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 This 20 year effort to support long-time organizers of color is the namesake of two models of inspiring community leadership. Charles Bannerman spent his life advancing civil rights. He was Executive Director of Mississippi Action for Community Education, founded by Fannie Lou Hamer, Annie Devine and other local civil rights leaders. Among its accomplishments, MACE brought water, sewer, housing, job training, and literacy classes to rural communities across the Mississippi Delta, improving the lives of thousands. When he died of cancer at the age of 45 Bannerman still had much work ahead of him, which we believe is carried out today by our fellows. Dana Alston’s name was added to this legacy in 2002. Upon her death at the age of 47, the field of social justice lost a thirty-year veteran who played a critical role in the development of the environmental justice movement. A Bannerman fellow herself, Alston’s career took her to the National Black United Fund, Rural America, TransAfrica Forum, and the Public Welfare Foundation, among others. Alston’s work exemplified the principles that guide the fellowship program: a firm belief in grassroots organizing, democratic values, and a willingness to seek out connections that span age-old divisions by race, class, gender, place and issue. The Alston Bannerman program began in 1988, offering paid sabbaticals to long-time organizers of color. The New World Foundation handed over the administration of the program to CSI in 2008 based on our plan to expand this important resource. Renamed the Alston Bannerman Initiative, we continue to provide sabbatical fellowships. In addition, we now offer senior fellowships to visionary leaders of color with a track record of building democratic movements. Fellows are awarded resources to develop strategies and policy ideas for the field at large. The initiative also creates networking opportunities among sabbatical and senior fellows and other leaders to stimulate the exchange of ideas, and explore new alliances. Locate past and present Alston Bannerman Fellows. |