessness,” creating an environment of fear and harassment that endangers Black residents specifically, but also any community members who dare to defy federal officers in defense of their neighbors.
On Thursday, January 22, NFG will hold a Member Strategy Call hosted by Co-President Stephanie Chan in conversation with NFG’s Democratizing Development Program and leaders from the Freethe901 campaign in Memphis. This co-strategy session, Occupation of Our Neighborhoods, will focus on how communities are mobilizing to protect vulnerable neighbors from militarized escalation by the National Guard and other federal agencies.
As funders, we need to be organized to respond to the needs of all communities under attack, especially those where there is little or no philanthropic funding or media attention. With an emphasis on place, members of the Free901 campaign will share more about their work to combat the deployment the so-called “Memphis Safe Task Force” in Memphis; the solutions they’re demanding lawmakers adopt to address the root causes of community safety; and how normalizing the military’s presence in their neighborhoods threatens every community. Please note: this webinar is intended for grantmakers only.
At a time when people and organizations are risking so much to stand up for their communities, philanthropy must invest in mutual aid, community safety, and leadership development to ensure that the protections and policies that sustain democracy don’t erode as this latest expression of state violence become routinized by the federal administration and its accomplices.
Without coordinated action against these authoritarian actions, philanthropy risks compounding the harm communities are already experiencing. As your political home in philanthropy, NFG will continue creating learning environments that lead to action. Our Member Strategy Sessions are part of our commitment to engage members and movement leaders in deep partnership to build a future based on our collective success and liberation. Here, we aim to amplify the needs of community organizing to advance racial, gender, economic, climate, and disability justice; and co-create the solutions to the challenges you as grantmakers are facing to move resources with more speed and abundance. Given all that we are facing, NFG believes that for our funder organizing to be most effective, we must gather together—pooling our strengths, knowledge, and courage to shift power and accountability in philanthropy. Please stay tuned for further updates on future calls!
In solidarity,
Team NFG