Stories

Race

  • Using All Our Tools to Advance Equity in the South and Beyond

    While potential is universal, opportunity is not. In the American South, where the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation works, slavery, segregation and a host of laws, policies and practices have entrenched white supremacy, delivering enormous advantages to whites and pervasive disadvantages to people of color....

  • Reasons to celebrate 2018

    We won’t sugarcoat it: 2018 was a tough year. The words of abolitionist Frederick Douglass frequently came to mind: “This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never...

    Project South
  • Advancing Racial Equity With State Tax Policy

    This post is adapted from one that originally appeared on the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' website . The Center is a nonpartisan research and policy advocacy institute, and one of the Babcock Foundation's grantee partners.

    States and localities can do more to help undo the harmful legacies of racism and the damage of continuing racial bias and...

    States Can Use Tax Policy to Advance Racial Equity
  • Louisiana's “Winning Side:” Powering Democracy through Civic Engagement

    The winds of change are stirring strong through Louisiana thanks, in large part, to a network of grassroots organizers, community advocates and policy experts working to improve the quality of life for low-wealth people. Last month, our staff and board visited Louisiana to learn about current strategies and emerging opportunities. The visit was my first chance as a Network Officer to engage...

    Together Louisiana
  • Asking Hard Questions: How We Created a Racial Equity Statement

    An indispensable aspect of any journey are the signs pointing the way, indicators of where you want to go that keep you moving in the right direction.

    Over the last several months, the board and staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation have been exploring ways to incorporate racial equity more fully into all aspects of our work, from grantmaking to mission investing, from internal...