Non-profit

House of Pentacles

Website:

houseofpentacles.org

Formation:

2018

Founder:

Joie Lou Shakur

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House of Pentacles (HOP) is a far-left organization that is one of 110 projects of the left-of-center Allied Media Projects (AMP). HOP was founded by Joie Lou Shakur as an outgrowth of “Gaycation 2017,” an LGBT event sponsored by far-left Southerners on New Ground (SONG). 1 2

The project is designed to provide paid training for young people in storytelling and filmmaking to further a left-of-center LGBT agenda centered around African-American transgender people. 3

HOP received a six-figure grant from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) in late 2020 as one of 23 organizations led by transgender people. The organization has also received funding from the left-of-center Borealis Philanthropy and the far-left Queer Mobilization Fund. 4 5

Background

House of Pentacles (HOP) is a Durham, North Carolina-based far-left organization founded in 2018 with the intent to train African-American transgender people between 18 and 35 in filmmaking and storytelling to advance left-of-center policy on LGBT and racial issues. 6 The organization was conceived at “Gaycation 2017,” at which a video produced by HOP’s founder Joie Lou Shakur titled “Mama Can We Talk” was screened for the first time. Gaycation is an event sponsored by Southerners on New Ground (SONG), a far-left organization which connects and organizes among other LGBT organizations in the American South to promote left-of-center LGBT policy. 7

HOP was created as one of 110 projects of Allied Media Projects (AMP), a left-of-center organization that promotes the replacement of what they term “supremacist systems” with new ones. 8 AMP also funds left-wing projects including Black Lives Matter Detroit (BLMD); the Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP), which promotes the end of capitalism and its replacement with socialism; the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition; and the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MARC), which promotes left-wing ideology on race. 9

Activism

The HOP Collective

Membership in the HOP Collective, a program run by House of Pentacles, is by invitation only for those demonstrating excellence in an art form. The collective provides members with access to HOP’s global network of African-American transgender artists and hosts a five-to-eight-day raining session with other members to produce art that promotes left-of-center LGBT policy. 10

Professional Development

HOP offers fellowships to five to eight people at a time for an 18-month training program that takes an amateur film maker through the process of producing a film project. Participants are required to assist in various organization activities that promote HOP’s message. 11

Political Development

HOP provides education sessions for outside organizations on filmmaking, textile arts, and storytelling techniques. Sessions are based on request and can take a variety of forms from screening HOP films to workshops and panel presentations. 12

Campaign THRIVE

THRIVE, an acronym for Trans Holistic Resurgence: Intervene, Vision, Empower, is a campaign anchored by HOP that seeks to designate Durham, North Carolina as a “sanctuary city” for African American transgender women in the southeast United States. Campaign literature calls for the interruption of violence against African American transgender women and the establishment of legal protections for them. 13

The campaign’s Facebook and Twitter posts call for investments to build political power among African American transgender communities in North Carolina and education on transgender violence. In 2020, the organization claims to have distributed $54,000 to new and emerging artists, $29,000 to mutual aid funds to Black Trans, Gender-Nonconforming, and Intersex (BTGNCI) people, and $5,400 in equipment and technology for African-American transgender, intersex, and “gender non-conforming” people. 14 15

Leadership

The founder and leader of HOP is Joie Lou Shakur. Shakuris a community organizer, activist, and artist who co-created Fiber and Fern, a residency project for African American LGBT people. Shakur is also a fellow with Our Voice, a project which helps those who have suffered sexual violence. 16 Shakur uses social media accounts to call for defunding police departments. In one post, Shakur claimed that “Kops, Kovid-19 and Kapitalism” were killing African Americans, with the letter K in each line highlighted to read “KKK” in an apparent reference to the Klu Klux Klan. 1718

HOP is part of an “extended family” of organizations including AMP, SONG, Borealis Philanthropy’s Fund for Trans Generations, HAYTI Heritage Center, BlackStar Film Festival, and Black Youth Project 100. 19

