Black Lives Matter 5280

Friends and Family,

Black Lives Matter 5280 (BLM5280) knows what many of you have been asking. “Where is BLM5280? What are they working on? Why haven’t they been organizing protests?”. Well, we’ve been hard at work evaluating the needs of Black community and how we can best be of service. We would like to take this opportunity to offer you transparency about our work in an open letter.

Recently, BLM5280’s Board of Directors held a Strategic Planning Retreat grounded in radical honesty. During our time together, we renewed our commitments to the organization's Mission and Values, allowing those commitments to guide all other decisions made about the work BLM5280 will undertake. In that same spirit of radical honesty, we want to share the decisions made at that retreat here.  

Based on the small size of our six-person, all-Black leadership team, and an organizing landscape changed by COVID-19 for organizations like ours, we’ve re-evaluated what work we realistically have the capacity to do in a manner that serves community. And now, in our eighth year, our organization is appropriately evolving. We want you to know exactly what you can expect from the BLM5280 family. 

In the future, we will continue to bring these valuable programs and services to our community:

• Freedom School Summer Camp: because of a generous grant from The Colorado Health Foundation, we are able to offer our most popular program for years seven and eight!

• Pursuit of the full-time K-5 5280 Freedom School. 

• Emergency Direct Services, on a case-by-case basis, to Black people experiencing emergencies. In alignment with our Mission and Values, and because of limited resources, the most marginalized Black people are prioritized- Black femmes; Black LGBTQIA* fam; and our most vulnerable Black children. 

• Community use of our newly purchased Five Points Headquarters when space is needed.

• Resumption of community meetings for fellowship, organizing, support, political education etc., and opportunities to join the work as volunteers, over time.

We also want you to know that we do all that you see above without a dime from the Black Lives Matter Global Network even though giving from foundations and individuals has dried up dramatically. While we felt an outpouring of support following the tragic murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, we have experienced a major decline in giving, even as many pledged to make lasting changes to uplift Black lives. 

Now that you know more about what we offer the community, we hope you will ask yourself if you are still in the fight for Black lives. If you are, we hope you will donate to our end-of-year campaign which helps fund our work for the year, making it possible for us to offer all of our programs free of cost. 

We know that so many of you have supported us for so long, through so much. Your continued support does not go unnoticed. You are indispensable as we strive to realize our goals and create a brighter future for Black people in Denver and beyond.

“It is our duty to fight for freedom.

It is our duty to win.

We must love and care for each other.

We have nothing to lose but our chains.” -Assata Shakur