Working Together for Social and Economic Justice
By Patricia Ann Talley, Editor, and Project Director
Per a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by the presidents of both organizations, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Task Force of Southfield, Michigan, will act as the fundraising entity in the United States on behalf of Mexico Negro, A.C., one of the leading civil rights organizations in the country. This arrangement will allow US citizens and corporations to make tax-deductible donations to Mexico Negro, A.C. to aid Afro-Mexican communities and to support self-sustaining economic development projects.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Task Force, is a registered 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit charity dedicated to peace, justice, and equality for all. Mexico Negro, A.C. (civic association) is headquartered in Cuajinicuilapa, Guerrero, and works to unite and support Afro-Mexican communities throughout the country.
Afro-Mexicans were categorized and counted in the 2020 Census for the first time in the country’s history. Over 2.5 million people, 2% of the country’s population, self-identified as “Afro-Mexican, Black, or an African descendant, including 11,565 Permanent Residents from the United States.
Background
The relationship between the two organizations began in 2011, when members of the foundations collaborated, under a $65,000 USD grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, to investigate and develop the “Pathways to Freedom/ Las Rutas de Libertad” website and traveling exhibit about the shared experiences in the struggle for social, political, and economic parity for African descendants in both countries.
“The Mexico Fund”
Phase 1: Recovery & Relief Effort
Many Afro-Mexican communities are rural, geographically isolated, and lack sufficient infrastructure – schools, hospitals, roads, etc. These communities were severely affected by the current health crisis and by an earthquake that happened in March 2020, at the same time as the virus outbreak.
During times of need, fundraisers are established to provide immediate aid to Afro-Mexican communities. Projects have included providing donations to purchase health necessities like masks, soap, toilet paper, toothpaste, and sanitary napkins. We have also helped to supply educational materials and equipment that support distance classes for Afro-Mexican girls, boys, and adolescents.
Phase 2: Sustainable Economic Development Projects
The “Mexico Fund” is part of an economic initiative to develop and sell products or services, produced/provided by Afro-Mexican communities to consumers within Mexico and throughout the world – hair care products, traditional fashions, books, calendars, artwork, masks, dance classes, cooking classes, tour services, etc.
Financial systems and structures, bi-lingual communications, and other business systems and structures are currently being designed to support these economic development goals. Donations will be used as “seed money” to buy sewing machines, provide training classes, or for other business or economic development projects specifically approved by members of both charity foundations.
Please Donate!
You can make your tax-deductible donation now by sending your check (Memo: Mexico Fund) to:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Task Force, Inc., P. O. Box 3189, Southfield, Michigan, USA, 48037
(Indicate “Mexico Fund” on the memorandum)
Or you can donate online: Paypal Be sure to indicate “Mexico Fund”
Members of the International Committee of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force are Chair, Professor Patricia Ann Talley, Whitney Young Jr. Fellow of Economic Development; Co-Chair Barbara Seldon; Dorothy Dean, Esq.; Rev. Rosemerry Allen; Dr. Talia Weltman-Cisneros; Makeda Dread Cheatom, Executive Director of the WorldBeat Culture Center, San Diego, CA; Dr. Candaleria Donají Mendez Tello, President of Mexico Negro, A.C.; Corina Torralba, Casa de la Cultura, Black Seminoles; and Geryn Childress, For more information, contact: Patricia Ann Talley, info@imagine-mexico.com.
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