[Lansing, Michigan, August 11, 2022] – One Love Global is one of 30 locally embedded non-profit organizations selected to join the Catalyst Grant Program, an initiative to support local communities in using data and technology to advance racial equity in the criminal legal system, the Urban Institute and the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative announced today.
One Love Global and the other participating organizations have proposed projects that will use technology to analyze, visualize, and share data to strengthen community organizing, advocacy, and service provision.
One Love Global was chosen following a highly competitive selection process that drew applications from across the country. Through the Catalyst Grant, One Love Global will highlight criminal legal system disparities in Ingham County, Michigan to advance data-driven transparency and racial equity in prosecution through a Black-led, survivor-led, community-led organizing and education campaign. This will center around the Lansing People’s Assembly co-governance process to engage Black community members and allies in learning and democratic decision-making.
One Love Global and the other organizations participating in the Catalyst Grant Program will receive funds to cover project implementation; assistance on data, policy, and community engagement from Urban; access to Microsoft technology and related support; and peer learning opportunities. Key learnings and resources emerging from the Catalyst Grant Program will be shared with and beyond the justice reform field.
A recent examination of 2019 prosecution data in Lansing, Michigan showed significant racial disparities in interactions with the criminal legal system. While Lansing’s population is 11% Black people and 70% white people, Black people make up 56% of prosecution cases in Lansing. Black people are 1.7 times more likely to be stopped by police and 3 times more likely to be searched than white people. In 2019, 37% of misdemeanor cases were filed against Black people compared to 51% of cases filed against white people. For felonies, 50% cases were filed against Black people compared to 41% cases against white people. The prosecutor’s office has made some policy changes to reduce prosecution cases, but data showed that while they were able to reduce prosecution cases, the racial disparity did not change. These disparities have a devastating impact on Black community members and Lansing.
The 30 Catalyst Grant Program grantees are located in 19 states and Puerto Rico, deepening the work of the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative across the country. Information about the selected projects, as well as updates related to the Justice Reform Initiative Catalyst Grant Program, will be published on https://www.urban.org/catalyst-grant-program
###
About One Love Global
One Love Global is a Black-led community organization based in Lansing, Michigan. We transform communities so Black children experience justice, peace, healing, opportunity, and abundance. We envision global liberation and reparations where Black people experience radical love of self, community, and planet. To achieve this, One Love Global serves as a movement leader, backbone, and capacity builder to dismantle systems of racism and break transgenerational cycles of poverty and trauma. We center the voices and leadership of Black youth and build power toward racial equity at the intersections of educational, economic, and environmental justice.
About the Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. We are a trusted source for changemakers who seek to strengthen decisionmaking, create inclusive economic growth, and improve the well-being of families and communities. For more than 50 years, Urban has delivered facts that inspire solutions—and this remains our charge today.
About the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative
The Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative works to empower communities and advance racial equity in the justice system by providing grants to organizations as they support community members and policy makers working to prevent unnecessary justice system involvement and eliminate racial disparities in policing and prosecution practices. More information about the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative is available at Microsoft.com/JRI.
Comments