{"id":356443,"date":"2026-07-09T11:09:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/kendra-fox-davis-and-zakiya-johnson-lord-we-are-doubling-down-on-the-south\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T11:09:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:09:01","slug":"kendra-fox-davis-and-zakiya-johnson-lord-we-are-doubling-down-on-the-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=356443","title":{"rendered":"Kendra Fox-Davis and Zakiya Johnson Lord: We are doubling down on the South"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>We caught up with DA Partners <\/em><strong><em>Kendra Fox-Davis<\/em><\/strong><em> of the Meadow Fund and <\/em><strong><em>Zakiya Johnson Lord <\/em><\/strong><em>of the Climate &amp; Clean Energy Fund to talk about why they\u2019re investing in Mississippi\u2014and how even more of us can follow their lead.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why the South \u2013 and why now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Kendra Fox-Davis:<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>Meadow Fund began funding in the South in 2020 as part of our commitment to racial justice and building power in Black communities. We\u2019ve had the incredible privilege of learning from brilliant leaders, organizers, and funder partners in the South, and in the face of rising authoritarianism and racism, we knew it was critical to deepen our support for their work and align other funders and donors to defend democracy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We were at the DA conference when the <em>Callais<\/em> decision came out, and as sweeping and devastating as it is, organizations in the South were prepared for this outcome and are ready for the fight. Now is the time to do all we can to support them, and each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Zakiya Johnson Lord<\/em><\/strong>: We all have a choice: seed the South or cede it. We chose to seed, and we started with initial investments in February and then deeper support to Mississippi right before the <em>Callais <\/em>decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The South is where the fight against authoritarianism will be won or lost. For decades it\u2019s been the testing ground for regressive policies, but that\u2019s exactly why Southern organizers have built the clearest, sharpest strategies for fighting back. Resourcing them is how we all win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a galvanizing moment. When the DA included Mississippi investments in its spring investment recommendations, it provided additional permission for even more to act. This is an opening \u2013 let\u2019s use it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What advice do you have for others who want to show up for Mississippi and the South?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Zakiya<\/em><\/strong>:\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait for perfection. Move what you can to the Deep South, as early as you can. We have watched funders hold back, feeling like they must line up more money before taking action, and end up moving nothing at all.<\/p>\n<p>Second: Trust Southern leaders. Don\u2019t ask more questions of a Deep South leader than you\u2019d ask of one working in Michigan or Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>Third: Get plugged in. More than half of Black Americans live in a Southern state; most of our members do not. Follow a Southern leader. Subscribe to a local publication. Extraordinary work is happening, but if you\u2019re waiting for the national media to tell you about it, you\u2019ll miss it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Kendra<\/em><\/strong><em>:<\/em> As a team that is not based in the South, it\u2019s been important for us to learn and build meaningful partnerships, while simultaneously moving resources at the speed this moment requires. Being aligned with other funders and networks, like the DA, Solidaire, Unite in Advance, and joining Grantmakers for Southern Progress, has helped us fund with confidence and more efficiently.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We trust our existing partners and the DA\u2019s funding recommendations. Those relationships, and the funding memos shared in the wake of the <em>Callais<\/em> decision, facilitated our connection to the Mississippi NAACP and Mississippi Engaged, and we moved immediate grants to support their work without a lengthy process. It was also important for us to show up in person, in Selma and Montgomery, for the <em>All Roads Lead to the South<\/em> national day of action on voting rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The DA brings many relationships and resources to the table. How do you see us working together to meet this moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Zakiya<\/em><\/strong>: Let\u2019s make this an organizing moment! Each of us can reach out to another DA member, ask what resonated with them about Mississippi, and whether there is room to move support soon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendra and I are both institutional DA members, but our organizations are built very differently. The spring conference helped us see our shared interest in the South and the opening to act. Neither of us has lived in Mississippi, but we didn\u2019t let that distance stand in the way of our resolve to meet the moment. The same can be true for many others. Think about the issue you care about most, and look for it in the Deep South. I promise it is there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Kendra<\/em><\/strong><em>:<\/em><em> <\/em>When we were at the DA conference, Charles Taylor from the Mississippi NAACP said something to the effect of \u201ceven if they can make the math work without us, there is no democracy without us.\u201d That really resonated with our team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the short term, I see DA members working together to close funding gaps in voting rights campaigns across the South, particularly with c4 funding and multiyear commitments, that will allow organizations to scale the communications, education and organizing work that is so critically needed. I know we\u2019ll talk more about that at the upcoming briefings. In the long term \u2013 to Charles\u2019 point \u2013 my deeper wish is that regardless of the election cycle and math, our relationships and resources reflect an abiding, shared commitment to freedom for Black people and to the democracy that is possible because of us.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We caught up with DA Partners Kendra Fox-Davis of the Meadow Fund and Zakiya Johnson Lord of the Climate &amp; Clean Energy Fund to talk about why they\u2019re investing in Mississippi\u2014and how even more of us can follow their lead. Why the South \u2013 and why now? Kendra Fox-Davis: Meadow Fund began funding in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115004],"tags":[26967,177611,6923,177610,508,6658,177612],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-356443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-democracy-alliance-blog","tag-doubling","tag-foxdavis","tag-johnson","tag-kendra","tag-lord","tag-south","tag-zakiya"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kendra Fox-Davis and Zakiya Johnson Lord: We are doubling down on the South - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=356443\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kendra Fox-Davis and Zakiya Johnson Lord: We are doubling down on the South - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We caught up with DA Partners Kendra Fox-Davis of the Meadow Fund and Zakiya Johnson Lord of the Climate &amp; Clean Energy Fund to talk about why they\u2019re investing in Mississippi\u2014and how even more of us can follow their lead. 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