2018ACCOUNTABIL I TY  REPORT

W W W . L B S B A L T I M O R E . C O M

25 W. Fayette St, Baltimore, MD 21202email: info@lbsbaltimore.comoffice: (410) 374-7683

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

WHO WE ARELeaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS) is a

grassroots think-tank which advances the

public policy interest of Black people, in

Baltimore, through: youth leadership

development, political advocacy, and

autonomous intellectual innovation.

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

A LETTER FROM THE CEO

Greetings, Each year brings its own challenges and opportunities. Thankfully I am surrounded by a team of passionate, leaders that have been able to take challenges head on and seize new opportunities. As we look to find ways to expand our capacity, I first want to thank our faithful Community Sustainers, folks that financially invest in our organization, our vision for Baltimore, on a monthly basis. It is these everyday folks that share a vision for Black Liberation that make our work so successful and essentially autonomous. In 2018 we convened a coalition to jump start the creation of the Pennsylvania Black Arts & Entertainment, the first of its kind in Maryland. We successfully fought against the problematic crime bill presented in the General Assembly. We celebrated positive and powerful mainstream images of Black people by co-sponsoring a showing of "Black Panther" in February. During the 2018 Gubernatorial Primary, we released our first Legislative Report Card to document the track records of our state elected officials. Leaders of a Beautiful is a political force that continues to be successful at holding public officials accountability and creating innovative ways to change the material conditions of Black people. The work is not easy but I believe Black liberation is obtainable when we have a collective focus on Black empowerment. 2019 will be another stepping stone towards our goal of collective Black empowerment. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to serve you!

Sincerely,

Adam J. Jackson

Chief Execut ive Off icer

Leaders of a Beaut ifu l Struggle

SectionsOverview

Awards & RecognitionPublic Policy

Arts & CultureCommunity Collaborations

LBS in the NewsLeadership Team

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

OVERVIEWIn 2017 LBS exper ienced tremendous growth. We spent 2018

strategical ly p lanning to cont inue the upward trajectory.

NUMBER OF SUSTAINERS IN 2018

In 2017 the number of Community Sustainers tr ip led!

362

SOCIAL MEDIAOur onl ine presence is consistent ly growing whi le engagement

is at an al l t ime high with comments, shares and react ions.

10.7k7.7k 3.3k

In addit ion to our tradit ional fundrais ing efforts our #Fi l lTheFist

campaign helped us increase our Community Sustainer program by

xx%.

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

OVERVIEW CONT .

In 2018 we focused heavi ly on personal and profess ional development specif ical ly around heal ing the wounds of

oppress ion and learning ways to promote heal ing to others in our community. Two extremely impactful tra in ings included AYA Educat ional Inst i tute ’s Warr ior-Healer-

Bui lders and Kindred Wel lness #Heal ingBmoreAct iv ists .

The leadership team. (From left to right: Lawrence Grandpre, Ashlee Johnson, Nadirah Smith, Adam Jackson, Dayvon Love, Lady Brion.)

Director of Public Policy, Dayvon Love released his

second book "Worse Than Trump: The

American Plantation"

Cultural Curator, Lady Brion released her Book/CD combo "With My Head

Unbowed".

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

AWARDS & RECOGNIT IONWe are honored to be recognized as leaders in the socia l just ice/advocacy realm. Awards we received last year include:

2018 Sojourner Truth Award given by George Mason UniversityDream Keeper Award given by New Waverly United Methodist Church at the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s AssassinationLBS accepted as a project of BALT’s Legal Brain Trust. Announced October 25, 2018Rapper J. Cole responded to Colin Kaepernick’s Million Dollar Pledge donating $10,000 to LBS as part of the #10for10Encore campaign. Announced February 2018

Social media announcement from the #10for10Encore campaign

PUBLIC POLICY

- Dayvon Love,

"The Democratic Party is afraid of authentic grassroots empowerment because it undermines the establishment's ability to

maintain their power."

at "The Real State of Our Union” panel at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, DC

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

PUBLIC POLICYWe had s ignif icant v ictor ies in 2018 both on legis lat ion and in increasing publ ic educat ion about the pol i t ical sphere in Balt imore.

Bobby Zirkins office received over 50 calls in opposition to SB 122January 18, 2018 LBS publishes “The Community Restoration Fund - A Policy Road Map to Reparations for the ‘War on Weed’” by Lawrence GrandpreHosted 3 election related events including a Governor's Debate, Primary Election Watch Night Party, and General Election Watch Night PartyJune 4, 2018 marked the online release of LBS’ 2018 Legislative Report CardReleased “Navigating Bi-Partisan Anti-Blackness: A Case Study from Maryland” by Lawrence Grandpre. Leaders of a Beautiful StruggleOur CEO, Adam Jackson, launched #CoffeeandPolitics Hosted our Annual Black Legislative Agenda Day

Dayvon Love at "The Real State of Our Union” panel at Shiloh Baptist Church in

Washington, DC

ARTS AND CULTURE

ARTS & CULTUREAfter our Cultural Curator, Lady Br ion, re leased “With My Head Unbowed” Poetry CD and Book combo, she jump- started the creat ion of the Pennsylvania Black Arts & Entertainment Distr ict . This wi l l be the f irst state designated Black A & E Distr ict in the country. See the progress t imel ine below.

