Monthly Operating Budget: $3,640/$11,000

We are just over 30% of goal at the middle of the month. As many of you have noticed, we have been making some significant changes, in faith that the Lace on Race community will hold us.

Lace is retiring this month. Her salary will come from the funds Lace on Race brings in. As well, there are expenses involved in running a webpage that continues to scale up that will be ongoing.

We are committed to paying contributing writers beyond industry standard, particularly for a community our size.

We continue to have one, two or more community partners each month.

As well, we are absolutely committed to the Lace on Race Mental and Emotional Health Fund.

As of today, we have supported twenty-four Black women using the funds from the Lace on Race Mental and Emotional Health Fund. We would like to continue this indefinitely but at this point, we have paid out (on faith) more than has been contributed to that fund. They have shared bits of their stories; we have had the privilege of being able to hold and succor members of our community (as well as outside the Lace on Race walls) in ways society most certainly does not: we cherished and valued Black women at this point in time when the world told us we were less than and that our lives had no merit and no meaning. To be able to speak truth to that lie in tangible ways is something that deserves to baked into our shared ethos; and so it will be, because to be clear, there are far more than 24 women who deserved to be valued and cherished. We know that there were women who hesitated to ask because it seemed too good to be true; that they would be truly seen and held up to Light, that they could take self care and nurture and joy. This is an initiative which must continue.

And so it will.

We are also working on rolling out some significant new features on the website which we plan to have ready around the New Year.

This month, another of our Community Partners is a person; a person who has done much, so much, for Black women. LaSha of Kinfolk Kollective started a GoFundMe to pay off her mortgage. I will be writing about this in a separate post. This is an initiative she started for a number of reasons; you will learn more about them as you read her introduction on her GoFundMe. The meta message for me is clear: that Black women are not only to be lauded when we labor for others; that what we have provided in moving and influencing the conversation about race in the last four years deserves recognition and recompense–but mostly, to me, because those who say they are All In; One Hundred Percenters need to confront just exactly what that means. LaSha is forcing a conversation which is overdue. It is right to have it here, and we will.

This goes hand in hand with Lace’s move to leave County Service and focus entirely on Lace on Race. Lace has often said, and the community has agreed (at least in theory) that she should not have to work two full time jobs. So in this, she will not work fewer hours, but her singular focus will allow her to do more, write more, engage more, research and study more, as well as do more of the outside work, both on and offline, and take our ethos and our method where it is sorely needed.

All of the above is to say this plainly: our commitment to looking outward will not, will never waver. Lace, along with her staff and volunteer leadership, as well as with outside advisors, feel this strongly.

Some could say that our scaling up, along with Lace making this her only vocation, is risky and foolhardy. We say the opposite.

No matter what happens in the next weeks with the election; no matter what happens in confirmation hearings–no matter what any of the headlines are, really–our North Star will still be relevant, valid, and crucial.

No matter who occupies the Oval Office in January 2021, there will still be harm endured by Black and brown people perpetuated by white people. We will still need to be relentless in our singular focus: to lessen and to mitigate that harm.

Black women, whether LaSha of KK, other Black and brown writers, activists, and commentators of color (yes, including Lace) have literally changed the conversation around racial justice in the last four years, and in turn have also changed the conversation regarding other issues of social justice. Most of these warriors (including Lace) have done so while tentmaking–finding ways to make a living even as we give our all. This needs to be confronted and interrogated, and I applaud LaSha in her strong statement and her valid request, even as I say to this community that even as I give my all–and that bar rises every month–I should be seen and valued as we here at Lace on Race walk with and value and cherish those we have chosen to walk with.

Our Ask is important. It is not a break; not a commercial; not a detraction from our mission nor an ancillary part of our ethos. Financial engagement is baked into our method; skin in the game matters. It matters here; in other online spaces; and in our offline lives.

Faith is funny. This is the month where Lace leaps out into the unknown; it is also the first month where we have not met our goal in months.

We could contract; promise less to Community Partners; do less. Instead we choose to stretch. Both online in the community, in back of house as we plan to make, quite simply, one of the best racial justice communities on the internet, as we move behind the scenes, as we engage with other groups and individuals outside our own community, we choose to double down.

All of these steps of aligning with our praxis and relational ethic rely on community financial support. If you are one of the community members who have already tangibly engaged, we thank you. For those of you who have not yet had an opportunity to fulfill your praxis of financial engagement, we invite you to do so!

As well, Sustainers and Sustainers In Training, here is your gentle reminder. As always we are grateful for your walking with us in this enhanced way. If you have not made your commitment this month, please do so.

If you wish to become a Sustainer or Sustainer In Training, please take a moment to fill out the forms linked below. We use this information for reaching out concerning extra resources, new opportunities, and community groups. 

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paypal.me/LaceonRace 

A sustainer is someone who has been consistently in the Lace on Race Community for 6 months or more and is committed to financially sustaining this space and regularly engaging in the community. Our Sustainer Circle is not about perks or access to exclusive content. Rather, it is about another level of accountability and responsibility. As a Sustainer, you have spent time in the community, agree to the principles and practice of the Guidelines, practice Kind Candor, and are ready to walk consistently with fellow community members.
bit.ly/SustainerForm

If you do not meet the criteria of a Sustainer because you have not been a consistent committed community member for 6 months or more, but you are still interested in becoming a Sustainer, please fill out our Sustainer In Training form below.  Sustainers In Training of 2020, we are thankful you are committed to join us as we learn together to walk with intention, grace, and respect. As a sustainer in training, you are dedicated to monthly contributions, wrestling with deeper content, and engaging with purpose for a minimum of 6 months before signing up to be a Sustainer. We look forward to another year with you!
bit.ly/SustainerInTrainingForm

with love,

The Lace on Race Team

From Lace:

This month is special. I will be leaving my role in County Government to walk with you all, and also with people we don’t know yet, as my sole vocation and calling.

I have called this “Retirement”, and people have been right to challenge me on it; no, it is not what people think of as retirement. It’s better. It’s exciting, and terrifying, and limitless, and limiting. It’s everything.

In making this move, I am closing some doors in service to literally carving out new doorways. People say I should be scared. And I am, just a little. But then I think of the joyful weight of the mantle I have chosen. And I know this weight can be carried. And carried well. And I am less scared.

The only reason–the only reason–I could even consider such an audacious move is because of you all. I am humbled, and galvanized, and determined to walk with the same relentlessness and resolve that I exhort and encourage you all to. Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to provide this space, now and for years to come. Every day I am grateful for the trust you place in me; every day I am committed anew to being worthy of that trust.

Let’s keep walking.

As Always,

Your Lace