With Liberty & Justice for All
Committing to Listening Better, Asking More, and Championing Change
 
Friday was Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the US. It has been celebrated by Black Americans since the late 1800s, and now provides a great opportunity to reflect on what it means to be free in America. What should liberty & justice for all look like and why haven't we been able to achieve it?
 
At MaineShare, we support our member groups, many of whom have been asking this question for a long time and many of us who are still trying to figure out how we unwittingly may be obstacles to progress because we haven't been asking enough questions.
 
Here is what we are learning from some of our amazing member groups:
 
ProsperityMaine works with new immigrants to navigate all the essential components of building economic success in our country. In their latest newsletter, they acknowledge, “Yet when you examine each of these essential components, they are deeply impacted by the structural racism that prevents the American Dream from fully manifesting for People of Color.” They are committing to work with their many partners to dismantle systemic racism in the delivery of financial services.
 
ACLU Maine is committed to combating racism in all forms and to extending the protections of the Constitution to people who have historically been denied them on the basis of race. Check out their Know Your Right s and Reimagining the Role of Police Pages.
 
Maine Initiatives recently issued a heartfelt statement and promise, “We are all Minneapolis - We are Minneapolis ” - and then followed it up by announcing they are making an immediate contribution totaling $20,000 to four Black-led organizations: BLM-Portland , the For Us By Us Fund , the Maine Black Caucus , and Racial Equity and Justice , and added an immediate investment of $5,000 in Maine Youth Justice to their decarceration funding. As Maine Initiatives says, “ Now is the time to put our money where our mouth is .”

Consumers for Affordable Health Advocates for the right to quality, affordable health care for every person in Maine. Understanding that Black Mainers are 10 times more likely to have COVID-19 than White Mainers and that their financial well-being has also been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, they are amping up their health equity work and have launched a series of workshops aimed at helping people who no longer have workplace health coverage.
 
Maine Access Immigrant Network’s (MAIN) Community Health Workers are people from the communities they serve. They help immigrants and refugees become familiar with their health care and rights.  MAIN provides pathways for people from other places and cultures with direct professional engagement and leadership. These types of organizations are critical to our future success as an inclusive community in Maine.
 
Maine Equal Justice works to target and shrink disparities through policy change and as they state, “ Maine can be a place where communities of color have an equal chance to get ahead, but only if we come together to target disparities and work to correct unjust policies and eliminate barriers to success. ”  Check out MEJ's equity work .
 
Resources for Organizing and Social Change is a Maine founded organization that provides a wealth of social justice legacy information, downloadable resources and support. 



This is just a small sampling of the critical work MaineShare members do to promote liberty and justice for all. Please join us in supporting and learning from the great work of ALL our member groups .

In Solidarity,

The Board and Staff of MaineShare
MaineShare | 207-622-0105| giving@maineshare.org | www.maineshare.org