The Ally

Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable is an intergenerational, nonpartisan organization committed to increasing voter participation and education through civic engagement, advancing economic security for black women and girls, and developing transformational leadership. MS BWR has four programs of work that include MS Women’s Economic Security Initiative (MWESI), a progressive policy agenda (that consists of equal pay, […]

The Greek mathematician Archimedes wrote, “Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the earth.” At the Refill Jackson Initiative (RJI), we strive to provide the place and the lever for Jackson’s youth so that they can move the earth. Our “place” is an eight-week workforce development program […]

Women’s History – A Sense of Place (ms.gov) 2022 Theme – National Women’s History Alliance (nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org) Women’s History Timeline Women’s History Month Activities at USM National Women’s History Online Exhibits 50th Anniversary of Title lX  Library of Congress Women’s History Month Exhibits and Programs

Greetings friends, The second week of February was initially chosen to celebrate Black History each year because it coincides with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, President Gerald Ford extended the week to a month-long celebration. Although the contributions from African Americans to our country’s history should be continuously noted, February […]

The year was 1966, and Mississippi was in the midst of great struggles and change. It was the year that civil rights activist and entrepreneur Vernon Dahmer was murdered by klansmen who firebombed his store and residence in Hattiesburg. The Candlestick Park tornado hit Hinds, Rankin, Scott, Leake, Neshoba, Kemper, and Noxubee counties, killing 50 […]

In the spring of 2020, after witnessing several polarizing racial and social injustice events, we were prompted to take a hard look at who we are as an organization and why we exist. At our inception, we adopted a set of core values that underpinned our work. Those values include accountability to the public and […]

The Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy (The Alliance) was created in 2019 as a vehicle of statewide partnership and support.  To ensure its team’s ability to perform at its highest level, the organization explored diversity, equity, and inclusion as a cohort participant with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.  The team understood that […]

Interview with Sanford Johnson What prompted you to participate in this work? A couple of years ago, members of the House and Senate Education Committees were at the State Capitol discussing the new college and career-ready standards. A teacher from South Mississippi was called up to address the legislators. With a dry-erase marker and a […]

For more than 13 years, Greenville Renaissance Scholars has served students and families in the Greenville area with our educational programs during the summer and the school year.  Our School Year Program (SYP) is our flagship afterschool initiative for middle school students.  At SYP 2021-2022, students engage in four days of rigor each week, filled […]

I hope all of you had wonderful, safe, and restful holidays and that the new year will bring fulfillment of hopes and dreams!  However, I realize that with the unrest continuing in the world and the global COVID pandemic far from over, it is sometimes difficult to be upbeat and optimistic.  I relate to the […]