At the end of May, Hamilton’s Black and Latinx Student Union and Feminists of Color Collective saw an opportunity to enlist support for protestors who were speaking out nationally against police violence and white supremacy. The two organizations challenged fellow student groups to raise money for bail funds and other initiatives that supported the Black Lives Matter movement.
After the initial disappointment of learning that the College could not donate directly to external nonprofit organizations, BLSU and FCC members took action. They turned to peer student organizations, asking each to mobilize its members, and created a resource list shared with the community.
“Solidarity is an action. It’s a verb, it’s something that you actually do. It’s not just something that you say,” said BLSU and FCC Co-chair Saphire Ruiz ’22.
BLSU and FCC set fundraising targets based on the size of each group’s membership, and a flood of organizations jumped to meet the challenge with remarkable success. “I can’t even describe how crazy it was when we finally had this thing in full swing,” said BLSU Co-chair Yanea Thomas ’22. In the end, 30 Hamilton student groups raised more than $36,000 in just 14 days, many blowing past their target goals.
“It’s important to thank all of the organizations that stood up and decided to not only release a statement of solidarity but stood up to the plate when we called them out and requested that they do a fundraiser with us if they really believed in the words of their statement,” Thomas said.
PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
- Alpha Theta Chi
- ASU
- BLSU
- Chi Psi
- CSA
- FCC
- Film Club
- Gamma Xi
- Hamilton A Cappella Coalition
- Hamilton Democrats
- Hamilton EMS
- Hamilton Field Hockey
- Hamilton Football
- Hamilton Rowing
- Hamilton Softball
- Hamilton Ultimate Frisbee
- Hamilton Women's Lacrosse
- La Vanguardia
- Minds For Change
- Model United Nations
- Muslim Students Association
- Phi Beta Chi
- QSU
- SMART
- Sunrise
- The Continental
- Untitled At Large
- WHCL
- Women In STEM
- Womxn's Center
RECIPIENTS
- Equal Justice Initiative, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- The Bail Project Inc., Las Vegas Bail Fund, Loveland Foundation
- Black and Pink, G.L.I.T.S., The Audre Lorde Project, TransWomen of Color Collective, Help S.C.'s Family
- George Floyd Memorial Fund
- Action Bail Fund
- Black and Pink
- The Okra Project
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Loveland Foundation
- Unicorn Riot, Arts Administration of Color
- National Bail Fund Network
- Justice for Breonna Taylor, BET + United Way COVID-19 Relief Fund
- Justice for Breonna Taylor
- George Floyd Memorial Fund, I Run With Maud, Justice for Breonna Taylor, Black Lives Matter
- Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project
- BET + United Way COVID-19 Relief Fund
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee of NYC
- Black Lives Matter, National Bail Fund Network, The Bail Project Inc.
- The Loveland Foundation
- Innocence Project, LGBTQ Freedom Fund
- UndocuBlack Network
- The Loveland Foundation, The Audre Lorde Project
- Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Solutions Not Punishments Collaborative, Black Lives Matter
- National Bailout Fund, Black Lives Matter, The Okra Project
- multiple bail funds, blm dc, blm nyc, trans support
- National Association of Black Journalists
- Black and Pink, Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund
- Black Youth Project, The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)
- Justice for Breonna Taylor
- National Bail Fund Network, NYC Bail Fund, Black Youth Project
