This fall the RFC awarded 64 grants totaling $169,515 for 134 children from 72 families. Seven are new awards, of which two are for Targeted Activist Youth (TAY); and 57 are renewals, including one group award and a grant for the 2014 Family Gathering.
NEW
1. Herman Warsh Memorial Fund.* $2000 Attica Fund Prison Visit grant** for the three children, ages eight to 18, whose mother was a leader in the movement demanding the right for residents to return to their public housing units post-Katrina. She crossed police lines, organized clean-ups of apartments slated to be demolished, led marches, fought against police brutality and stood in front of bulldozers to halt the destruction of housing. In retaliation, she was harassed and convicted on false assault charges. LA
(*See www.rfc.org/namedfunds to learn more.)
(**Attica Fund Prison Visit grants enable the children and grandchildren of political prisoners to visit their jailed loved ones.)
2. Father Disabled by Police Beating. $4800 for camp for the three children, ages three to four, whose father, a whistleblower for worker and consumer safety, was laid off and faced a death threat warning him to drop the cases against his former employer. While seeking support from government officials he was arrested, attacked by a police officer, seriously injured, and left untreated. He faces charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Despite multiple surgeries, he is incapacitated and partially paralyzed. MA
3. Former Political Prisoner Faces Ongoing Harassment. $4000 for educational support for the six-year-old twins whose father was incarcerated for 11 years for actions taken to oppose U.S. support for apartheid. Since his release he has worked against the death penalty and isolation and control units, and for the release of U.S. political prisoners. The Dept. of Homeland Security and the FBI have continued to target him causing him to lose several jobs. MA
4. Family Threatened with Physical Harm. $2000 for childcare for the one-year-old son who was an infant when his parents, both environmental activists, faced attacks for their work to safeguard public forests and water supplies from destructive logging and mining activities. Online posts advocated shooting, stabbing, beating and torturing the family in retaliation for the parents’ conservation work. OR
5. Mother Targeted for Helping Prisoners. $1500 for cultural programs for the four-year-old son whose mother, a human rights activist, has been harassed and abused by law enforcement for years. After befriending a U.S. political prisoner and working with him to create a successful alternative program for inmates at a federal penitentiary, she was denied visitation with the inmate and threatened with prosecution. NY
6. Youth Imprisoned for Fighting Racism. $1000 Development grant* for a computer for the 22-year-old TAY, an anti-racist activist, who was recently released after more than two years in prison. He was one of 18 members of an anti-racist organization who confronted a white supremacist group meeting at a local restaurant. A brawl ensued, but only the anti-racists were charged despite numerous prior violent convictions of many of the white supremacists. IL
(*Development grants of up to $1000 are given to TAY to further their education, support their emotional needs or develop their organizing skills.)
7. Young Activist Evades Grand Jury. $1000 Development grant for a computer for the 23-year-old TAY who fled to Canada after being threatened with a sub-poena by the FBI to appear before a grand jury for his involvement with several social justice groups. He experienced surveillance and harassment in Canada; after nearly two years he returned to the U.S. where agents continued to follow and threaten him. OR
RENEWALS
8. Clinton E. Jencks Memorial Fund. $1900 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 (The Jencks Fund will cover part of this grant.)
9-14. Parents Fight for Better Environment, Racial Equality. $25,500 for a broad range of programs for 17 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
15-18. Parents Working Together for Peace. $7670 for educational support and two Carry It Forward (CIF) awards* for eight children, ages three to 21, from four families whose parents are members of pacifist communities. The parents have engaged in peaceful anti-war protests and some have been imprisoned for civil disobedience. ME, NJ, NY, 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.)
19. Anti-Racist Activism Costs Family. $7500 for dance and music lessons for the four children, ages three to 10, whose mother was targeted for advocating for fellow students’ rights and dismissed from her graduate program. As a result, she lost her job teaching at the university and cannot find full-time employment in her field. CO
20. Son of Political Prisoner Targeted for his Activism. $7500 for school tuition for the five children, ages seven to 17, whose father, himself the son of a political prisoner, was fired for giving a lecture supporting political prisoners. GA
21. Mother Gives Birth Behind Bars. $7500 for extracurricular activities and childcare for the five children, ages one 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. TX
22-23. Muslim Peace Activists Targeted. $6225 for school tuition and two CIF awards for six children, ages nine to 19, from two families. Their 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
24. Family Threatened by KKK. $5700 for orthodontia, educational support and a CIF award for five children, ages 10 to 19, whose mother received death threats from the Klan for her efforts to desegregate a public housing complex. OR
25. Mother Forced Out of Job. $5100 for sports programs, school tuition and a CIF award for the four children, ages nine to 19, 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
26. Support for Children of Pacifist. $4500 for childcare and sports programs for the two daughters, ages four and 16, and the 18-year-old son, whose father was arrested during an anti-missile shield Greenpeace action. OK
27. Doula’s Livelihood Threatened. $4500 for school tuition for the three children, ages five to eight, whose mother, a reproductive rights advocate, was har-assed by hospital staff and barred from assisting with births at that hospital. GA
28. Daughters Assaulted. $4000 for educational support for the eight-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter whose mother, an anti-female genital mutilation activist, was forced to flee her home country after two of her daughters were attacked in retaliation for her work. NY
