Racial Justice Rising is a small, all-volunteer racial justice organization based in Franklin County, Massachusetts.

The members of Racial Justice Rising are ordinary people who are troubled by the persistent racism that plagues this country. Believing that the damage caused by racism must be repaired before our society can be whole, we work for just and respectful treatment for all. 

While much of our work is focused in our local area, we reach out to and are connected with the broader movements in our region and the nation.

The members of Racial Justice Rising believe that:

1. White people created racism to rationalize and justify the results of colonization: genocide, enslavement of free peoples, destruction of Indigenous societies around the world, and other inhuman behavior.
2. White supremacy is the cornerstone of racism.
3. Racism is one of the primary tools of social control in the U.S. and world-wide, embedded in economic, housing, education, judicial, healthcare, and other systems, and in civic and interpersonal relations.
4. Racism, which can manifest as internalized racial superiority in perpetrators or internalized racial inferiority in those targeted, causes immeasurable harm to both.

Our mission is twofold: to help build the movement for racial justice by contributing to a deeper understanding of systemic racism and racial justice, and to engage in restorative activities that help to heal the racial divide and bring justice for people targeted by racism.

Our local activities include free monthly programs and a weekly vigil for racial justice.

This website, our Facebook page, and our e-newsletter reach activists locally, nationally, and beyond with listings of racial justice resources and events.

Mass Slavery Apology, the group’s original name, is still the name of the project that started our work — our statement of apology for slavery and commitments to restorative action.

Read our most recent newsletter

Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For A Moral Revival 

Organized by the Reverends William Barber and Liz Theoharis, The Poor People’s Campaign follows in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign 50 years ago, challenging the evils of poverty, racism, the war economy, ecological devastation, and our nation’s distorted morality. 
Read their fundamental principles here.

40 Days of Action, a major campaign which will include civil disobedience in the tradition of Dr. King, is scheduled to begin on Mother’s Day.    

Learn more on our page about the PPC, including info about local western MA organizing.

Events 

FREE MONTHLY PROGRAMS 

Cancellations due to weather will be announced on WHAI, 98.3 FM and  http://whai.com/closings/http://whai.com/.

Saturday, June 2

Racial Justice – Climate Justice
With Tem Blessed and Russ Vernon-Jones

Racism and climate change are connected.  Deepening our awareness of the connections will help us be more effective in eliminating both.  People of color and indigenous people are already disproportionately bearing the harmful effects of climate change. 
In poetry and prose Tem and Russ will challenge us to take these issues on together and offer signs of hope for the inclusive, just world we are building together.

EVERY SATURDAY

Join us at our Vigil For Racial Justice, co-sponsored by the Visioning B.E.A.R. Circle Intertribal Coalition — every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Greenfield Town Common, whatever the weather.