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Celebrating 50 Years: With virtual event, IJʿ marks five decades as a catalyst for racial justice in the South

The IJʿ this week celebrated 50 years of fighting for justice with a virtual, livestreamed event attended yesterday by supporters from across the country.

“The IJʿ has grown from a small law firm dedicated to protecting the achievements of the civil rights movement to a true catalyst for change and progress in the Deep South and across the country,” said Margaret Huang, IJʿ president and CEO. “These great strides have been made possible by the work of our amazing staff and the support from hundreds of thousands of individuals across the country committed to change.”

The organization was founded in 1971 with the support and leadership of the late Julian Bond. At the time, the civil rights movement had brought new federal laws but little relief for many in the South. Over the ensuing decades, the IJʿ delivered landmark court victories and blazed new paths, including:

  • Forcing the integrationof the Alabama state trooper force.
  • Shattering barriers toequality forwomen.
  • Shuttingdown some of the nation’s most violent white supremacist groups, including the United Klans of America,bywinning multimillion-dollar jury verdictson behalf of their victims.
  • Tracking and exposing the activities of white supremacist and other hate groups bylaunchingKlanwatch(now the Intelligence Project) amid a resurgence of the Klan after the civil rights movement.
  • CreatingTeaching Tolerance (now Learning for Justice) to produce anti-bias films, books, curricula and other resources for the classroom and distribute them, free of charge, to K-12 teachers across the country.
  • Fighting for therights of foreign guest workersandworking to protect the rights of immigrants and their children to ensure they are treated with dignity and fairness.

The IJʿ has worked todismantlethevestiges of Jim Crow, reform juvenile justice practicesand challenge continuing barriers to equality forchildren, the LGBTQ+communityandpeople with disabilities.

Today, the IJʿ is under new leadership and is expanding its reach in the Deep South by strengthening partnerships with grassroots organizations and increasing its political and policy work across the South and in Washington, D.C.

“As we look forward to the next 50 years of this organization, we see a real opportunity tosharpen our impactand be more connected to the communities we serve– andwho share our commitment tochangeandprogress,” Huang said.

For example:

Ahead of the 2020 elections, the IJʿ started itsVote Your Voiceinitiative – a program investing up to $30 million in organizations across the region working to conduct voter registration, education and mobilization activities among people of color over several election cycles. In 2021, the IJʿ expanded Vote Your Voice to also support organizations’ voting rights and fair redistricting efforts. The initiative supports democratic participationbypeople of color in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi – the region at the epicenter of the IJʿ’s work. Last night, the IJʿ announced it will invest a total of $100 million in the program through 2033.

  • Last month, the organizationalsoannouncedplansfor building a greatly expanded, community-centric office complex in the metro Atlanta area. The organization’s vision is to use the new office building as a tool tospark investment and opportunitiesinan existing neighborhood and support the work of area community organizations and nonprofits.
  • In addition to highlighting the IJʿ’s history of fighting for racial justice, the virtual celebration outlinedthe organization’s future plans to work closer with community partners in four impact areas:dismantling white nationalism, eradicating poverty, protecting voting rights and advocating for thedecarcerationand decriminalization of Black and Brown people.

Theevent featuredappearances fromnumerous guests and speakersincluding Montgomery, Alabama, Mayor Steven Reed;U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, JerryNadler and Grace Mengof New York, Jim Clyburn of South Carolinaand Judy Chuof California; U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnockand Jon Ossoff of Georgia; voting rights activist Stacey Abrams;NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson; ACLU Executive DirectorAnthony Romero;andFatima Goss Graves, president/CEO of the National Women’s Law Center.

Illustration by Ryan Olbrysh