29. Teacher Fired for Advocating for her Students. $4000 for childcare and educational support for the two children, ages six and 19, whose mother, a public school teacher, lost her job because of her efforts on behalf of her students. GA
30. Children of Torture Survivors. $3500 for a group grant for a therapeutic music program for 11 children, ages six to 18, from five families. The fathers in each family were pro-democracy activists in African countries who were all tortured before seeking asylum in the U.S. IL
31. Father Sentenced to 65 Years in Prison. $3200 for a computer and an Attica grant for the two daughters, ages 14 and 20, whose father was convicted of providing material support for terrorist organizations for assisting groups working for peace in the Middle East. TX
32. Family’s Home Raided. $3000 for computers for the 16 and 18-year-old daughters whose father organized demonstrations against corporations that pro-duce genetically modified foods. His apartment was raided and he and other activists were held for hours, searched and interrogated. MN
33. Mother Threatened with Loss of Son. $3000 for educational support for the six-year-old daughter and 15-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
34. Family Targeted for Decades. $2500 for childcare and school tuition for the two sons, ages three and seven, whose father, a third generation human rights activist, struggles with PTSD. He and his family have been followed and targeted for their organizing. GA
35. Iraqi Refugee Children. $2100 for piano lessons and a CIF award for the 16-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son whose mother assisted civilians in Baghdad. She was kidnapped, interrogated, beaten and forced to flee, eventually settling in the U.S. IL
36. Family’s Home Bulldozed. $2000 for orthodontia for the 16-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
37. Two Generations Fight for Activists. $2000 for a computer for the 14-year-old daughter whose mother and grandmother were detained and tortured for protesting students’ human rights violations in their North African home country, and fled to the U.S. IL
38. Parents Face Threat of Deadly Force. $1968 for music lessons for the 12-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter whose parents have participated in numer-ous protests at a local base despite a declaration from officials allowing the use of deadly force against protestors. CA
39. Mother Attacked. $1900 for a skills-training course for the 19-year-old son whose mother, an animal rights activist, suffered numerous beatings, arrests and a miscarriage at the hands of the police. PA
40. Mother Fights to End Torture. $1800 for swimming and piano lessons for the 10-year-old daughter whose mother advocated for women whose rights had been violated in her home country. She was detained and arrested before seeking refuge in the U.S. IL
41. Sons Flee with Mother. $1730 for sports programs for two sons, ages 11 to 13, whose mother was threatened with prison for trying to address the needs of low-income families. TX
42. Young Blogger Under Death Threat. $1600 for a Development grant and a CIF award for the 22-year-old TAY refugee who was ostracized from her community and had her life threatened for her advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality in her home country. NY
43. Father Jailed and Tortured. $1500 for an after-school circus arts program and educational support for the 12-year-old daughter whose father was a leader in the fight against human rights violations in his West African home country. He was imprisoned and tortured before escaping with his daughters to the U.S. IL
44. Mother Disabled by Beating. $1500 for an upright bass for the 16-year-old daughter, a concert cellist and bassist, whose mother was attacked during a Re-publican National Convention. WA
45. Twice Imprisoned Father. $1500 for music lessons for the 12-year-old daughter whose father served eight months for destroying traps set for mountain lions, and was re-incarcerated for accepting a Facebook friend request. MI
46. Daughter of Activist Loses Job, Keeps Fighting for Others. $1500 for school tuition for the three-year-old granddaughter, whose grandmother/guardian, the daughter of a former Black Panther political prisoner, experienced police harassment as a child but still organizes on behalf of political prisoners despite continued targeting. GA
47. Jailers Threaten to Burn Children. $1500 for tutoring for the 15-year-old son of a refugee women’s rights activist who was tortured and warned that her children could be attacked. OK
48. Five Years for Demonstrating. $1440 for school tuition for the 15-year-old daughter whose father was imprisoned for protesting the Navy’s use of Vieques as a bombing range. PR
49. Family’s Home Raided. $1343 for cultural and sports programs for the nine-year-old daughter whose father faced harassment after refusing to testify be-fore a grand jury investigating a peace and international solidarity group. IL
50. Second Generation Activist. $1320 for music lessons for the 13-year-old daughter whose father, himself the son of an African American political prisoner, has been harassed by police for years, both because of his father and for his own efforts on behalf of political prisoners and other human rights issues. PA
51. Former Black Panther Re-Arrested. $1300 for a computer for the 18-year-old daughter whose father, a former political prisoner, was tortured into confessing to a crime and later imprisoned based on the coerced confession. FL
52. Jailed Father Fought for Indigenous Rights. $1000 for orthodontia for the 17-year-old son of a deceased Native American prisoners’ rights activist. NM
53. Union Dad Imprisoned. $1000 for sports and after-school programs for the 10-year-old son whose father, a trade unionist, was the co-founder of an immi-grants’ rights collective and was arrested on politically motivated charges. FL
54. Father Refuses to be Silenced Despite Torture. $983 for tennis and piano lessons for the 14-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
55. Son Separated from Father. $420 for phone calls from his incarcerated father for the seven-year-old son of an Occupy activist who was arrested for protesting a NATO Summit. He was convicted of several felonies and is serving five-plus years in prison. IL
CIF AWARDS
56-61. $4800 for eight beneficiaries, ages 18 to 24, from six families. CA, CT, NY
ATTICA PRISON VISIT PROGRAM GRANTS
62-63. $4000 for three beneficiaries, ages five to 18, from two families. CA, ND
SPECIAL GRANT
64. RFC Gathering. $6216 to help cover the cost of the 2014 Family Gathering. MA