People-Centered Power: A Fight for Local Control and Self-Determination
Communities of color have achieved major policy wins through grassroots organizing, but these gains are being undermined by state takeovers and abusive preemption.
Communities of color have achieved major policy wins through grassroots organizing, but these gains are being undermined by state takeovers and abusive preemption.
For generations, grassroots organizing has secured hard-fought victories from expanding democracy, shifting resources, and building lasting people power in Black and brown communities. These wins didn’t come easily; they were claimed through protest, advocacy, and the determination of everyday people to transform systems that were never designed for their liberation.
But today, those very victories are under attack. State takeovers of local government agencies and sweeping abusive preemption laws are rolling back progress and stripping communities of the right to self-govern and ultimately, self-determination. Preemption happens when a higher level of government limits or outright blocks the authority of a lower level of government to act on issues that matter most, whether that’s public safety, police free schools, housing, or workers’ rights.
From a legal perspective, preemption is not neutral. It has been wielded as a tool of racial control and political suppression, targeting Black, brown, immigrant, and working-class communities who dare to reimagine power. What’s at stake is more than policy; it’s the very principle of community self-determination and the ability of local residents to shape their own futures.
According to the Local Solutions Support Center, 700 preemption bills were introduced in state legislatures in 2023, virtually all of them by Republicans. By October, more than 90 had become law.
In 2023, we saw this clearly in Jackson, MS, where the state legislature passed House Bill 1020 mandating the appointment of special judges and prosecutors by Mississippi state officials in majority-Black Hinds County, which includes the City of Jackson. HB 1020 also permits Capitol Police to take effective control of policing responsibilities in an area of Jackson, increasing the police presence in Black communities. With its enactment, it shifts authority over the county’s criminal justice system away from democratically-elected judges and prosecutors elected by Black voters. It also starves revenue from the city by diverting tax revenue.
18% of the tax revenue that should go to Jackson city will now go to the state to fund the new judiciary arm.
The blatant power grab and preemptive attack by the majority White legislature in a Black city like Jackson, MS is spreading across the country. White and right-wing conservative states are attacking our voting rights, education and curriculum, efforts to advance police abolition, living wage ordinances, and the bodily autonomy and healthcare of trans and gender-expansive youth. Our communities are feeling the brunt of these state attacks the most.
We are tracking the use of preemption across different states and cities, focusing on localities where we have partner relationships. In our partner states, we are seeing laws prohibiting diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, minimum-wage increases, gender-affirming care for transgender youth, local government management, protesting and the right to dissent, and much more.
Together, we can build effective campaigns to stand against abusive preemption and fight for local governance and decision-making power for our communities.