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Racial Justice

A guide to resources provided by the Law Library, as well as external information, to support our community in considering racial justice and reconciliation.

National Racial Justice Organizations

American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
ADC is a civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage. It was founded by former U.S. Senator James Abourezk in 1980. Today, ADC is the largest Arab American grassroots organization in the U.S. ADC supports the human and civil rights of all people and opposes racism and bigotry in any form.

Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL)
The Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in 2011 in response to the overwhelming need in the Arab-American community for advocacy and protection of civil rights and liberties. The ACRL  is committed to protecting the civil rights of Arab Americans through education and advocacy. The organization works to build coalitions, promote understanding and cooperation and combat negative stereotypes.

Arab American Institute
Established in 1985 and based in Washington, DC, the Arab American Institute (AAI) is a non-profit, nonpartisan national leadership organization. AAI was created to nurture and encourage the direct participation of Arab Americans in political and civic life in the United States.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
The ACLU is a large nonprofit organization that works "in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country." 

Amnesty International (USA)
"The world's largest grassroots human rights organization." See its Toolkits & Guides and Deadly Force & Police Accountability pages.

Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities. It also partners with organizations who offer direct services to support the needs of Black communities.

Campaign Zero
Campaign Zero is a non-profit organization that researches and analyzes policing practices across the country to identify effective solutions to end police violence. It also provides technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns.

Center for Policing Equity
The Center for Policing Equity uses research and analysis to help communities achieve safer policing outcomes. It has partnered with law enforcement agencies to help them implement policy recommendations.

Civil Liberties Defense Center
The Civil Liberties Defense Center provides litigation, education, legal, and strategic resources to support movements that seek to dismantle the political and economic structures at the root of social inequality and environmental destruction. See its Know Your Rights page.

Color of Change
Color of Change is an online racial justice organization that helps people respond effectively to injustice. It mobilizes it members to challenge and end practices and systems that unfairly harm the Black community.  

Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB)
Formed in 2000, this group "was created to deal with police brutality in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area on an ongoing basis," but the publications tab contains links to resources that may useful to all activists, including reports, fact sheets, and an online tutorial titled "Police Brutality 101."

Dream Defenders
Dream Defenders is a national organization that advocates for better healthcare, housing, and jobs and less emphasis on prisons, deportations, and war as a means of creating safe and secure communities. See its Freedom Papers and Projects pages.

Equal Justice Initiative
The Equal Justice Initiative is a nonprofit organization that "is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society." It does this by providing legal representation to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and to those experiencing poverty and by advocating for criminal justice reform.

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education in Education (FIRE)
FIRE is a non-profit civil-liberties organization that seeks to defend and sustain the free-speech rights of students and faculty members at America's colleges and universities. See its Student Network page, with links to pages that provide Tips for Activism information and more.

Future Voters Project
The Future Voters Project provides resources and information on registering young voters and teaching about voting rights.  

Indian Law Resource Center
The Indian Law Resource Center is a non-profit law and advocacy organization that advocates for the protection of indigenous peoples' human rights, cultures, and traditional lands. The site contains descriptions of casework, newsletter archives, and links to research, resources, and organizations instrumental to winning recognition of indigenous rights.

Institute for Justice Reform & Innovation (IJRI)
Drake University Law School’s IJRI provides resources and training on a number of issues, including creating a more just system of civil and criminal justice.

International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
As the world's largest "professional association for police leaders," the IACP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the policing profession through advocacy, research, outreach, and education. Its website addresses many topics including Community-Police Engagement and Criminal Justice Reform.

Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
The Japanese American Citizens League is a national organization that works to protect the rights of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
The League of United Latin American Citizens works "to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States."  

Mapping Police Violence
Mapping Police Violence is a research collaborative that continuously collects data on police killings nationwide to quantify the impact of police violence in communities.

Mothers Against Police Brutality
MAPB formed to unite mothers who have lost their children to police violence. They support justice for victims of police brutality and deadly force. They are a multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition uniting mothers nationwide to fight for civil rights, police accountability, and policy reform.

Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)
Formed in 2014, M4BL works with individuals and other organizations to create a policy agenda to win rights, recognition, and resources for Black people.

My Brother's Keeper Alliance
This program of the Barack Obama Foundation collaborates with community leaders and organizations to solve problems affecting young men of color.

NALEO
NALEO Educational Fund is the nation’s leading non-profit, non-partisan organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
The National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organizations serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities.  

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
The NAACP's Legal Defense Fund uses the power of law, narrative, research, and people to defend and advance the full dignity and citizenship of Black people in America.

National Black Justice Collective (NBJC)
The NBJC is a civil rights organization that seeks to end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ bias and stigma.  

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The NAACP is a large civil rights organization that seeks "to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons." 

National Lawyer's Guild - National Police Accountability Project
The National Lawyer's Guild is a 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in our communities. See its Blog & News.

National Native American Law Enforcement Association (NNALEA)
The mission of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association is to promote and foster mutual cooperation between Native American law enforcement officers, agents and personnel, their agencies, tribes, private industry, and the public.

Native American Rights Fund (NARF)
Since 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has provided legal assistance to Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide who might otherwise have gone without adequate representation. NARF has asserted and defended the most important rights of Indians and tribes in hundreds of major cases, and has achieved significant results in such critical areas as tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, natural resource protection, and Indian education.

OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates (formerly known as Organization of Chinese Americans)
This organization works to advance the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States.

Organization for Black Struggle
This is a Black-led inter-generational organization committed to fighting for social justice. See its Movement Resources page.

Racial Equity Institute
Racial Equality Institute is an alliance of trainers, organizers, and institutional leaders devoted to creating racially equitable organizations and systems. 

Racial Justice Improvement Project
This ABA initiative “is designed to identify and reform policies and practices that produce racial disparities in local criminal justice systems across the country.”

Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ)
Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, this organization seeks to move white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for racial justice.

Unidos
Unidos works for civil rights and economic opportunities for Hispanic Americans and as a national umbrella organization for more than 300 formal affiliates in 41 states. Formerly: National Council of La Raza (NCLR).

United We Dream
This organization works to eradicate discrimination of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. They empower immigrant youth to develop their leadership and organizing skills and to develop their own campaigns at the local, state, and federal levels to fight for justice and dignity for immigrants and all people.

Vera Institute of Justice
The institute "envision[s] a society that respects the dignity of every person and safeguards justice for everyone." The Solutions & Research section provides access to reports on a wide range of topics, including policing and community, racial bias in prosecution, and reducing the use of jail.