The Feministing Five: Rashad Robinson

For this week’s Feministing Five, I caught up with Rashad Robinson, civil rights leader and Executive Director of the nation’s largest online civil rights organization, Color of Change, at over one million members.

Under Rashad’s leadership, the organization has been at the forefront of national conversations about racial justice, from suppression of the black vote to justice for Trayvon Martin and others slain by police brutality to ending Pat Buchanan’s tenure on MSNBC. Color of Change’s mission statement reads that the group “exists to strengthen Black America’s political voice. Our goal is to empower our members – Black Americans and our allies – to make government more responsive to the concerns of Black Americans and to bring about positive political and social change for everyone.”

Prior to Color of Change, Rashad held leadership positions at GLAAD, Right to Vote Campaign and FairVote. He frequently appears on the “Root 100” list of influential African Americans under 45 years old, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, NPR, The Huffington Post, Newsday, and more.

This week, I spoke with Rashad about how he’s grown as an activist throughout his career, what keeps him going in times of strife, how technology and social media contribute to social justice movements, and his vision for how his organization can continue to support black voices and lives in the coming future. Check out Rashad and his current commentary on the DNC and more @rashadrobinson!

Senti Sojwal: I feel like people are always telling young activists that they’re too idealistic, that their ideas about social progress will change as they get older. In some ways this can be true, but it also comes off as so patronizing. How do you feel like you’ve grown or changed as an activist as you’ve become more involved in the work that you do, and what about your activism hasn’t changed?

Rashad Robinson: There are rooms that I sit in where I feel like I’m the elder, and there are still many rooms where I feel I’m very much classified as a young person. I’m in this very interesting space in terms of how I get to see the world and the landscape. I run an organization where every day I’m hearing and listening from everyday people. We get instant feedback across communities. Regardless of age, what people want is something clear and strategic to do. People want to make good on their participation and engagement. For some folks, and particularly young folks, that means protest and being out in the streets. But I am still incredibly inspired by elders who continue to hold the line on aspirational and radical ideas. While I do think folks get more conservative, and we see that, or we become more entrenched, I think it’s less about age and more about who is in the establishment and who is not. We constantly run into young people who are part of the establishment forces and institutions, like corporations, who are not allies themselves. My politics are very much the same as when I was younger. There may be ways in which I engage in those politics and decisions I would make now that are absolutely different than what I would have done ten years ago, and that’s only natural. But my fundamental beliefs in how people should live, their opportunities to be able to have power in our democracy and economy, have not changed.

Senti Sojwal: It’s obviously been a hard few weeks for all Americans, but particularly people of color, with the brutal murders of Philandro Castile, Alton Sterling, and the five officers in Dallas, all of this of course coming at the heels of the Orlando shooting. It’s clear that so many of us feel hopeless and at a loss at a time like this. Where do you feel like you’re able to draw your strength as a civil rights leader at times that can feel so unthinkable?

Rashad Robinson: I constantly draw strength from remembering what those before me must have gone though. Even the stories from my grandmother and grandfather, and those before them, have constantly reminded me of the sacrifices that were made. For many that can feel cliche, but when I truly think about the dehumanization and indignity that black people have faced throughout time, and the struggle and the fighting that people have had to do to get us to this place, if I continue to think about the indignity that people face every day, the mistreatment of black and brown people, of women, of LGBT communities, and all of those at the intersections, I recognize that this is a gift, to be able to wake up every day with the opportunity and ability to channel that frustration into action. For so many folks, they wake up every day and try to make sense of the world, go to workplaces where they can’t even talk about it, and are in spaces where they simply want to have a conversation. I recognize that I have the opportunity to give people something to do. Give people a lifeline. Help people manage their engagement. That for me is a gift and something I don’t take lightly at all.

Senti Sojwal: Color of Change does incredible work when it comes to awareness building, strengthening black America’s political voice, and working to make government more responsive to the concerns of people of color. You’re also the largest online civil rights organization in the country, and have been named the sixth most innovative company in the world by Fast Magazine. What kinds of tools and innovations do you think have contributed to Color of Change’s success?

Rashad Robinson: I think the tech boom, the social media boom, and the emergence of new platforms and tools that can allow people to raise their voice have been a huge help. At the same time, what makes COC unique and important in this moment is that we recognize that those are simply tools. At the heart of what we do is turn the presence that black people have in the world into power. We can’t mistake presence, people talking about our issues, the symbolism of having a black president, having black people in high places, we can’t mistake that for actual power that changes structures of how decisions are made in our country. While there are a ton of tools and we use them, and we believe in being fast, strategic, and innovative, that’s all in the service of understanding that presence does not equal power. Unless we are working to change an unwritten rule, we will be in the same place in five or ten years.

Senti Sojwal: Color of Change does a lot of work challenging dominant constructions of black people in the media. Along with all the work that clearly has to be done with representation in the media, you’ve also said that there are clearly a lot of incredible people of color media makers out there today. Who / what are some of your favorite people of color created and led creative / cultural projects at the moment?

Rashad Robinson: Well some of the people who I just think are absolutely incredible are Mara Brock Akil, Ava DuVernay, Dream Hampton, Ryan Coogler, and these are just a few of the creative voices that are helping to bring stories into the mainstream. They’re thinking not just about how to tell stories, but how to create new models. I’m thinking of the work that Ryan Coogler is doing through the Blackout Collective of bringing artists together. I’m thinking of what Ava DuVernay is doing through Array, and her work of elevating and providing a platform for black filmmakers and women of color. These folks doing the work of creating new, exciting stories while also tilling the soil for others behind them is so inspiring.

Senti Sojwal: What are your hopes for the future of Color of Change? Where would you like to see the organization five, ten years from today?  

Rashad Robinson: I want COC to be part of this moment for increasing power for black folks that translates into increasing change. To be the type of infrastructure that supports activists on the ground that are challenging systems of inequality, that hold institutions like media and corporations accountable and that can then pave into new and innovative territory. Whether it’s holding district attorneys accountable through elections when they are not doing what they should be doing in terms of fairness around the criminal justice system. I also think that as COC evolves and grows that we are a pipeline for new leaders. I don’t believe that any one leader should stay at a job forever. I hope to continue to create the pipeline for talent to emerge in my organization and without. I don’t think our movement can about a single leader or organization, but about an ecosystem of people trying new and innovative strategies, raising their voices in new ways, and constantly thinking about how to create the kind of power that makes oftentimes invisible stories and lives visible and powerful.

Image: Heather Weston Photographs