A.J. MUSTE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE
Supporting Nonviolence and Social Justice Since 1974.
339 Lafayette Street, New York, New York 10012 (212) 533-4335 Fax: (212) 228-6193 [email protected]

2010 Social Justice Fund Grants

Total Grants (11): $13,000

The Muste Institute’s Social Justice Fund makes grants for grassroots activist projects in the U.S. and around the world. If supporting nonviolent action for social justice is important to you, please donate now to help us expand this important program. Thank you!

Alternatives to Incarceration Council, Lauderhill, FL: $1,250 in June 2010 for the Community Organizing and Awareness Project, building public support for reassessing nonviolent crimes, limiting mandatory sentencing and encouraging alternatives such as diversion programs. Formed in July 2008, ATIC addresses the reality that half of Florida's more than 100,000 incarcerated residents are jailed for nonviolent, victimless third degree felonies.

Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition, Austin, TX: $1,250 in June 2010 for the Human Rights Promoter Project, training immigrant leaders to organize in defense of their rights under the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to educate others through the creation of human rights committees. This membership-based coalition of immigrants, allies and organizations was formed in the spring of 2006 as immigrants were mobilizing across the U.S. in response to repressive national legislation. austinirc.org

Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Tucson, AZ: $1,000 in December 2010 for the Yo Soy Testigo (I am a Witness) Campaign, a collaborative effort to encourage community participation in documenting and educating about law enforcement abuses along the southern U.S. border, particularly local authorities’ collaboration with U.S. Border Patrol. Founded in 1993, Coalición de Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Coalition) works to oppose the militarization of communities and promote respect for human rights. derechoshumanosaz.net

Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty, Hartford, CT: $1,000 in June 2010 for the "Voices of Experience Tour," in which family members affected by violent crime speak out about their opposition to the death penalty in public events and through the media. Since 1986, this network has been mobilizing grassroots community-based activists to educate and organize the Connecticut public in opposition to capital punishment. cnadp.org/

Minnesota Break the Bonds: Divest for Justice in Palestine!, Minneapolis, MN: $1,000 in December 2010 for a campaign supporting the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions by building public pressure on the state of Minnesota to divest from Israel bonds. Minnesota Break the Bonds is made up of Palestinians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, students, professionals, parents, community members and allies working together to educate and mobilize Minnesota residents to press Israel to comply with international law and end its occupation of Palestine.mn.breakthebonds.org

Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, Albuquerque, NM: $1,250 in June 2010 for the Mount Taylor Sacred Sites Prayer Run, an action to unite and reinvigorate people who have been working to stop new uranium mining in the region, and let the mining companies know that these communities will not allow uranium mining to resume. MASE is a coalition of organizations based in communities adversely impacted by uranium mining. In a region that produced almost half of the uranium used by the U.S. from 1948 to 1988, many former mine workers are still sick, and communities are devastated by contaminated air, water and soil. masecoalition.org

Nansana Women Development Association, Kampala, Uganda: $1,000 in February 2010 for a campaign seeking protection and support for the property and gender rights of orphans and widows affected by HIV/AIDS. Founded in 2004, Nansana Women Development Association seeks to improve living conditions and alleviate human suffering in Wakiso district, which surrounds Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

National G.I. Coffeehouse Support Network, New York, NY: $1,500 in December 2010 for an internship program to support the core functioning and long-term sustainability of existing G.I. coffeehouses Under the Hood Café (near Fort Hood, Texas), Coffee Strong (near Fort Lewis, Washington) and Norfolk OffBase (in Norfolk, Virginia near 14 major military installations). The National G.I. Coffeehouse Support Network works to build up these G.I. coffeehouses as organizing hubs for active duty soldiers and recent veterans challenging militarism and injustice, and to support the formation of new coffeehouse initiatives.

Reflect & Strengthen, Dorchester MA: $1,500 in December 2010 for Da Force—the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice Task Force on Racial Disparities—a group of community members working since 2007 to eliminate unfair treatment of youth of color and to expand the use of alternatives to detention. Reflect and Strengthen was started in 2001 by eight young women who were survivors of violence, sexual abuse, incarcerated family, absent fathers, and loss of loved ones to preventable diseases. This grassroots collective now has a core membership of up to 36 working-class women ages 14-30 who take a holistic approach to organizing in order to create personal and social transformation. reflectandstrengthen.org

St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America, St. Louis, MO: $1,000 in December 2010 for the Sweatfree Community project, educating and mobilizing St. Louis area residents to press local municipalities to apply fair labor standards to their purchasing policies. This committee began in 1977 as the Greater St. Louis Latin America Solidarity Committee, focusing on disappearances and human rights cases in Chile and Argentina. As liberation struggles and US intervention intensified in Central America, ecumenical groups deepened their involvement, forming the St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America in 1981. ifcla.net

Think Outside the Bomb, Albuquerque, NM: $1,250 in June 2010 for the Disarmament Summer project: a cross-cultural alliance of youth working in partnership with indigenous communities in New Mexico to build a grassroots, consensus-based, nonviolent direct action movement. Their goals: stop the expansion of the nuclear weapons industry and achieve healthcare and environmental justice for communities directly affected by the nuclear industry. Think Outside the Bomb started in 2005 as a project of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Youth Empowerment program, and became an autonomous youth collective in 2009.