What the Black Community Needs Now: Connection, Focus, and Solidarity for the Long Road Ahead

By LaDawn Sullivan, Executive Director, Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) Fund

The road we walk is long and layered. It is paved with the footsteps of our ancestors who marched, bled, built, and believed. It’s crowded with the dreams of our elders, the weight of our working generations, and the wonder of our youth—eyes wide, hearts hopeful, feet unsure, but moving. And now, more than ever, we must walk it together.

Because what the Black community needs now isn’t new. It’s ancestral. It’s inherited. It’s embedded in our bones.

We need connection.

We need clear, consistent communication.

We need focus.

We need unwavering solidarity.

And we need to put all of it to work—for the long haul.

Our culture teaches us that the past is not a place to avoid but a compass to guide our future. The Akan word Sankofa reminds us to "go back and get it"—to retrieve the wisdom and strength from where we came. Our grandmothers embodied this truth every time they said, “Baby, if you don’t know where you come from, you won’t know where you’re going.”

Fast-forward to today, and that same spirit lives on in more modern lingo: “Check on your people.” Not just when there's a crisis or protest. But on regular days. In the boardroom and the block. In the church pew and the group chat. Connection can’t be episodic—it must be embedded.

At the BRIC Fund, we believe that connection is our foundation. It's why we built the Executive Directors of Color Institute—to make sure Black nonprofit leaders and other leaders of color in Colorado aren’t out here building alone. It’s why we prioritize multi-generational partnerships—because we know progress isn’t a relay. It’s a continuous passing of the baton, not just in leadership, but in love, responsibility, and vision.

There’s a lie often whispered about us: that we’re divided, distracted, and dysfunctional. But we know better.

We are complex, yes. We are multi-layered and multi-generational. Elders holding the blueprint, the sandwich generation protecting the legacy, young professionals redefining power, and children growing up digital and determined. Our challenge isn’t that we’re broken. It’s that we’re busy surviving systems designed to break us.

What we need is focus.

Focus on what matters most: keeping our organizations compliant, our dollars circulating, our leaders supported, and our communities resourced. At BRIC, we’re doing that every day by investing in capacity-building—not just grants, but the kind of infrastructure support that keeps the lights on, the doors open, and the vision alive. We help nonprofits not only stay open, but stay ready—to respond, to resist, and to rise.

As social innovator and Black philanthropic godfather Dr. Emmett D. Carson wisely stated, “Philanthropy is not just about giving money—it’s about transferring values and resources across generations to ensure our people not only survive, but thrive.”

Let’s be real: we are the only people who can turn a funeral into a family reunion, a protest into a praise break, and a cookout into a planning meeting.

There’s something sacred about our joy. It is not a distraction from our struggle—it is resistance itself.

Auntie might say, “Don’t let them stress you into forgetting who you are.” That’s love, and that’s strategy. We are fighting real threats—from the rollback of DEI, to economic divestment, to political attempts to erase our history. But we are not fighting empty-handed. We carry our humor, our brilliance, our spiritual grounding, and each other.

Connection + Commitment = Collective Power. To move forward, we need to stay connected—not only to each other, but to our mission.

The BRIC Fund is committed to building a permanent, Black-led and Black-serving philanthropic infrastructure. That’s not a five-year plan. That’s a forever plan. We need people who are in it for the long game: investing in Black-led nonprofits, mentoring the next generation, protecting our elders’ legacy, and funding our freedom—not just our survival.

We are proud to stand in solidarity with organizations like the POISE Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest Black community foundations. Based in Pittsburgh, POISE has modeled what long-term, Black-centered investment looks like. They didn’t wait for mainstream philanthropy to catch up—they built their own table. Whether it’s providing general operating support or creating culturally responsive grantmaking criteria with community voices at the center, POISE lives out the belief that we know what we need.

As Mark Lewis, President and CEO of POISE Foundation, puts it: “Our liberation cannot be outsourced. If we don’t fund our own solutions, we’ll always be at the mercy of someone else’s priorities.”

Short term, we continue to fund and uplift organizations doing critical work—feeding families, educating youth, protecting mental health, and building economic mobility.

Long term, we’re developing leadership pipelines, growing a BRIC Builders donor base, and calling on institutions to make bold investments in Black-led intermediary funds like ours. We’re laying a foundation that future generations won’t have to dig out from—but can build upon.

Let Us Be Clear - We are not waiting for rescue.  

We are the strategy.

We are the solution.

We are the legacy and the future.

Now is the time to reconnect. Recommit. Refocus. And walk in solidarity—with our elders, our peers, and our youth. Black resilience isn’t a buzzword. It’s our birthright. And through connection, focus, and love—we will build forward. One BRIC at a time.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African proverb“Ain’t no quitting in us. We’ve just got to love each other enough to make it through.” – Uncle Howard, at every Sunday dinner

Join us.

Donate. Mentor. Partner. Speak up.

We are stronger together. And what we need now—is you.

Visit BRICfund.org to “Get Involved”. Learn how you can contribute your time, talent, treasure, testimony, and ties to strengthen Black-led nonprofits in Colorado. Your commitment helps ensure that our vision for equity, justice, and liberation is sustained for generations to come.