The Black Rose Collective is a group of dedicated community organizers and support specialists directed by and accountable to our community –Black, Brown, Indigenous, and people of the global majority who are incarcerated, impacted by gun violence, or who face ongoing barriers of the reintegration process after legally liberated from the carceral system.
OUR INSPIRATION
In dominant culture, black roses are usually recognized for their connection with death and mourning. However, in community, black roses can symbolize the end of a meaningful time in your life, and an indicator of something new. Black roses signify a rebirth or a major change. They are known to represent optimism, new beginnings, hope, eternal love, strength, prosperity, mystery and power.
The longevity of a rose bush is determined by the impact of its environment, and how much care it is given during its lifetime. A rose bush needs proper care and nurturing if it is to survive the elements and bloom. And the same goes for humanity, especially for those who are historically marginalized and impacted by the injustice system.
OUR VALUES
Our approach to serving our community is based on living our values through all aspects of the collective.
HEALING
We prioritize and normalize healing. We believe people don’t change, we believe they heal. We believe our community can be who we are destined to be when we are properly resourced so we have the capacity and community to do our healing work. We have experienced the harmful ways that external systems have tried to force us to change, without realizing that what we needed was to be resourced so our internal systems can heal.
RELATIONSHIPS
It’s through our relationships that we find our greatest path to healing. Being in community with people who understand what we’ve been through... being seen and heard and having a sense of belonging and acceptance... these are the biggest contributors to healing.
HUMANITY We also know how deeply we have been harmed when people refused to see our humanity, when we were in traumatic situations, for example. Therefore, our approach is centered in a trauma-informed approach that sees the humanity in everyone regardless of the circumstances, and lets people set the pace and goals for their own support plan.
HONOR LIVED EXPERIENCE
We believe that those who are closest to the problems have the greatest understanding of what is needed to address the harm. Therefore, we align with the evidence-based Credible Messengers’ model for culturally-relevant and community centered care.
THE WORK
Our community is calling for a focus on healing, to heal from the trauma of living under oppressive systems, to create an environment where our community can thrive, to dismantle the barriers to thriving and expressing our true beauty, power, love, and prosperity.
Our community is calling for a focus on healing, to heal from the trauma of living under oppressive systems, to create an environment where our community can thrive, to dismantle the barriers to thriving and expressing our true beauty, power, love, and prosperity. Our purpose is to work alongside the community to provide community-centered care from the trauma of incarceration, gun violence, and compounding oppressive systems.
OUR SUPPORT PROCESSES:
Community-Based Reintegration Support (“Reentry”)
Gun Violence Intervention Processes
Healing Workshops & Practices
Advocacy
The Black Rose Collective has been instrumental in developing community-directed systems to provide culturally responsive reintegration support in King and Pierce Counties since 2017, community collaborations in gun violence intervention in King County since 2021, and healing workshops across Washington state since 2016.
We do our work in the community, within oppressive systems, and in Washington prisons and jails. We approach the work with a framework that prioritizes relationships, healing, and seeing our humanity and is rooted in the evidence-based Credible Messengers model.
ACCOUNTABILITY
We are first and foremost a community collective: our members have all been directly impacted by incarceration, many thrown away as children for de facto life sentences. We understand the revolving door of prison, and the compounding impacts of addiction and mental illness, to families and children. We also have deep and long-standing relationships in the community we serve today. We talk frequently with organizers inside prison about legislation or policy reforms, workshops and Department of Corrections issues, and provide family support.
Because these authentic relationships exist beyond the work we do under the “nonprofit” umbrella, accountability is a normal recurring process. We are held accountable in community circles, events, gatherings, rallies, and how we show up to provide support every day.
CO-FOUNDERS
The BRC members have been organizing for community rights, justice, and liberation for years, either within the walls of Washington prisons, in the community where we live and have relationships, or within the very offices that hold oppressive systems in place. Our collective has lived experience with incarceration, “reentry” and reintegration, responding to gun violence, and our own internal work healing from these oppressive systems. We understand the stigma, rejection, discrimination, and trauma our community faces on an ongoing basis.
THE BUDGET
95% of our budget goes to the community we serve.
Community Reintegration Support Staff: $891,465.40
Gun Violence Intervention Staff: $322,189.40
Facilitation Staff: $131,919.00
Direct support to Community: $107,000.00
Operations Staff: $237,454.20
Legal, Accounting, Insurance, Fees: $160,000.00
TOTAL ANNUAL BUDGET: $1,850,028.00
