Raising donations for Black Women's Blueprint, Inc

Gamma Phi Beta chapters at Minnesota State University Mankato and Miami University are teaming up to raise money to benefit Black Women's Blueprint, Inc. We chose this organization because its mission is very similar to our philanthropy Building Strong Girls. In addition to this gofundme, we have also created a t-shirt to raise awareness for Black Lives Matter and 100% of the profits will go to the Black Women's Blueprint (which is about 17% of the price). The link for the T-shirt is attached below.

The Black Women's Blueprint began in 2008 and is a national organization using civil and human rights approaches to organize and develop a culture where women of African descent are fully empowered and where gender, race, and other disparities are erased. They engage in progressive research, historical documentation, policy advocacy, and organize on social justice issues steeped in the struggles of Black women within their communities and within dominant culture. They provide health and counseling services and corporate public trainings to create a just world.

Black Women’s Blueprint's main focus was the 2008 Democratic Primaries. While the group developed their personal, critical consciousness, parallel to this process was the political and public debate around the Obama/Clinton primary elections where Black women were being asked whether they were voting for race or for gender. Both democratic candidates presented their “blueprints” for change but neither took full stock of the particular problems Black women are facing within their communities and in greater society (gender-violence, poverty, the over-criminalization of black women and girls among others). What was manifesting itself was the cultural tendency to erase Black women by conceptualizing white women as speaking on behalf of the rights of the sex and Black men as speaking on behalf of the race. Black women needed to offer their own voice, their own “blueprint” for change that equally reflected and benefited them, thus Black Women’s Blueprint was formed. Find more information on their website: https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/

Here is the link to purchase the t-shirt: https://geneologie.com/collections/black-lives-matter-fundraiser/products/gamma-phi-beta-blm-shirt-30-00


While you are on this page, Gamma Phi has put together a list of resources to further educate yourself on the racial injustice in our country. Included are places to donate, petitions to sign, movies and TV shows to watch, books to read, podcasts to listen to, Instagram accounts to follow, and other articles online. 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zQ0VN6c5arjX8HWf11NuvOqK6xwEyx9TZTqT3dzXUXY/edit?usp=sharing

Any size donation will make a difference. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause.

-Gamma Phi Beta MNSU & MU