Funding

HOP received a six-figure grant from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) in 2020 as one of 29 organizations funded with a portion of the $90 million received in donations from corporations and individuals. 20

HOP also received grants from the Queer Mobilization Fund, a left-of-center organization which supports LGBT organizations in the Southeastern United States. HOP also received one of 261 grants provided by the left-wing Trans Justice Funding Project, an organization that funds left-of-center transgender advocacy organizations led by transgender people. 21 22 The organization was one of 21 organizations to receive support from the left-of-center Borealis Philanthropy through its Fund for Trans Generations, a pooled fund which supports left-of-center policy advocacy on LGBT and gender issues. 23

References

  1. “Sponsored Projects Program.” Allied Media Projects, August 31, 2020. https://alliedmedia.org/projects.
  2. “‘Mama, Can We Talk?” & The House of Pentacles.” Southerners on New Ground, January 27, 2020. https://southernersonnewground.org/mama-can-talk-house-pentacles/.
  3. “Film Training Program and Production House.” House of Pentacles, April 7, 2020. https://houseofpentacles.org/.
  4. “Black Lives Matter 2020 Impact Report.” Black Lives Matter. Accessed July 6, 2021. https://blacklivesmatter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/blm-2020-impact-report.pdf.
  5. “Spring 2020 Grantees.” Queer Mobilization Fund, February 25, 2021. https://queermobilization.fund/grantees/spring-2020/.
  6. “About: House of Pentacles: Film Training Program and Production House.” House of Pentacles, April 10, 2020. https://houseofpentacles.org/about/.
  7. “‘Mama, Can We Talk?” & The House of Pentacles.” Southerners on New Ground, January 27, 2020. https://southernersonnewground.org/mama-can-talk-house-pentacles/.
  8. “About.” Allied Media Projects, September 1, 2020. https://alliedmedia.org/about.
  9. “Sponsored Projects Program.” Allied Media Projects, August 31, 2020. https://alliedmedia.org/projects.
  10. “HOP Collective Nomination.” House of Pentacles, March 13, 2020. https://houseofpentacles.org/hop-collective-nomination/.
  11. “Film Fellowship.” House of Pentacles, March 6, 2020. https://houseofpentacles.org/film-fellowship/.
  12. “Political Education Sessions.” House of Pentacles, March 13, 2020. https://houseofpentacles.org/political-education-sessions/.
  13. “Campaign THRIVE.” House of Pentacles, April 5, 2020. https://houseofpentacles.org/campaign-thrive/.
  14. “Log In or Sign Up to View.” Facebook. Accessed July 6, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/houseofpentacles.
  15. Twitter. Twitter. Accessed July 6, 2021. https://twitter.com/HausofPentacles.
  16. “Black Love, Black Healing, Black Justice: A Conversation with Joie Lou Shakur.” Tzedek Social Justice Fund, June 13, 2018. https://tzedeksocialjusticefund.org/black-love-black-healing-black-justice-a-conversation-with-joie-lou-shakur/.
  17. “Joieloushakur .” Instagram. Accessed July 6, 2021. https://www.instagram.com/joieloushakur/.
  18. “Log In or Sign Up to View.” Facebook. Accessed July 6, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/joieshakur.
  19. “Extended Fam.” House of Pentacles, March 6, 2020. https://houseofpentacles.org/extended-fam/.
  20. “Black Lives Matter 2020 Impact Report.” Black Lives Matter. Accessed July 6, 2021. https://blacklivesmatter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/blm-2020-impact-report.pdf.
  21. “Spring 2020 Grantees.” Queer Mobilization Fund, February 25, 2021. https://queermobilization.fund/grantees/spring-2020/.
  22. Marin. “2020 Grantees.” Trans Justice Funding Project, June 10, 2020. https://www.transjusticefundingproject.org/2020-grantees/.
  23. “Support These 100+ Incredible Black-Led Grantees – Borealis Philanthropy.” Borealis Philanthropy – Resourcing grassroots leaders and social justice movements for transformative change., February 18, 2021. https://borealisphilanthropy.org/7070-2/.
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