This spring the RFC awarded 68 grants totaling just under $188,000. Seven are new awards and 60 are renewal grants. An additional special grant supported the costs of the 2014 Family Gathering that are not covered by a generous lead grant from the Fineshriber Family Foundation (we will have a full report on the Gathering in the next newsletter). This brings the total granted by the RFC to over $5.3 million!

NEW

1. Moish and Lillian Antopol Memorial Fund:* Occupy Activist and Daughter Threatened with Loss of Home. $1711 for summer camp for the 11-year-old daughter whose mother was active with Occupy Wall Street. After a magazine named her as a key member of the group, potential employers cancelled job interviews and temp agencies told her they would no longer place her. She had to relinquish full-time custody of her daughter for six months and faced eviction. NY    

(*See www.rfc.org/namedfunds to learn more.)

2. Antopol Fund: Young Grand Jury Resister Imprisoned. $1000 Development grant* for the 24-year-old targeted activist youth (TAY) who led campus anti-war organizing and helped other activists navigate the legal system. He was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, refused to testify and was dismissed.  Four years later he was re-subpoenaed, again refused to testify and spent eight months in prison on contempt charges. NY   

(*Development grants of up to $1000 are given to TAY to further their education, support their emotional needs or develop their organizing skills.)             

3. Doula’s Livelihood Threatened. $4500 for school tuition for the three children, ages five to eight, whose mother, a reproductive rights advocate, was harassed by hospital staff and ended up in court to protect her patients. The hospital eventually backed down, but she was barred from assisting with births at that hospital. GA

4. Civil Rights Organizer Serving 28 Years. $4000 for summer camp and counseling for the 11 and 16-year-old daughters whose father was a leader of an organization committed to black and brown unity, the enrichment of the Latino community and human and civil rights. He was arrested and convicted on racketeering charges and sentenced to decades in prison despite maintaining his innocence. NC

5. Grandparents Tortured. $2000 for childcare for the three-year-old whose grandmother is helping to raise her. The grandmother was a pro-democracy activist who was tortured for fighting against the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. Once in the U.S., she and her husband, a fellow Chilean activist and torture survivor, founded a community center and speak out against torture. NY                       

6. Son Separated from Father. $1710 for summer camp for the six-year-old son of an Occupy activist who was arrested after traveling to the Midwest to protest the 2012 NATO Summit. He was convicted of several felonies and is serving five-plus years in prison. IL

7. Environmental Activist Imprisoned. $1000 Development grant for the 23-year-old TAY who began organizing through her local Occupy group, focused on environmental justice, and was convicted on felony charges of trespassing and resisting arrest after locking herself to construction equipment being used to expand a tar sands pipeline. MI

RENEWALS

8. Antopol Fund: Family’s Home Raided. $4000 for summer camp for the 15 and 17-year-old daughters whose father was harassed by the police for his role in organizing demonstrations against corporations that produce genetically modified foods. His apartment was raided and he and other activists were held for hours, searched and interrogated. MN

9. Antopol Fund: Father Arrested for Peaceful Protest. $3400 for childcare and violin lessons for the three-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son of peace and environmental activists. The father was convicted of misdemeanor charges after his arrest at a non-violent protest and served six months in federal prison. NY   

10. Antopol Fund: Pacifist Targeted. $2520 for therapy for the 16-year-old daughter who has struggled since her father was imprisoned for his peaceful demonstration against the School of the Americas. NJ

11. Antopol Fund: Youth Protests Military in School. $1000 Development grant for the 22-year-old TAY who organized against recruitment, ROTC shooting ranges, and the removal of college prep courses from his high school. In retaliation, his principal banned him from his own com­mencement. CA       

12. Antopol Fund: Student Fights to Prevent Suicides. $1000 Development grant for the 21-year-old TAY who started a student support group while in high school. Despite numerous acts of sabotage from the principal (including confiscating the group’s funds), the activist became the Student Body President during her senior year and the organization continues to thrive. CA

