Who We Are

AROC is an anti-racist and anti-capitalist collective of white folks in St. Louis building a space for learning and organizing rooted in accountability relationships with each other, people of color, and the broader movement.

Learn more about us:

Our Purpose

Our purpose is to provide a joint analysis with organizers of color and our Accountability Team which can result in a set of shared beliefs in guiding our anti-racist organizing work.

We are white anti-racist activists who come together to further anti-racist organizing among progressive white activists in the St. Louis area.

We were originally born out of a project of the Justice Institute to work specifically on growing support among white St. Louis for police accountability.  The Justice Institute disbanded in 2018 and ARC transitioned to AROC, changing it’s name to Anti-Racism Organizing Collective and working with a new Accountability Team, some of whom were previous members of the Justice Institute.

We do not want people of color to do our work for us, nor do we want to be a vehicle for consolidating white power.

We hope to become a force for mutual work among whites doing anti-racist organizing in our ongoing, progressive, multiracial, multinational movement-building.

AROC does not have any paid organizers nor seeks to replicate a non-profit.  Our structure is a collective that is accountable to one another, the Accountability team and broader movement work.

Current Collective Members

  • Jenny Truax
  • Melissa Krause
  • Tracy Spies
  • Zoe Krause
  • Jennifer Kovar
  • Colleen Kelly
  • Mary Densmore
  • James Meinert
  • Anna Ginsburg
  • John Caroll
  • Dayna Kriz
  • Amy Siebert
  • Erica Vogler
  • Christine Dragonette
  • Michelle Valente
  • Ruth Meyer
  • Steven Hollis
  • Sarah Nash
  • Elyse Vesser

Accountability Team (Current & Historic)

Currently, AROC is accountable to a team of St. Louis Black folks and People of Color, including activists, organizers, and educators. We are accountable to them in a couple of ways: ongoing individual relationships, and structured organizational communication and decision-making about campaign targets, strategies, and tactics. Our Accountability Team gives us input, advice, and correction regarding actions that we plan, and they ask for AROC support for their work as well. 

Additionally, we are accountable to Black-led and POC-led St. Louis organizations working on local campaigns and projects in St. Louis.

Currently we are highlighting, supporting, and volunteering for the following campaigns and organizations:

Action St. Louis / Close the Workhouse

Fight for $15

Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR)

ARC’s Historic Accountability Relationships:

ARC was born in 2003 as a committee of CAPCR (linked above), under guidance from the St. Louis Justice Institute (JI), specifically to support JI’s efforts to build political support for creating a Citizens Oversight Board for the St. Louis City Police.

In 2008 ARC moved from being a committee of CAPCR to being a committee of the Justice Institute, with the added goal of specifically addressing racism in white social justice organizations in St. Louis. For many years, we were accountable through our A-Team to the Justice Institute, until the Justice Institute disbanded in 2018. 

AROC/ARC History

ARC (Anti-Racist Collective) was begun as a project of the Justice Institute of St. Louis, which disbanded in 2018. After the dissolution of Justice Institute, former members of ARC re-formed as AROC, to continue to support the spirit and original mission, as well as on-going campaigns run by our partners. Our A-Team also re-formed, including some prior members, and adding new members.

Sharing our history is important, and we look forward to updating this page with a more detailed history of AROC (formerly ARC) soon. Until then, please take a look at a prior call-to-action pamphlet: https://arcstl.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/justice-institute-and-arc-a-call-to-action.pdf