Race Matters, Friends

Nonprofit in Columbia MO

Race Matters, Friends is a nonprofit group united in the struggle for racial equity in Columbia, Missouri. We nurture conversations and actions about racial equity, racism, and structural inequality in Columbia, Missouri; the United States; and the world.

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Current Reading

Race Matters, Friends is listed in the Amazon Smile nonprofit program, consider buying the book with Amazon Smile and select us as your charity of choice!

CANDIDATE FORUMS

Community Conversations With Candidates Running in the Aug. 6, 2024, Election

Boone County and City of Columbia Candidate Forum

6 p.m. Monday, July 22
Columbia Public Library, Friends Room, 100 West Broadway

Missouri State House of Representatives and Senate Candidate Forum

1:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4
Columbia Public Library, Friends Room, 100 West Broadway

Community Bail Fund

Secure Someone’s Freedom

Learn More

“Innocent until proven guilty” should not depend on race or income, but in America that is the reality. When someone gets locked up and can’t afford to pay their bail, they have two choices: plead guilty to the crime, or sit in jail until our backlogged courts can bring them to trial, which in many cases can take years. Even a week could affect someone's job, living arrangement, or custody of their children. We believe that people shouldn’t have to plead guilty to a crime they may not have committed just because they can’t afford a bail payment, which is why we’re paying people’s bail.

Get Involved

Come to Meetings!
2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month, *Bethel Church, 201 E. Old Plank Rd., Columbia MO 65203. Potlucks on the 2nd Wed at 6pm, regular meeting starts at 6:30pm

*Meetings will be zoom until further notice.

Join us at City Council Meetings!
1st and 3rd Mondays of every month. City Hall, 701 E Broadway, Columbia MO 65201

Follow us on Facebook!

Race Matters, Friends has both a page @racemattersfriends and a discussion group @racemattersfriendscomo

Catch Up!

Get up to speed with your readings and dig into our suggested literature.

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What We're Doing

Community Bail Fund Open Meeting and Discussion

January 3, 2023

Public encouraged to share ideas on creating a system that emphasizes support rather than imprisonment Columbia, MO, Jan. 2, 2023 -- Race Matters, Friends (RMF) will evaluate one of its core strategies for combatting the police-industrial complex by hosting a Community Bail Fund meeting. The public is invited to attend the open discussion at […]

We Need Bodies at Tonight’s Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB)

July 13, 2022

The recent hot flashes around the (CPRB) are in response to December L. Harmon’s 11-page proposal called New Model Concepts For The Citizen’s Police Review Board (2/22/22). The proposal is in response to SB26, which egregiously limited the board’s ability to do the oversight mission. Overall, the proposal reconceptualizes the oversight infrastructure and structure of […]

Murals in the Courthouse (Boone County, MO)

September 29, 2021

The Courthouse of Boone County, Missouri has prominent murals adorning its walls that give an unflattering depiction of BIPOC and women. While conversations may be held as to the historical or artistic relevancy of such work, the primary concern is that these images set and reinforce an insidious tone within the halls of our Courthouse.

In the News

2021-10-07
Columbia Missourian

Art imitates life when it comes to racial equity in the Missouri courts

Many years before the state killed Ernest Lee Johnson by injecting him with a fatal dose of pentobarbital, he walked by a mural that foreshadowed his death. The mural is in the Boone County Courthouse, on a prominent wall visible as you walk from the first floor to the courtrooms above.

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2101 W Broadway,
Ste 103, PMB 300,
Columbia MO 65203

(636) 542-8838

[email protected]