13. Antopol Fund: Young Activist Endures Assault and Arson. $1000 Development grant for the 19-year-old TAY working for environmental, animal and equal rights whose family faced gunfire and arson at their home. CA

14. Antopol Fund: Outspoken Teen Arrested. $500 for music lessons for the 16-year-old TAY involved with Occupy and Witness Against Torture, who has been arrested numerous times for protesting against war funding and in support of single payer healthcare. IA

15. George and Edith Ziefert Fund. $1500 for orthodontia for the 15-year-old son whose mother had her nation standing stripped, home destroyed and job threatened because of her work against the Bureau of Indian Affairs-appointed leader of her nation. NY        

16. The Ozzy Klate Memorial Fund. $1500 for an after-school circus arts program and educational support for the 11-year-old daughter whose father was a leader in the fight against human rights violations under the repressive dictatorship in his West African home country. He was imprisoned and tortured before escaping with his daughters to the U.S. IL (The Ozzy Klate Memorial Fund will cover part of this grant.) 

17-22. Parents Fight for Better Environment, Racial Equality. $27,500 for a range of cultural and summer programs for 18 children, ages three to 17, from six families. Three mothers and a father were beaten and arrested while marching against environmental racism; others were attacked and/or imprisoned for their community organizing work. CA, GA, NY

23-29. Families Targeted for Decades. $18,691 for summer camp, sports activities, educational support and a Development grant for the 15 children, ages two to 23, from seven families. Targeted for multiple generations, parents have been harassed, beaten, arrested and served jail time for their organizing against racism, for human rights and on behalf of political prisoners. GA, IL, OR, PA, PR

30-34. Parents Working for Peace. $16,660 for cultural activities, sports programs, educational support and a Carry it Forward* award for the 13 children, ages three to 20, from five families who are members of several pacifist communities. The parents have engaged in peaceful anti-war protests and some have been imprisoned for civil disobedience. CA, ME, NC, OK, VA

(*CIF awards of $600 are given to 18 to 24-year-olds to help pay for the cost associated with college or similar programs designed to prepare them for adult life.)

35-36. Muslim Peace Activists Targeted. $9000 for school tuition, a CIF award and two Attica Fund Prison Visit grants* for eight children, ages eight to 20, from two families whose fathers were convicted of terrorist-related money laundering after an FBI sting targeting them for their public anti-war activities and support for a local Mosque. NY

(*Attica Fund Prison Visit grants enable the children and grandchildren of political prisoners to visit their jailed loved ones.)

37. Mother Gives Birth Behind Bars. $7500 for summer camp and childcare for the four children, ages three to 12, whose mother (an Iraq War resister) fled to Canada with her family. After five years she was deported to the U.S. where she served eight months in the brig, and was released several weeks after her youngest child was born. TX

38. Family Threatened by KKK. $7335 for orthodontia, school tuition and a computer for five children, ages nine to 18, whose mother received death threats from the Klan for her efforts to desegregate a public housing complex. OR

39. Mayor Targets Mother. $4800 for music and dance lessons for the three children, ages six to 13, whose mother, an anti-environmental racism activist, was harassed for requesting to know a city council member’s position on locating a soil processing plant in her low-income, predominantly minority community. PA

40-43. Former Puerto Rican Political Prisoners. $4025 for educational support and a CIF award for the four children, ages 15 to 19, from four families, who all have had a parent incarcerated for non-violent actions protesting the Navy’s use of Vieques or for actions in support of Puerto Rican independence. PR

44. Teacher Fired for Advocating for her Students. $4000 for childcare and educational support for the two children, ages six and 18, whose mother, a public school teacher, lost her job because of her efforts on behalf of her students. GA             

45. Mother Forced Out of Job. $3725 for summer camp, sports programs and school tuition for the three children, ages eight to 12, whose mother’s support for an arrested Muslim caused her boss to pressure her to find a job where she’d “feel more at home.” GA  