May 2018, Lady Brion joined with the Pennsylvania Avenue Benefit committee to create what became the Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts and Entertainment District Coalition (PABAEDC)June 2018, Intent to Apply submitted to Maryland State Arts CouncilJuly 2018, LBS hosted an info session as a Malcolm X TalkAugust 2018, Maryland State Arts Council did a site visit and walk through on Pennsylvania AvenueSeptember 2018, The PABAED coalition hosted a block party style kick-off event with 650 RSVP’sNovember 2018, The PABAED coalition hosted “Community Conversations” to hear and collect resident storiesDecember 2018, The PABAED coalition hosted an “Envisioning Session” with 75 attendees at the Arch Social Club* The PABAED intends to submit the final application in March 2019.

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

In October, we partnered with Keys Empowerment, Seeds of Promise, Arch

Social Club's Young Wolves and Annie E Casey Foundation to canvass and talk to

residents about the Black Arts District initiative.

COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONSWe understand that progress cannot be made in iso lat ion. Therefore col laborat ion and partnership is at the center of our work. In addit ion to working with the organizat ions l isted below, we relocated our off ice to The Haskins Center at The Harbor Bank, a co-working space for Black inst i tut ions.

Jobs Opportunities Task Force Out For Justice The Haskins Center for Community and Economic DevelopmentNew Waverly United Methodist ChurchIda B’s TableFlight American Fusion RestaurantTerra CafeKindred WellnessNeighborhood Design CenterDruid Heights CDCUniversity of Baltimore

The Living Well Intentional Community Building Collective Black Girls Vote I Mix What I Like Associated Black Charities Keys EmpowermentSeeds of PromiseArch Social ClubPennsylvania Main StreetUpton PlanningFlight Blight Baltimore Avenue Bakery

We partnered with 3 Black-led organizations to host a day of events in support of the Black

Panther movie premiere.

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

IN THE NEWS. . .

1/5/18 - Adam interview with Lisa Snowden-McCray about BCYF on The Real News Network1/9/18 - “Six Local Groups Announce ‘Black Panther Premiere Party and TalkBlack” by Brandon Weigel. Baltimore FishBowl1/10/18 - Lawrence comment on how money corrupts the political process, RE: Nat Oaks. The Real News Network1/17/18 - “Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle’s Adam Jackson discusses Baltimore’s $12 million youth fund” by Lisa Snowden-McCray. Baltimore Beat1/25/18 - Adam interview with Xavier Plater of Douglass High School for “Baltimore Pioneers” series1/29/18 - Adam interview with youth of Media Rhythm Institute3/7/18 - “Zirkin Wrongly Supports Mandatory Minimum Sentencing” by Dayvon Love. The Baltimore Sun3/27/18 “Public expresses disappointment when city delegation meeting moves behind closed doors” by David Collins. WBALTV114/3/18 - “Activists look to kill a crime bill making its way through Annapolis” by Hassan Giordano. Independent, freelance writer.4/4/18 - “Martin Luther King Jr’s Legacy lives on in the work of young Baltimore activists” by Andrea K McDaniels. The Baltimore Sun.4/9/18 - “Mandatory Minimum Sentence for Gun Crimes Bill Set to Pass by Tonight”. ABC2 News5/11/18 - “How Some States Are Planning to Compensate the Communities Most Devastated by the War on Drugs” by Emmanuel Felton. Pacific Standard.5/22/18 - “The Political Power of Policy” by Taya Graham’s Truth and Reconciliation podcast on WYPR.7/7/18 - “Baltimore community groups learn how to apply for youth funding” by Andrea K McDaniels. The Baltimore Sun.7/25/18 - “Grant reviewers to decide who gets part of $12M Children and Youth Fund” by Jayne Miller. WBALTV 117/30/18- "What Would A Black Arts and Entertainment District Mean for Baltimore?" by Eze Jackson, The Real News Network9/5/18- "The Color Line" by Lauren LaRocca, Baltimore Magazine9/7/18- "Art of Activism" by Elsa M., WMAR Baltimore9/8/18- "Event Pick: Make art, watch live music and support the push for Baltimore’s own Black Arts District by Ethan McLeod, Baltimore Fishbowl9/13/18- "Creating a Black arts district would celebrate our city's history" by the Editorial Board, The Johns Hopkins News-Letter11/01/18. Kojo Namdi Show. Black Voters in the 2018 Maryland Election. Lawrence Grandpre. WEAA 88.9

In September, Lady Brion and Nneka Nnamdi

spoke with Elsa M. of WMAR about the

Pennsylvania Ave Black Arts & Entertainment

District

What is an LBS Sustainer?An LBS Sustainer is someone who financially invests in the

organization on a monthly basis.

You choose the size of your contribution. Give as little as $2 or as

much as $50.

You invest via your credit card or PayPal and charged each month on

the same date

(like a Netflix subscription).

THE LEADERSHIP TEAM

LEADERS OF A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE 2018 ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Adam J. JacksonChief Executive Officer

Nadirah SmithChief Operation Officer

Lawrence GrandpreDirector of Research

Dayvon LoveDirector of Public Policy

Brion GillCultural Curator

Ashlee JohnsonDirector of CommunityEngagement

Thank You to our key supporters and volunteers!

Hanifah Parker-MorrisonBookkeeper

SPECIAL THANK YOU TOOUR PARTNERS!

PHOTO CREDITSMAKAYLA GILLIAM- PRICE | TAFARI MELISIZWE | DOMINIC NELL

We appreciate the collaborations we've had in 2018 with these grassroots organizations, in an effort to: increase public awareness, facilitate free public

education events, and support promising community innovations.