“Today, the world lost an influential figure in the fight for civil rights and American politics, Vernon Jordan. An icon to the world and a lifelong friend to the NAACP, his contribution to moving our society toward justice is unparalleled. In 2001, Jordan received the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for a lifetime of social justice activism. Vernon started his career as Georgia Field Secretary for the NAACP in the 1950s. He served along with Medgar Evers, in Mississippi; Robert Saunders in Florida; and I. DeQuincey Newman in...

NAACP President and CEO, Derrick Johnson, released the following student regarding the $15 minimum wage increase:After a tumultuous year and a financial downturn, it is evident that raising the minimum wage to $15 is sorely needed to bring about economic justice. The increase would lift wages for nearly one-third of Black workers and contribute to a decrease in inequality. Millions of workers struggle to make ends meet as they work multiple jobs to cover expenses and support their families. It is becoming increasingly...

Today, civil rights leaders called on the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act – a critical step to holding law enforcement accountable for unconstitutional and unethical conduct. The 2020 killing of George Floyd sparked a year of national protests in all 50 states calling for an end to police brutality against Black and Brown communities and a demand for accountability in every sector of law enforcement.Addressing this nation’s history of violent, discriminatory policing...

On behalf of the Racial Equity Anchor Collaborative—the foremost diverse coalition of national racial justice and civil rights organizations representing and serving more than 53 million people in the United States—we condemn in the strongest terms the recent uptick in documented hate incidents including bullying and harassment, hate crimes and violence being perpetrated against Asian Americans in recent weeks.Since the start of the pandemic, there have been over 3,000 recorded hate incidents against the Asian...

Washington, DC – On February 25, 2021 at 10:00 am ET, the Racial Equity Anchor Institutions and Esri will host a virtual press briefing on the launch of a new initiative to survey and track policing budgets in targeted areas around the nation. The new initiative is an effort to aid communities on their journey to better engage with and potentially reimagine what public safety looks like, neighborhood by neighborhood. Interested media can register to attend by visiting...

“One year ago today, two white supremacists shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, an innocent Black man who was jogging down a road in Glynn County, Georgia.In America, Black lives are cut short for wearing a hoodie, attending church, buying iced-tea, being at home, and jogging outside, in Arbery’s case. The unspeakable injustice that took the life of Ahmaud Arbery not only sparked nation-wide peaceful protests, but ignited a new era in the movement for civil rights.As the nation mourned, strategized and organized, the NAACP...