Meaningful solidarity involves investing in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) organizations that are working toward systemic change, community safety, and economic equity. These organizations focus on grassroots organizing, abolition, and direct community support, with a commitment to centering queer and trans leadership.
Local Chicago BIPOC Organizations
The following groups are on the ground in Chicago, led by and for the communities they serve.
Assata’s Daughters
- A Black woman-led organization that provides mentorship and political education for young Black people in Chicago. They operate through a Black queer feminist lens, focusing on police abolition and revolutionary community services.
- Support: Assata’s Daughters Donation Page
The #LetUsBreathe Collective
- An alliance of artists and activists imagining a world without prisons or police. They operate the “Breathing Room” on the South Side, which serves as a healing hub and creative space for the most marginalized voices in the city.
- Support: LetUsBreathe Collective Donation Page
Equity and Transformation (EAT)
- Founded by and for post-incarcerated Black people, EAT works to build social and economic equity for Black workers in the informal economy, ensuring that justice-impacted individuals of all genders have a voice.
- Support: EAT Chicago Donation Page
Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD)
- An undocumented-led group that fights against the deportation and criminalization of immigrant communities. OCAD is deeply intersectional, frequently highlighting and defending the rights of LGBTQ+ migrants.
- Support: OCAD Donation Page
A Long Walk Home
- A Chicago-based national organization that uses art to empower young Black women and girls to end violence against all women and girls. They are explicitly inclusive of trans and gender-non-conforming youth in their leadership programs.
- Support: A Long Walk Home Donation Page
National BIPOC Organizations
These organizations work at the federal and movement-wide level to dismantle systemic racism and build collective power.
Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)
- A national network of over 150 organizations. M4BL is explicitly committed to a Black queer feminist framework, ensuring that the movement for Black lives includes and centers Black trans and queer people.
- Support: M4BL Donation Page
Color Of Change
- The nation’s largest online racial justice organization. They lead campaigns specifically targeting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and corporate discrimination, recognizing that racial justice and queer liberation are inseparable.
- Support: Color Of Change Donation Page
Advancement Project
- A next-generation civil rights organization that provides legal and strategic support to grassroots racial justice movements. They have a dedicated focus on ending the school-to-prison pipeline for BIPOC queer and trans youth.
- Support: Advancement Project Donation Page
Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100)
- A member-based organization of Black youth activists. BYP100 is “radically inclusive” and uses a Black queer feminist lens to guide all of its campaigns for economic and social justice.
- Support: BYP100 Donation Page
SisterSong
- The Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. SisterSong defines reproductive justice as the right to have children, not have children, and raise them in safe environments—a framework that includes the rights of trans and gender-non-conforming people to bodily autonomy.
- Support: SisterSong Donation Page
Mijente
- Mijente is a national political home for Latinx and Chicanx people that builds power through intersectional organizing to fight for racial, economic, and climate justice. They lead high-impact campaigns to challenge systemic oppression and build collective autonomy through the collaboration of organizers, tech workers, and artists.
- Support: https://mijente.net/campaigns/
Center for Native Futures
- The Center for Native Futures is an Indigenous artist-run organization in Chicago dedicated to fostering contemporary Native fine arts and Indigenous Futurism. It provides a vital platform for Native creators to challenge historical narratives and envision thriving realities through exhibitions and community programs.
- Support: https://www.centerfornativefutures.org/
And The List Goes On!
Please note that the organizations featured here are intended as a starting point and do not constitute an exhaustive list. There are countless other incredible groups doing vital work, and you’re encouraged to explore and seek out additional organizations that align with your specific interests and values. If you feel called to take action, we invite you to get involved in whatever way resonates most with you: whether through advocacy, volunteering, or community support. Follow your heart and find the space where your contribution feels most meaningful.