August 6, 2018

50 Years After the First Memo Leak of the FBI’s Cointelpro, the Question Stands: Are We Free?

In March of 1968, a memo by the FBI was addressed to 14 field offices. In it contained instructions on how to create fictitious decoys for the Black Panther Party (BPP). It mapped out an official war strategy against the advocacy group. In a calculated and egregious effort, the agency forged letters containing death threats to different Black organizing groups, causing deep tensions and sometimes deadly disputes amongst them. President Edgar Hoover labeled the Black Panther Party a “hate group” and publicly demonized the organization as “the greatest threat to internal security”. This was the same group that orchestrated a children’s breakfast program when the government failed to provide children with their necessary needs for survival. The Black Panther Party was fully committed to ensuring that children learn and grow in a healthy and affirming environment. The free breakfast program of today was inspired by the Black Panther Party’s program. At its highest popularity, it fed thousands of children with more than 40 programs around the nation. But, despite its impact Hoover went after the program,” Consequently, the BCP (Breakfast for Children Program) represents the best and most influential activity going for the BPP and, as such, is potentially the greatest threat to efforts by authorities to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for.” Hoover, was on to something. The community-based programming served to exposes the power in unity that was being formed by the Black Panther Party and the ways the government misguided their attention away from adequately serving communities. 50 years later, the Black Lives Matter rallying cry turned into a movement to end systematic violence against Black communities represents a similar threat to the FBI today. In 2017, a leaked FBI report revealed that BLM was a domestic terror group labeled as “Black identity extremists”. Activists across the country have experienced monitoring through phone disruptions. It’s a tactic, that seeks to interfere with one activist’s biggest tools by causing interference to organizing and recording the police. In some instances, reports of law enforcement disguising as protesters has served as a way to cause paranoia or initiate conflicts and have even lead to arrests at peaceful protests. This reaction by authorities in response to Black groups organizing for better treatment is a chapter of our histories ugly past that has resurfaced in an attempt to silence and divide political power among black communities seeking change. It’s the same demonization that would serve to dismantle the Black Panther Party. The only threat present was and still is the threat to white supremacy. In the spirit of turning L’s of 1968 into lessons. We must continue to be both aware and vigilant in the fight for justice, dignity, life and humanity.

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Close the Workhouse Campaign Holds Rally to Demand Release of Men Trapped in the Workhouse February 5, 2019

Following reports of extreme cold and continued inhumane conditions at St. Louis City’s jail, the Workhouse, advocates gather to demand the release of David Dixon and Jeffrey Rozelle

Close the Workhouse January 29, 2019

Kicking off the national movement to end pre-trial detention and end the country’s reliance on incarceration starts on a local, grassroots level.

Lawsuit Filed to Challenge St. Louis City’s Unconstitutional Cash Bail System January 28, 2019

“We are attacking the City of St. Louis’ illegal procedures used to jail more than 1,000 people solely because of their inability to make a cash payment to purchase their freedom.”

‘The Hate U Give’: Another Resource in the Youth Organizing Toolkit November 2, 2018

In this heightened moment of political activity, young people are in need of an outlet to voice their concerns and feel empowered to impact what’s going on around them. The film, “The Hate U Give” makes an important point about what many young people of color experience, what they are witnessing and how to be politically engaged by it.

Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke Found Guilty of Second Degree Murder of 17-Year-Old Laquan McDonald October 5, 2018

Today, a jury found Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke guilty of second degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in the murder 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. Advancement Project’s national office released the following statement:

Send future youth organizers to see The Hate U Give! October 3, 2018

Can you contribute today to help us host screenings of The Hate U Give for future youth organizers?

6 Things You Need to Know about School Policing September 23, 2018

From our new report "We Came to Learn"

We Came to Learn: A Call to Action for Police-Free Schools September 10, 2018

Safety does not exist when Black & Brown young people are forced to interact with a system of policing that views them as a threat and not as students.

#TakeAKnee: Supporting the Protests of Professional Athletes August 15, 2018

Supporting athletes that advocate for change to our country’s unjust policing practices.

Advancement Project Statement: The Ouster of St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch Who Failed to Charge Officer for Murder of Mike Brown August 8, 2018

After a 27-year bout, St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch – the prosecutor who failed to charge Ferguson Police Department Officer Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown, Jr. four years ago this week – was defeated in the St. Louis prosecutorial election. McCulloch has a long history of defending police violence and was responsible for the attack on front line protesters during the Ferguson Uprising following the death of 18-year-old Brown. McCulloch targeted Ferguson protestor Josh Williams, who is enduring an eight-year prison sentence, as well as Brittany Ferrel and Alexis Templeton, who suffered a year-long prosecution. On…