RESIST awards several memorial and tribute grants throughout the year. In the most recent grant cycle, the Board of Directors awarded two “Hell Yes!” grants and a Mike Riegle Tribute Grant.

The Mike Riegle Tribute Grant is given in memory of the life and work of Boston activist Mike Riegle, a supporter of prisoners’ rights, gay and lesbian liberation and the radical movement for justice.

This year’s recipient of the Mike Riegle Tribute Grant is Critical Resistance, New York City. Critical Resistance works to challenge New York’s reliance on prisons and police as answers to social and economic problems. They have several community projects in the South Bronx and are currently organizing for Critical Resistance’s 10-year anniversary this fall.

To honor the moral clarity, courage and political commitment of its founders, RESIST created a new tribute grant in 2008: the Hell Yes! Award. This grant recognizes inspiring, radical activism that cuts to the heart of RESIST’s mission to challenge illegitimate authority, with particular emphasis on anti-war and anti-imperialist efforts.

In this most recent grant cycle, two powerful organizations were awarded Hell Yes! Awards: the DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association of New York City and the Economic Justice Coalition of Athens, Georgia.

In 2003, 15 Filipino domestic workers met in New York City and formed DAMAYAN, which has since grown to over 350 members. DAMAYAN helps workers in hands-on ways, and also fosters political education around global imperialism and immigration.

The Economic Justice Coalition’s living wage campaign pressured the University of Georgia, the largest single employer in the area, to increase the wages of its lowest paid workers in 2007. EJC was formed in 2003 to address Athens’ 31% poverty rate, and it has since become a central resource in the local community.