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Reform and Transformation in Local Politics
Chloe Beebe
NAACP of Santa Cruz County
NAACP of Santa Cruz County
The NAACP of Santa Cruz County's mission is to end race-based discrimination and ensure equal rights for all individuals. They do so by focusing on political, educational, economic, and social spheres . The NAACP follows through on their mission statement by conducting advocacy work and going through the local government system to change and amend policy. This is a branch of the nationwide organization, which was founded in 1909.
Research Question: How does the traditional nonprofit structure and reformist approach to organizing effect the ability for the NAACP to follow through on their mission statement? What is the role of small town connections and community coalitions in this? Does that affect the ability for the organization to create transformational change?
Research Question: How does the traditional nonprofit structure and reformist approach to organizing effect the ability for the NAACP to follow through on their mission statement? What is the role of small town connections and community coalitions in this? Does that affect the ability for the organization to create transformational change?
Thesis Statement: The Non-Profit Industrial Complex (NPIC) is deeply embedded in the traditional non-profit organizing model, and can lead to a structural emphasis on the wrong things; such as achieving successes for appearance on paper rather than helping those an organization seeks to serve. This failure of the nonprofit system itself is seen in the reformist approach which prioritizes "tinkering" with the system by focusing on isolated aspects of inequality or oppression rather than the system as a whole. This reformist approach ultimately hinders the type of meaningful change that can occur through an organization, even with the small town lean towards forming strong and bonded community coalitions.
Thesis Statement: The Non-Profit Industrial Complex (NPIC) is deeply embedded in the traditional non-profit organizing model, and can lead to a structural emphasis on the wrong things; such as achieving successes for appearance on paper rather than helping those an organization seeks to serve. This failure of the nonprofit system itself is seen in the reformist approach which prioritizes "tinkering" with the system by focusing on isolated aspects of inequality or oppression rather than the system as a whole. This reformist approach ultimately hinders the type of meaningful change that can occur through an organization, even with the small town lean towards forming strong and bonded community coalitions.
Social and Historical Context
Social and Historical Context
Santa Cruz Demographics
Santa Cruz Demographics
According to the United States Census, the Santa Cruz population has increased by 6.8% in the last ten years, showing an increase in the popularity of the city and possibly more difficulty competing for resources. Santa Cruz is a majority White town (72.6%) with a 2.1% Black population. The Black population has just raised over 2% in the last few years. The NAACP highlights that the biggest issues facing the Black community here are housing, education, and economic opportunity. With an already small population spread out across the county and a competitive job market, time and space for community bonding is difficult. According to the Santa Cruz Black Health Matters Initiative, the majority of participants claim they rarely interact with African American people in a week outside of their households and close friends. This is important for how folks in Santa Cruz relate to each other, and leads to an increased social need in organizing spaces for people of color.
COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic and move to remote meetings was incredibly influential for the work the NAACP could do. There were multiple mentions during field study of the impact of not having in person meetings on the quality of work we could complete. This also ended the monthly in person meetings the NAACP held at a church in Downtown Santa Cruz. COVID-19 also disproportionately effected communities of color. 42% of participants in the Santa Cruz Black Health Matters Initiative state that they have experienced social isolation as a result of being Black in Santa Cruz County, which was exacerbated when social and community staples had to go remote during the pandemic. In 2020, the Board of Supervisors of Santa Cruz County declared Racism a public health crisis. This reflects the recognition of the county of racism as a social and historical context for suffering and oppression.
Non-Profit Industrial Complex
Non-Profit Industrial Complex
Andrea Smith's introduction to the book The Revolution Will Not Be Funded by INCITE! cites Dylan Rodríguez with this definition of the NPIC: “a set of symbiotic relationships that link political and financial technologies of state and owning class control with surveillance over public political ideology, including and especially emergent progressive and leftist social movements.”
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