A philanthropic group founded by billionaire investor George Soros this week pledged $220 million to help “dismantle systemic racism” — with over a third of the dough earmarked to groups and cities pushing to “reimagine public safety.”
The massive investment from Open Society Foundations will be made in “emerging organizations and leaders building power in black community across the country” — with $70 million earmarked for “more immediate efforts to advance racial justice.”
The largest share — $150 million — will come as a set of five-year grants to black-led justice organizations, the organization said in a press release Monday.
Black Voters Matter, Circle for Justice Innovations, Repairers of the Breach and the Equal Justice Initiative are among the recipients.
The $70 million earmark will be made toward groups and cities “as they reimagine public safety, moving beyond the culture of criminalization and incarceration, and aiming to create safe, healthy, and racially just communities.” They were not identified in the press release.
That chunk of the money will also be used toward engaging young people and to fight voter suppression, the Soros-funded organization said.
“We recognize that the struggle to dismantle systemic racism is an ongoing one; it has existed from the dawn of the republic to the present day, and is embedded in every level of government and in our penal and justice systems,” Open Society Foundations president Patrick Gaspard said. “But the power-surge of people who have taken to the streets to demand that this nation do better — people of all ages, from all backgrounds, and in every corner of this country — gives hope to us all.”
The group said it would be sharing more details in the coming weeks.