CARW Membership
You are invited to become a member of CARW! Making and honoring a commitment is an important move for keeping ourselves accountable and building and strengthening the movement for racial justice. We ask CARW Members to commit to the following:
(1) Attend quarterly member meetings
(2) Take action monthly
(3) Make a small monetary contribution to CARW
(4) Make a greater monetary contribution to BIPOC-led organizing.
(5) If you have the capacity, join CARW Solidarity or Leadership Groups (listed below).
Member Meetings
Quarterly member meetings are a way to grow and strengthen our community and the movement for racial justice and collective liberation. Member meetings serve as a consistent space for updates, engagement, and action opportunities with the CARW community. They are an entry point for new members and a space to build community by meeting new people, sharpening our racial justice analysis, reflecting on our experiences, and holding ourselves accountable to dismantle white supremacy.
2024: We're reimagining CARW member meetings! Stay tuned for more info.
Actions
Working for racial justice goes beyond educating ourselves and building an anti-racist community. We must take action! CARW members are expected to participate in an action at least monthly. CARW helps facilitate this by sending out action opportunities via our monthly CARW Connection email newsletter. Examples include phone banking, attending in-person events or demonstrations, signing petitions, supporting BIPOC-led organizing events, fundshifting opportunities, and more. CARW does its best to make sure there are a variety of action opportunities for folks of varying abilities, access to wealth, and risk tolerance.
Follow us on social media to stay up to date on actions: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Meaningful Contributions
Fundshifting is the intentional redistribution of unearned generational wealth in recognition of the harm, violence, and economic exclusion that white folks have benefitted from for centuries. Fundshifting is an act of solidarity. CARW believes fundshifting is an essential part of anti-racist practice because of the disproportionate access that white folks have to wealth and resources (both historically and currently). We ask members to make a small monetary contribution to support the work of CARW (if you can), and to redistribute a greater monetary contribution towards BIPOC-led organizing.
We recognize that CARW members come from cross-class backgrounds and that everyone’s capacity to contribute money is different. We reference this Resource Generation Class Distinctions site to guide our reflection on this. So whatever you can give is great, and even if you are not able to give, we want and need you to be here.
Here is an income-equitable guide to help determine how much to give:
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Giving to CARW
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These funds go towards CARW operations (space rentals, supplies, website, insurance, etc.), allow us to fund interpreters/ASL to improve accessibility, and/or to meet immediate needs for campaigns and community partners.
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If extra dollars are raised, we will be transparent about this to members and redistribute to the community. We do not prioritize internal wealth accumulation over fundshifting to BIPOC-led organizing. Yet, we do want to sustain CARW operations to continue to do the work powerfully and meaningfully together. We also want to invest in the labor of working-class organizers and pay people fairly who provide services like accessibility, childcare, and food.
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We suggest $5 - $25+/month or $60 - $500+/year proportional to annual wages or family wealth. If you need help determining an amount, approximately 0.5% of salary may be a good calculation.
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Giving to BIPOC-led organizing
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CARW members are asked to redistribute meaningfully to BIPOC-led organizing, which could include (1) grassroots organizations, (2) partner organizations, (3) other forms of mutual aid or wealth redistribution. A grassroots movement is one that uses the people as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at the regional, national, and international level.
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We suggest that CARW members consider redistributing $500 - 20,000/year, approximately 5-20% or more of their income or total assets annually to BIPOC-led organizing.
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Members can give CARW a one-time contribution or sign up to give monthly at carw.org/donate.
Solidarity and Leadership Groups
In addition to the above commitments, CARW members who have the capacity to do so can join one of seven Solidarity and Leadership Groups. These groups plan and execute actions, dive deeper into issue areas, and build community and accountability:
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Abolition
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Anti-Imperialism
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Migrant Justice
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Climate Justice
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Education Team
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Fundshifting
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Member Engagement Committee (MEComm)