We exist in times marked by both rapid decay and transformative change. Such dialectic tension largely stems from what is known as the extractive economy. The rise of the authoritarian police state, federal funding cuts towards vital human services, and the rampant exploitation of natural resources must not be understood as isolated crises but the direct outcomes of an economic system that has devalued human life and the ecology of our planet for generations.
Since its founding, the Detroit Justice Center has been adamant about addressing racial and economic inequalities triggered by mass incarceration, or the process of carceral extractivism. Working in a city whose industrial wealth was built by Black labor – only to then be eroded by decades of state violence – provokes us to critically engage in what it means to cultivate funding for a just city within an unjust economy.
When I first began working in the field of fundraising and development, I often grappled with the contradiction of seeking philanthropic grants while also being aware that many foundation endowments derived their wealth from the economic exclusion and exploitation of Black people. This context compelled me to reimagine my role in sustaining grassroots movements solely through financial resources, and to seek a deeper commitment towards preserving the spaces and people that pour into the soul of Detroit.
It wasn’t until I came across the practice of “Resource Mobilization” that I began to understand the work that is integral to movement sustainability; I began a new journey to interrogate both who I am and who I sought to become in the face of persistent change.
From Fundraiser to Resource Mobilizer
It was 2023 when I gained new insights on alternative strategies for resourcing organizations. When I first joined DJC, I was introduced to our Development team’s fundraising approach, which is grounded in community-centric fundraising principles. This approach revealed the ways fundraisers of color have thought through what it takes to transform traditional fundraising practices, and establish wealth equity for marginalized communities.
I was then accepted into the inaugural “Resource Mobilizers for Black Liberation” cohort founded by Black Youth Project 100 (BYP 100) and the Wealth Reclamation Academy of Practitioners (WRAP). This cohort was a year-long fellowship that equipped early to experienced development professionals with the values and practices of resource mobilization under the guidance of the Just Transition Framework.
I soon learned that the distinction between being a fundraiser and a Resource Mobilizer is that resource mobilization requires the organizing of critical relationships within communities to resource the collective needs of social justice movements, and strengthen community power towards wealth reclamation. Rather than view relationships as transactional, Resource Mobilizers cultivate relational wealth and other assets through the embodiment and recognition of interdependence, therefore generating resources that create new cultures of being beyond the extraction of people and place.
For example, through WRAP I learned about Southern organizer Georgia Gilmore who helped create the ‘Club from Nowhere’, a group of Black women who raised money for the Montgomery bus boycotts by selling homemade soul food dinners from her living room. Gilmore mobilized the skill sets and resources of her local community—mainly domestic working-class Black women—to cover expenses of the boycott’s carpool system while also protecting the anonymity of those challenging Jim Crow segregation. She quite literally nourished a racial justice movement through food as a tool for resistance and community care.
Guided by a Just Transition framework, Resource Mobilizers further commit to repairing the knowledge, histories, and resources lost within an extractive economy to bridge towards a solidarity economy–an economic system that uplifts social equity and a right relationship with the Earth. Community-centric fundraising and resource mobilization are closely related as both emphasize the alignment of fundraising with the values and long-term goals of people in a community. Together, these strategies reflect an ongoing transformation of the self and the collective through mutual support and remembrance, reshaping the world in which we mobilize.
Creating Solidarity Economies in Detroit
To transition away from extraction, we must invest in practices and infrastructures that center life rather than profit. I continuously witness DJC’s efforts towards stewarding the solidarity economy across our programs: we commit to the legal empowerment of our clients and strengthening their capacity to act against criminal injustice and end pipelines to prisons; we commit to developing community governance and permanently affordable housing through community land trusts which advance reparative justice in Detroit; we commit to gathering values-aligned partners to co-create a world with community safety alternatives that center the care and wellness of individuals over their confinement.
Our Development team also continues to embrace the diverse contributions of a solidarity–not charity–based network. DJC’s Freedom Dreams Sustainers program is a pivotal approach to acknowledge our donor and volunteer base who commit to the sustainability of our work through their time and recurring gifts, regardless of donation size. Through strategic outreach in our bi-monthly newsletters, we candidly inform our network about the challenges we face against racial capitalism and the successes we’re able to achieve due to the long-term investment of our global resource community—emphasizing the power of the collective “we”.
As a Resource Mobilizer at the Detroit Justice Center, I commit to nurturing our culture of philanthropy and local solidarity economies to steward our vision of a liberated world. Whether it’s co-organizing a community resource fair with our legal team, or utilizing storytelling to uplift the voices of returning citizens, I recognize this role as a fluid and proactive measure to resource the collective needs of a people.
A just transition will not come overnight, and it can begin to take shape through the deliberate reclamation of what has been disrupted by the extractive economy, including the critical role of healing and care within movements for racial justice. With this understanding, I commit to my own evolution through the embodiment of just transition values, and growing through the relationships that restore my wholeness, reminding myself that my ability to create change starts from within.
I invite you to join me in this commitment—by deepening your relationships and using your resources and presence to build a more just and sustainable future.
- Join DJC’s Freedom Dreams Sustainers program, sign up for our newsletter, or volunteer with us to get involved with our work!
- Donate to Black Youth Project 100’s mission to improve the lived experiences of all Black people.
- Support the Wealth Reclamation Academy of Practitioners and contribute to their Just Transition programming for future Resource Mobilizers!
In Community,
Triniti Watson
Resource Mobilizer