Virtual Event Saturday June 3rd at 11 am pst, 1 pm cst, 2 pm est
https://opencollective.com/banjo-reclamation-project/events/roots-all-over-the-world-fundraiser-event-c7af0c19

Greetings!!

It is a pleasure to reach out to those of you who are connected to the folk music of the banjo and the various cultural streams that we engage with here at the Black Banjo Reclamation Project.

Over the last 4 years we have had the pleasure and honor of connecting with folks around the world and in our local communities offering workshops, distributing and receiving banjos, and connecting via online communities like Instagram & Zoom. First and foremost, we want to thank you for the ways you have already contributed to our growth as an organization, and for being part of a community that is creating opportunities for Black, African Diasporic people and communities we are linked to through traditional music, craft, healing and land-based experiences.

With the support we have received since 2018, there is so much that we have been able to offer to the world and create in new ways that is totally unique to our intentions around understanding and access to the banjo and traditional folk practices.

Today, we are launching our largest campaign yet to support advancements amongst our team so we can continue to sustain this work. We are raising $200,000 for our 2023-24 years of programming and development!

We have outlined here the ways that the community of banjo enthusiasts, teachers, learners, builders, business owners, Black banjo stewards and culture-bearers can be part of building with us in a variety of ways. We are introducing member and sponsor tiers that all are tied to offerings provided by us, the BBRP team. Our hope is to provide a variety of openings for you to connect with us and that we can collaborate with you to identify ways this can be done within your means and as a response to the economic impact that is needed to be understood from a perspective of equity or in other terms, the solidarity economy. For everyone who is already a supporter on OCF, we will be sending you gifts according to your current tier so feel free to fill out the form as well linked below! 🙏🏽🪕

Whatever you choose to do, know that your in-kind donations, one time contribution, or monthly contributions are essential to us meeting our goal. These funds will allow us to work fluidly throughout 2023 and 2024, as we build a structure that will allow more growth and collaboration over the next 5 years and beyond.

Our sponsorship tier information can be found below. Please fill out the Google Form here to sign up as a sponsor or member! If you are unable to join as a sponsor at this time, you can still purchase tickets for the event. Tickets will be offered at a sliding scale, see the google form.

Thank you for you collaboration, participation, support and patience!

Accomplice Sponsor $10,000 +

Supporter Description: Large organizations and businesses who feel it is aligned with their work to support the projects, development and application of BBRP in communities across the country and around the world. This grant also supports travel, salaries, and stipends that allow our work to grow in advanced ways that will lead to us starting our own businesses in the coming years. Self-determination and reparations are at the center of this gift as you share earned and unearned wealth with BBRP to impact our long term goals and development by fueling our goals during the 2023-2024 years.

Supporter Description: A very passionate individual with wealth made by inheritance and or banjos, you understand the importance of reparations being made to the BBRP in order to bring intentional, trauma informed programs to individuals and communities across the country and across the world. You want to support development of the organization and support the Akonting Centre in The Gambia. You are supporting long term development of Black Luthiership in the United States which will increase economic opportunities for Blackfolks pursuing a trade and skill related to the banjo. You also want to see the development of BBRP music camps and more skilled facilitators and teachers arising from our work.

Advocate Sponsor: $3,500 Benefits include:

Supporter Description: You are a midsized to larger organization or business that economically advances through working with the banjo. Your org or business has a clear intention to reappropriate funds to Black liberation causes and you want to see the banjo in the hands of African diasporic people and communities. You can write your donations into your budgets and you do significant amounts of fundraising. You share this work with your community, people who have access to the banjo and are respected in the folk/ethnomusicology world. You are committed to seeing change in the ways banjo is accessed and want to write a new narrative for the decolonization of the banjo and the healing and repair of communities with the instrument with your actions.

Community Support Team Sponsor: $1,000 Benefits include:

Supporter Description: You are passionate about your work with the banjo and want to reach out to your community to raise funds even if you yourself can’t directly donate this amount. You are willing to share our fundraising info with others or have personal conversations with community members and orgs about contributing to this fund. Small businesses related to the banjo and small orgs that are dedicated to the banjo and the histories attached. 

Activist Sponsor: $500 Benefits include:

Supporter Description: individuals with inherited wealth, access to wealth through the banjo, small orgs dedicated to folk music or small businesses related to the banjo. 

Ally Sponsor: $250 Benefits include:

Supporter description: you are someone who is connected to folk and banjo music and has been privileged and blessed to gain economic advances through the banjo.
 

 HeartSpace Sponsor: In Kind Donation/Gift Certificate

 True Vine Member $20 per month or $240

digital art by Anita Crawford Clark