蜜桃传媒

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

鈥淭he Southern Poverty Law Center 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,鈥� said Margaret Huang, 蜜桃传媒 president and CEO. 鈥淭hese 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.鈥澨�
听
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 蜜桃传媒 delivered landmark court victories and blazed new paths, including: 听

• Forcing the integration听of the Alabama state trooper force.
  听
• Shattering barriers to听equality for听women.听
  听
• Shutting听down some of the nation鈥檚 most violent white supremacist groups, including the United Klans of America,听by听winning multimillion-dollar jury verdicts听on behalf of their victims.
  听
• Tracking and exposing the activities of white supremacist and other hate groups by听launching听Klanwatch听(now the Intelligence Project) amid a resurgence of the Klan after the civil rights movement.
  听
• Creating听Teaching 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.
  听
• Fighting for the听rights of foreign guest workers听and听working to protect the rights of immigrants and their children to ensure they are treated with dignity and fairness.听

The 蜜桃传媒 has worked to听dismantle听the听vestiges of Jim Crow, reform juvenile justice practices听and challenge continuing barriers to equality for听children, the LGBTQ+听community听and听people with disabilities.

Today, the 蜜桃传媒 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.

鈥淎s we look forward to the next 50 years of this organization, we see a real opportunity to听sharpen our impact听and be more connected to the communities we serve听鈥� and听who share our commitment to听change听and听progress,鈥� Huang said.

For example:

Ahead of the 2020 elections, the 蜜桃传媒 started its听Vote Your Voice听initiative 鈥� 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 蜜桃传媒 expanded Vote Your Voice to also support organizations鈥� voting rights and fair redistricting efforts. The initiative supports democratic participation听by听people of color in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi 鈥� the region at the epicenter of the 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 work. Last night, the 蜜桃传媒 announced it will invest a total of $100 million in the program through 2033.

• Last month, the organization听also听announced听plans听for building a greatly expanded, community-centric office complex in the metro Atlanta area. The organization鈥檚 vision is to use the new office building as a tool to听spark investment and opportunities听in听an existing neighborhood and support the work of area community organizations and nonprofits.听
  听
• In addition to highlighting the 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 history of fighting for racial justice, the virtual celebration outlined听the organization鈥檚 future plans to work closer with community partners in four impact areas:听dismantling white nationalism, eradicating poverty, protecting voting rights and advocating for the听decarceration听and decriminalization of Black and Brown people.

The听event featured听appearances from听numerous guests and speakers听including Montgomery, Alabama, Mayor Steven Reed;听U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Jerry听Nadler and Grace Meng听of New York, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina听and Judy Chu听of California; U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock听and Jon Ossoff of Georgia; voting rights activist Stacey Abrams;听NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson; ACLU Executive Director听Anthony Romero;听and听Fatima Goss Graves, president/CEO of the National Women鈥檚 Law Center.

Illustration by Ryan Olbrysh