You've seen it, right? Probably today in your social media feed. The Vaccine Selfie. Usually a masked face holding up a white CDC card or posing with a needle in the arm. We can all relate. Relief is in sight.

Not in Brazil.

Fewer than 3% of the population has received both doses of COVID-19 vaccines and Brazil, which has 212 million citizens compared with the US’s 328 million, is expected to overtake the US weekly average for daily deaths in the coming days. Almost 1,000 indigenous Brazilians have died since the pandemic began last March, according to the APIB, Brazil’s largest indigenous association, which represents many of the country’s 900,000 native people.

People are losing hope. So while we celebrate our own progress towards a return to healthy and vibrant communities, please let's remember that others are not so lucky. They need our help.

Please give what you can to the Amazon Hopes Collective. 

The Movement Voter Project has launched its strategy towards making the 2020's a Progressive Decade! MVP understands how to support organizations and volunteers on the ground. Just look what can happen when collaboration and grass roots activism come together! Congratulations to MVP for the outstanding work you have done and continue to do to make this country a more equitable place for all of us!

Before the pandemic, the Kuikuro, indigenous people of Mato Grosso , closed their borders, hired health professionals and learned about Covid-19 . This week, with no deaths from the disease since the beginning of the pandemic, the entire community was vaccinated. How was it possible to maintain an entire village without losing anyone to the coronavirus? Click below for the full story of how the Amazon Hopes Collective helped make it happen!

​https://g1.globo.com/bemestar/coronavirus/noticia/2021/02/17/aldeia-do-xingu-que-fez-esquema-especial-contra-a-covid-e-vacinada-e-fecha-ciclo-sem-mortes-pela-doenca.ghtml

​Brazil is one of the world’s worst-hit countries by the coronavirus pandemic. The Kuikuro of the Upper Xingu, unhopeful of government aid beyond offers of unproven medical ‘cures’, has taken action early to prevent the virus entering their village – and is using the power of storytelling to reach and raise money from international audiences. Click HERE to read about this successful collaboration between AIKAX and the Pennywise Foundation! 

We are very excited to share with you our 2020 Annual Report! It has been an unprecedented year of challenges requiring creative problem solving and the tireless effort of all of our partners.  We are grateful for all of the incredible support we have received this year and hope you take the opportunity to read through what we have been able to achieve together. 

LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright, co-founders of Black Voters Matter Fund, jointly issued the following statement in response to reports of overwhelming and unprecedented support for presidential candidate Joe Biden in Georgia:

Last night, Georgia turned blue, ya’ll. It’s been 28 years since that last happened when Georgia narrowly voted for Bill Clinton over George H.W. Bush, but there it is. 
A new South is rising, and Georgia is the beacon.  

• Georgia has been instrumental to the civil rights movement in America and the birthplace of many of its leaders. 
• Georgia has one of the largest Black populations in the country.  
• Georgia has overwhelmingly faced greater challenges with voter suppression, fighting back against blatant attacks by white supremacist and racism.
• Georgia continues to see an increase in COVID-19 cases that we know disproportionately impact Black people. 

And yet, Georgia has something to say. Georgia is not going to go away so easy, thanks in part to the record turnout by Black voters across the state – from the Atlanta metropolitan area to Augusta, Macon, Savannah, Columbus, and rural areas in-between – who demanded their voices for change be heard.

• More than 1 million Black voters cast their ballot early in the state, surpassing 2016 numbers.
• Georgia has seen a surge in young Black voter registration and turnout.

There’s another reason why the entire country should pay attention to Georgia voters – the balance of the Senate may reside in our hands. Without either candidate obtaining 50% of the votes, both Senate seats are headed to a runoff election.
The message is clear: Don’t count us out. We have more work to do in the South for sure, but the margins are narrowing, the tide is turning, the motivation for better, progressive leadership is growing. 
Georgia is at the epicenter of this country right now and we are claiming victory. We are standing on the shoulders of Dr. Martin Luther King, Congressman John Lewis, Joseph E. Lowery, Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King, Ella Josephine Baker, Ruby Parks Blackburn, and more. 
Count every vote. 
Can’t stop, won’t stop!
Cliff & LaTosha
Co-founders Black Voters Matter Fund

Please join us in welcoming our new grantees: Black Voters Matter and Center for Policing Equity. 
Since we started our work, Pennywise has prioritized giving to organizations that are standing up to injustices in the criminal legal system and are part of a broader racial justice movement. This year, we’ve redoubled our efforts. We are proud to stand with our grantee partners as they demand
reform. Onward!