Advance The Ball

Clarke Becomes First Woman of color to lead the Department’s Civil Rights Division

Gupta is the first woman of color to be confirmed to the role

By Chris Bufford, Campaign Strategist I was 14 years old when I learned first-hand how the existence of Black youth is criminalized. I was walking home late at night and a police officer pulled up alongside of me. He asked me where I was headed. I told him, “I’m heading home from a friend’s house.” He continued to follow me down the street, watching me from his car. It made me nervous. Had I done something wrong? Did I fit the description of a suspect? Was he going to stop me for curfew? After about half a block I asked,…

By Flavia Jimenez, Managing Director of Organizational Development & Leadership We are our only relevant hope We are our only possible medicine –what is unveiled? the founding wound  by Adrienne Maree Brown When organizations discuss plans to address the impact that systemic racism and the violence of white supremacy have on staff, we often lack the language to openly discuss viable options. Perhaps it is because the wounds are too deep and too raw. Where do we even begin to bring a framework to folks who live and work with the pain? What do we do about…

Leading racial equity organizations will pause to participate in the 5th Annual W.K. Kellogg National Day of Racial Healing (#NDORH) on January 19, 2020.

“Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke are formative civil rights leaders with decades of experience fighting discrimination, ensuring equity and safeguarding all Americans."

We know that voting is an important way to advance our fight against systemic racism. But the ongoing pandemic has created significant challenges in getting out the vote—challenges made even worse by opportunistic and racist government officials who are leveraging this crisis to make voting more complicated and less accessible to Black and Brown people. That’s where you come in. Voters need help understanding how to vote during a pandemic. Here you can find: Scripts to make online videos Memes and gifs to share on social media Messaging guides GOTV Graphics Videos to share…

Impacted people behind bars share harrowing stories of coronavirus outbreaks, unsanitary conditions Baton Rouge, LA – Last night, several civil rights and racial justice organizations pushed back on efforts by the Sheriff and Warden of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison to silence the detainees trapped inside the facility and to hide from community members and taxpayers what the organizations say is really happening in the jail.  The Sheriff and Warden, defendants in a federal lawsuit filed by the advocates, claim that the jail has the coronavirus pandemic under control, but the plaintiffs and…

One hundred years ago today, the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote was ratified. Women’s suffrage was a century-long fight achieved through protest, advocacy and the legendary work of trailblazing women of color including Sojourner Truth, Mary Church Terrell and Ida B. Wells. These women organized to combat racist policies, elect people of color to public office and create community institutions that provided mutual aid to their communities. Today, the nation cannot deny that women of color are a “…