Anti-Oppression Resources: Get Involved! Organizations and Movements

"We envision a just future for Hawaiʻi
, achieved by investing in the intersections of our diverse histories and cultures to build connections across communities. By making the lives of Black folks visible among what we commonly think of as Local, the Pōpolo Project highlights the vivid, complex diversity of Blackness... We produce educational and cultural learning opportunities, host community gatherings, and create original media that create new narratives for and about Black people, rooting our experiences and identities in a lush ecosystem of knowledge and kinship." -- From website

The NAACP is the world's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Organizational goals include criminal justice reform, economic empowerment, equal-access to education, quality healthcare for all, civic engagement, and international human rights.

"#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.
We are expansive. We are a collective of liberators who believe in an inclusive and spacious movement. We also believe that in order to win and bring as many people with us along the way, we must move beyond the narrow nationalism that is all too prevalent in Black communities. We must ensure we are building a movement that brings all of us to the front.
We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. Our network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements.
We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise.
We affirm our humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.
The call for Black lives to matter is a rallying cry for ALL Black lives striving for liberation." -- From website

Donate or volunteer for the Hawaiʻi
Community Bail Fund. "Money bail for pretrial detention is demonstrably counterproductive making its persistence punitive and regressive. Like the rest of the Criminal Justice System, it disproportionately affects Hawaiians and other people of color. Members of our community who are held in pretrial detention for no reason other than lack of access to money lose jobs, housing, and parental rights every day – this fact is an abomination of justice and must end. By paying bail for Hawaiʻi
residents we are keeping people out of jail, protecting the presumption of innocence, and proving that cash bail is unnecessary." -- From website

"The American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) is our nation’s guardian of liberty working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. In Hawaii since 1965. The ACLU works to ensure that the government does not violate fundamental constitutional rights including, but not limited to, freedom of speech, association and assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, fair and equal treatment, and privacy. If the rights of society’s most vulnerable members are denied, everyone’s rights are imperiled. The ACLU of Hawaii network of volunteers and staff deliver services statewide at no cost to the public. We are a private non-profit, non-partisan and do not accept government funds. Our advocacy is made possible primarily through individual donations." -- From website

"The Social Justice Action Committee believes in the fundamental human rights of all people and fights for policies that protect the persecuted and provide access to the under-served. We address political, educational, social and economic inequality, with an intersectional approach, a racial equity lens and an emphasis on women's, LGBT+ and minority rights. While we primarily work on campaigns affecting Hawaiʻi
residents, we support and stand in solidarity with human rights campaigns across the United States and the world." -- From website

The Hawaiʻi Innocence Project is a law clinic and non-profit with a mission to free prisoners who are factually innocent but who have been wrongfully convicted. Through the work of our volunteers, attorneys, and law students, we strive to not only exonerate the innocent but to also reform the justice system to prevent innocent people from being convicted of crimes they didn’t commit.

Hack the Hood empowers under-resourced youth of color with knowledge, skills, and relationships needed to succeed in tech careers. Through mentorship, culturally-relevant knowledge, 21st-century skills, and community partnerships, we believe youth can become creators of change in their communities.

Purple Maiʻa Foundation is a technology education nonprofit whose mission is to inspire and educate the next generation of culturally grounded, community serving technology makers. We teach coding and computer science through after school and elective classes to Native Hawaiian students, low-income youth, and others who are underrepresented in tech. As we increase access to tech education we also ground students in the knowledge that their ancestors were indigenous innovators who used their skills and perspective to serve their communities and lands.

ʻAo Kahi is a Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education project sponsored by ALU LIKE, Inc. and funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The ʻAo Kahi project is expanding opportunities at Windward CC for Native Hawaiian students to obtain recognized postsecondary credentials and hands-on learning in Information and Computer Science (ICS), specifically in cybersecurity. The project covers Windward CC student tuition to complete the Certificate of Competence in Information Security, a 40-hour internship on campus or with a business organization, and student support throughout the duration of the grant (scheduled for three years).