Our Goal

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation seeks to support organizations and programs that advocate for the protection and inclusion of critical race theory, intersectionality, and other forms of racial and gender justice discourse in education, in addition to actively fighting against attacks of misinformation and weaponization of these topics.

Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic and legal framework that describes how race and racism are socially constructed and systemically ingrained in our laws and institutions. CRT has been increasingly under attack since 2020, leading to the adoption of many anti-CRT measures nationwide. According to African American Policy Forum, led by pioneering scholar Kimberle Crenshaw, these attacks are “being waged on educational curricula in the United States and elsewhere against intersectionality, critical race theory, Black feminism, queer theory, and other frameworks that address structural inequality,”[1] which have resulted in restrictive legislation, the removal of curriculum, and the banning of books.

Since 2021, more than 807 anti-CRT legal efforts have been introduced in 49 states.[2] Many of these efforts aim to regulate classroom teaching and curriculum in K-12 education[3]. As a result, there has been a “chilling effect on free speech and the dissemination of truthful information about systemic and structural inequalities…”[4] Along with classroom restrictions, there has been a rise in book-banning efforts focused on LGBTQ themes, people of color, issues of race, and activism.[5] African American Policy Forum (AAPF), a grantee partner of the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation and a leader in defending CRT, has several initiatives under the umbrella of its #TruthBeTold Campaign including the Freedom to Learn Network and CRT Summer School, which provide public education and tools to push back on disinformation and the vilification of CRT.

These anti-CRT measures are “…really an attack on the teaching of Black history, women’s history, and history around being impoverished in this country. They don’t want us to critically engage with anything that will challenge the current status quo,”[6] says Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead, associate professor of women and gender studies at Loyola University and president of the National Women’s Studies Association.

Without critical race theory, intersectionality, and other forms of racial and gender justice discourse in education, students won’t have the tools needed to think critically about systemic issues facing the United States, such as white supremacy and sexism.

According to Crenshaw “Social justice writing, scholarship, activism is not talking into a vacuum; it’s talking back against the systems of thought, against the assumptions, against the power that has lined up throughout history to tell us that some of us are not worthy of being full citizens, some of our dreams are not worthy of being realized, and some of our lives are not worthy of improvement through collective commitments to change the terms upon which we live.”[7]

In response to these threats, the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation seeks to support antiracist and feminist education by providing funding to nonprofit organizations and programs that focus on one or more of the following: 1) policy and advocacy as countermeasures to the attacks on critical race theory, intersectional feminism, and other forms of racial and gender justice discourse in education 2) providing educational resources and programming about the attacks on critical race theory.

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation is proud to be working in partnership with the African American Policy Forum to review and select organizations whose mission aligns with this program category.

What We Look For

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation would like to fund activist programs, organizations, and initiatives that incorporate the following components through existing guidelines:

  • Program has a direct and explicit goal of addressing the social and economic disparities that women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals of color experience due to structural violence and racism.
  • Program engages with, and amplifies the voices of, women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals of color in the community.
  • Program has a proven track record of effective programming to promote anti racism and gender equality.
  • We look for organizations where women and gender-expansive individuals of color are the primary decision-makers.
  • Program access is not limited based on financial ability; programming is offered at little or no cost to participants.
  • There is a preference for applicant organizations that integrate gender equity into their personnel policies, such as robust parental leave, child care, flexible work schedules, and relationship abuse workplace policies.

Please note: The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation is not afraid of the word feminism! We encourage you to openly discuss your feminist programming, goals, or approach.

To Apply

APPLY FOR A GRANT

Unsolicited proposals will not be accepted.

[1]  (Freedom to Learn, 2023)

[2]  (CRT Forward, 2021)

[3] Critical Race Studies Program at UCLA

[4] (NAACP Legal Defense Fund, 2021)

[5] “Book Ban Data”, American Library Association, March 20, 2023 and (Friedman & Johnson, 2022)

[6]  (Baker & Rodrigues, 2021)

[7] (Vanity Fair, 2021)