Giving Compass' Take:

• Philanthropy News Digest interviews Color of Change's executive director Rashad Robinson about the organization's legacy of holding policymakers and corporations responsible for creating a more equitable society.

• This is a good example of how a grassroots organization can wield tremendous power by mobilizing the passions of mindful citizens, and Robinson makes sure to address Color of Change's strategy in connection with the Trump administration. Where will the next battle be fought?

• Here's how to think creatively about social activism.

Color Of Change was founded in 2005 by activists James Rucker and Van Jones shortly after the federal government’s feckless response to Hurricane Katrina left tens of thousands of residents of New Orleans, many of them poor and black, stranded for days without adequate supplies of food, water, or shelter. Rucker and Jones’ idea was to replicate the MoveOn.org model, using email and the Internet to engage and mobilize African Americans to pressure decision-makers in government and corporate America to create a more just and equitable world for black people in America.

Rashad Robinson joined the organization, which today counts over a million online members, as executive director in 2011 and recently was named president. PND spoke with him via email about the impetus behind the organization’s founding, hate speech on college campuses, and the state of race relations in America.

What issue or issues is the Color Of Change community getting traction on in 2018?

RR: Color Of Change has led the charge in successfully targeting corporate enablers of Trump’s destructive right-wing agenda. Last year, we began privately pressuring corporations like PayPal and Visa to stop processing donations for white supremacist websites, which led PayPal to stop working with thirty-nine racist sites. When companies like Visa, Mastercard, and Discover continued to be unresponsive following the tragedy in Charlottesville, where a woman protesting the right-wing Unite the Right rally was murdered, we took our effort public — launching a campaign called #NoBloodMoney with a website and a petition demanding that the companies stop supporting hate groups. Within three days, Visa, Mastercard, and Discover all took steps to stop processing donations for racist hate sites.

Read the full interview with Rashad Robinson from Color of Change by Mitch Nauffts at PhilanTopic.