Monthly Operating Budget: $9,254/$11,000

This is Laura, letting y’all know that we are so very close to meeting our October goal. Deep thanks to those who have brought us to where we are, and deep thanks in advance to those of you who can help us over the line as we wrap up a very eventful month.

As you know, our cherished Lace is stepping out in faith into a new phase of her life. She is officially retired from the County of San Diego, and looks forward to dedicating all of her time and energies on our community.

When I say stepping out in faith, that includes her faith in this community she leads and nurtures, that it can and will hold her as powerfully as she holds us. Her salary now comes from the funds Lace on Race brings in. As well, there are expenses involved in running a webpage that continues to scale up which will be ongoing.

With concern and yet hope, I wanted to give you an update on why Lace is not able to be as present as I know she wants to be in this first week of her retirement. Lace’s mother, who was in the hospital earlier this month, has had to go back with related health problems. Lace or one of us admins will do our best to keep you all posted on how things progress, but Lace needs to be there for her mother and father for the foreseeable future, so I ask that we extend her our grace, and our best wishes for her mother’s recovery. (Lace: she is stable, but I still need to keep an eye on her and Dad. I am still doing behind the scenes work, which is such a luxury! Reading, researching; planning, all of which I can do from Hubert and Bobbye’s garage. That said, look for a video later today!)

We continue to have one, two or more community partners each month. This month we have funded our commitment to the Texas Organizing Project, in support of fighting for the voting rights of communities of color in Texas, and to help get out the vote among these communities in spite of the barriers being thrown up to prevent this. We also helped LaSha of Kinfolk Kollective progress toward her goal of paying off her house. This is how we show that we will put our money where our mouths are, and put our skin in the game where it counts, to counter the racial inequities baked into our economic system overall, and, for our white members, our own personal finances, as Lace laid out in her Ride or (We) Die article.

As well, we are absolutely committed to the Lace on Race Mental and Emotional Health Fund. We have held and will continue to hold well the Black women who give and do so much, on the daily, with so little support, in the face of such odds. We’ve discussed the ways this is true, and this fund allows us to do more than talk about it. This fund allows us to help mitigate that harm caused primarily by white people such as are the majority of our community.

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 just happened 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 they give their all. This needs to be confronted and interrogated, and Lace and LoR applaud LaSha in her strong statement and her valid request, even as wesay to this community that even as Lace gives her absolute best–and that bar rises every month–she 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 is it 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 yet met our goal by this time 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 absolute 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 in this last Ask of October, 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. We depend on your fulfilled commitment to plan and to make projections for the coming months, quarter, and year. It is your relentless reliability that allows to dream big–and execute bigger.

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 

Please note that this is our new PayPal address, and should be used going forward. Be deliberate in engaging now via this link, and engagement to the correct address should be easier in future.

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