It Takes Roots

Who is It Takes Roots?

It Takes Roots is a multiracial effort led by women and gender oppressed people of color and Indigenous peoples on the frontlines of racial, housing and climate justice across the country. The collaboration began during the organizing for the Peoples Climate March in 2014 and has since continued to build a Visionary Opposition.

Today It Takes Roots has alliance members in 200 organizations and in more than 50 states, provinces and Indigenous territories, nationwide and in Canada. Each alliance is led by grassroots organizations, and each brings unique contributions to our collective work.

Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) brings connections with global movements and grassroots feminism and gender justice

Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) brings a strong framework of environmental justice, indigenous sovereignty and treaty rights

Right to the City (RTC) brings deep experience in housing & land rights and in coordinating translocal actions

Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) brings strategies for a Just Transition and reinvestment to a regenerative economy

Working in close collaboration with Center for Story-based Strategy and The Ruckus Society to provide the necessary tools, training and strategic support to grassroots and frontline communities most impacted by the climate crisis.

What ITR Does

It Takes Roots utilizes the common frame to protect our land, water, homes, and bodies. We engage in both trans-local power building and mass mobilizations. We come together to share tools, exercise power, and engage a rapid response committed to building resistance and visionary opposition to oppression, extraction, and exploitation.

We collaborate closely with others from Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), the Majority, Peoples Climate Movement, the Design Action Collective, US Food Sovereignty Alliance and others to utilize opportunities for convergence to build power at the local, state, tribal, and regional levels.

Highlighted Work

COP25

Santiago, Chile and Madrid, Spain

COP24

Katowice, Poland

Solidarity to Solutions

San Francisco Bay Area

Peoples Caravan

2016 elections

Peoples Climate March

DC, NYC

Current Work

At the start of the COVID pandemic, It Takes Roots held an all-member virtual convening where we fleshed out our commitment to the Green New Deal work, building political alignment, inter-alliance connection, as well as defining our work around renewed #CancelRent initiatives, the upcoming elections and the People’s Bailout. With in-person mobilizing limited, ITR supported member- and ally-led actions around Juneteenth in the midst of the historic Black uprising and pivoted to scenario planning in a Disrupt and Defend framework around the elections and the defeat of neo-fascism. Frontline communities – including ITR members – were crucial in the Left constellation to score one defeat of neo-fascism at the polls.

Now is a time to build the cross-sector alignment, progressive unity, and strong base of community support that is needed to shift power, build our organizations, gather popular momentum and confront the challenges of the foreseeable future. Our members are leaning into their strength and long time experience of grassroots organizing and base-building to build up our community power.