About Us
We live in an era shaped by borderless forces of anti-Black racism, forces that have created a violent and fragmented world with deeply entrenched patterns of domination.
AFRE challenges these realities to create a world where Black people, other people of colour, and all people thrive.
We do so by cultivating spaces where changemakers from across the globe come together to explore, imagine, experiment and build long-term solutions for impactful change.
Our work takes three forms:
Each year, we recruit racial justice leaders from across the world to participate in our Fellowship Experience, a collective journey that sees changemakers deepen their leadership, grapple with the global complexities of race, and unlock their creativity for social change.
We publish narrative projects–including our literary magazine, Moya, and podcast, Race Beyond Borders–that engage expansive explorations of what it means to be Black in the world today and possibilities for liberation.
We develop innovation spaces that facilitate experimentation and accelerate transformative work among the thinkers and strategists creating our shared future.
AFRE’s work is informed by the history of racial justice solidarity between South Africa and the United States and by the Atlantic Philanthropies’ funding in both countries and further afield.
Our Vision
A world in which all have the means to flourish to their fullest potential.
Our Mission
To build the policies, institutions and narratives for a world beyond anti-Black racism and white supremacy.
“I deeply believe that hope is an antidote to racism’s most insidious forms of psychological oppression.
Hope alone won’t do away with the material conditions of racism, but it is a pre-condition for imagination and the resilience for the long fight ahead.”
— 2018 Fellow Alberto Retana
Our Values
Possibility
We sit at the door of emergence, open to what is waiting to be born, where the waters break.
Collectivity
We bring our unique skills and talents to this work. Together, we act in concert to bring our many-ness into symphony.
Fluidity
We are carving out a path that will not always take on a recognisable form, and we trust the wisdom of our intuition and instincts to navigate the unknown.
Humility
We are because of those who have come before us, and we are in service of those who will come after us.