Sabbaticals for Long-Time Activists of Color
The Alston Bannerman Fellowship Program was founded in 1988 to honor and support longtime activists of color by giving them the resources to take time out for reflection and renewal. Fellows receive a $25,000 award to take sabbaticals for three months or more.
In 2008, the Fellowship Program became part of the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI), a national policy advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling structural racism. CSI serves as a bridge between policy research and grassroots activism in order to create more effective strategies for promoting equality and opportunity. As part of CSI, the Alston Bannerman Program will be strengthened and expanded to provide more opportunities for collective thinking and action.
2009 Alston Bannerman Fellows
The Alston Bannerman Program is pleased to announce the selection of the 2009 Fellows:
José Bravo, Just Transitions Alliance, Chula Vista, CA
Arnoldo Garcia, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Oakland, CA
Sylvia Ledesma, Kalpulli Izkallli, Albuquerque, NM
Ai Jen Poo, Domestic Workers United, New York, NY
Juanita Valdez-Cox, La Union del Pueblo Entero, San Juan, TX
2007 Alston Bannerman Fellows
The Alston Bannerman Fellowship Program was on hiatus in 2008. These are the outstanding activists of color who received the Fellowship in 2007:
WILLIE BAPTIST
New York, NY,The 1965 uprising in Watts where he grew up, pulled Willie Baptist in the direction of organizing, beginning with the Black Student Movement. Willie has played key roles in the National Union of the Homeless, the National Welfare Rights Union, Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, always focusing on political education and developing leader from the ranks of the poor. He is currently Scholar in Residence with the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary, which is dedicated to raising up generations of religious and community leaders committed to building a movement, led by the poor, to end poverty.
CAROLYN FORD
Gretna, FLBeginning as a teacher in the 1960s, Carolyn Ford has dedicated her life to improving the impoverished rural Florida county where she was born. She founded the North Florida Educational Development Corporation (NFEDC), in 1986 to empower individuals and families in Gadsden County to become more self-determined, self-sufficient, and self-sustaining. In addition to directing NFEDC's work in affordable housing, education, job training, youth leadership, and economic development, Carolyn was elected mayor of Quincy and during her tenure overturned numerous racially discriminatory city laws and policies. Carolyn is Chair of the Florida Black Chambers of Commerce and a founding member of Southern Partners Fund.
SOPHIA BRACY HARRIS
Montgomery, ALSophia Bracy Harris was among the first Black students to integrate her Alabama high school, which led to the firebombing of her family's home and her lifelong commitment to social justice activism. Since 1972, Sophia has led the Federation of Child Care Centers of Alabama (FOCAL), whose combination of training, organizing and advocacy is designed to improve the quality of child care and to build the leadership of child care providers and parents in low-income communities. Along with influencing state policy on child care delivery, under Sophia's leadership, FOCAL has forged statewide collaborations to address tax reform, transportation and constitutional reform.
GRACIELA SANCHEZ
San Antonio, TXBorn and raised in San Antonio's poor Westside, Graciela Sanchez returned after college to organize around voting rights, Central American solidarity, women's issues and gay and lesbian rights. She is the founding director of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, which since 1986 has grown into a vital cultural arts and activist organization based on the belief that to participate fully in civic life, individuals must be culturally grounded and confident of their own voices. Esperanza organizes around issues ranging from immigration to AIDS, US military aggression and sexual violence. Graciela has served on national boards including the Astrea Foundation and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.