My light bulb went on ...

Last Thursday morning I experienced an empowering shift in my understanding of what continues to motivate my work at North Star Fund--and indeed why North Star Fund needs to exist.

Every year, in preparation for our Community Gala [click to your right for more info], we host a breakfast for Honorees receiving our North Star and Frederick Douglass Awards. It's a chance for all of us to get to know each other, and to reflect on the shared work of the social justice movement. We asked Honorees to tell us why they agreed to be honored.

Members from Brandworkers and Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH) spoke about having gotten fed up with being treated badly and being afraid. At that point, members of these groups said "Enough!" ("¡Basta!" in Spanish). They stood up for themselves, and in the process, requested and received resources from North Star--resources contributed by donors throughout New York City, including myself and many who will read this-- to stand up to the system and the individuals who were doing them wrong.

Listening to their amazing stories, I realized that while our work is about helping marginalized communities to gain ground through activism, it's also about something even more important. The members of WORTH and Brandworkers helped me see that at North Star Fund, we are helping people overcome fear.

It was powerful to hear it directly from a formerly incarcerated woman who had been bound in a five point shackle while she gave birth and during her recovery. And it was powerful to hear it from an immigrant worker who endured bosses' using racist insults to keep him in check. These same bosses refused to pay for basic safety equipment as workers processed fish that the upwardly mobile folks-- like yours truly-- eat at fancy white tablecloth restaurants.

Our grantee members stopped being afraid to stand up for their rights.

I frequently speak about grassroots democracy and why it's so important. What I realized this morning is that no one stands up to abuse the first time because of an abstract commitment to the ideal of democracy. We stand up when we are tired of being insulted and feeling scared.

The stakes are high for our grantee groups. Will authorities arrest and/or deport them? What will happen to their kids because they have to work so much, or because they are in prison, or because they get injured on the job due to shoddy working conditions?

The commitment to the ideals of democracy, the desire to help others organize--these  come afterwards, when we see how the strength of many, united for justice, helps each of us transcend the fear of standing up for ourselves alone. North Star Fund is here for donors and grantees alike when these moments of truth arrive.