46. Music Program for Children of Torture Survivors. $3500 for a group grant for 11 children, ages six to 18, from five families, as part of a child and family strengthening program. The fathers in each family were pro-democracy activists in African countries who were all detained and tortured before seeking asylum in the U.S. IL

47. Mother Threatened with Loss of Son. $3500 for educational support for the six-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son whose mother, an LGBTQ community activist, was threatened by the state with the removal of her son because of her activism. OR

48. Family Forced to Flee. $3000 for educational support for the 17-year old daughter whose family was forced to leave Guatemala after her human rights activist father received death threats. IL

49. Iraqi Refugee Children. $3000 for educational support and piano lessons for the 16-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son whose mother assisted civilians in Baghdad shortly after the U.S. invasion. She was kidnapped, interrogated, beaten and forced to flee, eventually settling in the U.S. IL

50. Sons Escape with Mother. $2535 for summer camp and sports programs for the two sons, ages 10 and 13, whose mother was threatened with prison for trying to address the needs of low-income families. TX

51. Father Imprisoned. $2000 for sports lessons and after-school programs for the 10-year-old son whose father, a trade unionist, was the co-founder of an immigrants’ rights collective and was arrested on politically motivated charges. FL

52. Mother Beaten, Arrested. $2000 for tutoring for the 18-year-old son whose mother, an animal rights activist, suffered numerous beatings, arrests and a miscarriage at the hands of the police. PA

53. Father Fought for Indigenous Rights. $2000 for orthodontia for the 15-year-old son of a deceased Native American prisoners’ rights activist. NM

54. Daughters Assaulted. $2000 for educational support for the seven-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter whose mother, an anti-female genital mutilation activist, was forced to flee her home country with her children after two of her daughters were attacked in retaliation for her work. NY               

55. Father Refuses to be Silenced Despite Torture. $2000 for tennis and piano lessons for the 13-year-old daughter whose father survived a year in a concentration camp in Bosnia. He testified against his captors despite receiving numerous death threats. IL       

56. Family’s Home Raided. $1657 for cultural and sports programs for the nine-year-old daughter whose father, part of a peace and international solidarity group, faced harassment after refusing to testify before grand juries investigating other members of the organization. IL

57. Youth Activist Assaulted. $1600 for a Development grant and a CIF award for the 23-year-old TAY who was pepper-sprayed and beaten by police while engaged in non-violent protest at his school. He was threatened with criminal prosecution, thrown off campus and prevented from participating in public events. PR

58. Mother Disabled by Beating. $1500 for summer camp and swim team for the 15-year-old daughter whose mother was attacked during a Republican National Convention. WA

59. Mother Beaten, Pepper-Sprayed and Harassed. $1500 for summer camp and cultural activities for the 13-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son whose mother, an African American community organizer, was targeted by the local police. GA            

60. Child of Imprisoned Native American Environmental Activist. $1400 for counseling and gymnastics for the 11-year-old daughter whose father served an eight-month sentence for destroying traps set for mountain lions, and was re-imprisoned for accepting a Facebook friend request. MI

61. Activist’s Life Threatened. $1200 for music lessons for the 18-year-old daughter whose labor organizer father fled Ecuador after being targeted by death squads. IL

62. Mother Fights to End Torture. $1125 for summer camp for the nine-year-old daughter whose mother provided advocacy and assistance to women whose rights had been violated in her home country. She was detained and arrested before seeking refuge in the U.S. IL

63. Father Fired for Reporting the Truth. $1100 for sports activities for the 14-year-old son whose father, an independent journalist, was fired and blacklisted for expressing progressive views and covering controversial topics. MN

64. Jailers Threaten to Burn Children. $900 for cultural programs and a CIF award for the 14-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter of a refugee women’s rights activist who was tortured and whose children were threatened by her jailers. OK

65. Imprisoned War Resister. $554 for educational support for the three children, ages 11-17, whose soldier father served a four-month sentence for refusing to return to Iraq. CO