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In the same way, we're determined to believe in the potential of people to achieve great results and are confident that they can effect change in a positive way. Advancement Project is an international association that advocates the ideals of equity and justice, particularly in the case of BIPOC. BIPOC community that was established by NAACP under the direction of NAACP over twenty years ago.

The sum of $100,000 was given to the Advancement Project as part of our 2020 pledge to support groups that are working to improve social justice that focus on education, those impacted by the incarceration process as well as removing the barriers between prison and school. In the coming two years, the group will be hoping to donate $250,000 towards the budget of social justice that was pledged in 2020.

We spoke with the Executive Director of the Advancement Project, Judith Browne Dianis on how Advancement Project supports local communities as well as strengthens the capacities of communities with a diverse population.

as Executive Director of the Advancement Project, what inspired you to join the organization?

Jennifer Browne Dianis was raised within Hollis, Queens by two Harlem residents. One of them was a teacher and community leader and the second was an active member of the nation's divided Army. As an early Black woman, my mother and father didn't just impart to me the differentiators between what was right and wrong. They also showed that it was important to be an attorney. This important lesson--along with protesting racism as a student at the University of Pennsylvania and surviving job discrimination--prompted me to pursue a career in movement lawyering. I earned my law degree from the Columbia University School of Law and was awarded an award called the Skadden Fellowship, and went into the position director of the Washington, D.C. office of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.

I was involved in my involvement in the Advancement Project at its inception about 1999. The group collaborated with local groups for purposes of running effective campaigns through litigation, advocacy as well as communication. My role, as well as the goal of the work carried out through the Advancement Project, has been concentrated on strengthening the power of communities of color, in order to guarantee that we are at liberty and can thrive, feel safe and make the most of the potential we have within us.

SQSP: As a part of your job, Advancement Project supports grassroots groups working to promote social and racial justice in their communities. What impact have you been observed in the activities that you've carried out to create personal change?

JBD Advancement Project chooses project projects, whether local or nationwide, which are able to increase participation at the grassroots level and to redefine and further promote equality the race. Legal action is only one element of a bigger battle to the advantage of our leaders. We are not afraid to speak up in the face of difficult topics and are the first ones to react to issues related to civil rights as well as being at the forefront of matters related to the subject of race and justice.

Our aim is to assist local activists, as well as bring their actions to those throughout the United States. The days preceding the day on Mother's Day, we worked together with our colleagues in Michigan to raise the profile of the 2021 black Mamas Bailout Campaign project. The campaign highlighted the experience of seven mothers imprisoned. We use social media are designed to increase the number of people who participate in the campaign as well as raise funds for the payment of fines, bail and other fees for Black mother's, Black women, gender-nonconforming individuals, as well as fem(me)s and return them to their families.

A large part of our success is our ability to build relationships with younger people and stakeholders, especially local to the area. We collaborate with organizations within Washington, D.C. and Maryland that were influenced by the murder of George Floyd and the uprisings in summer 2020. Young people needed assistance in understanding how to organize their communities as well as the things they could do to create their own school-based campaigns that weren't run by the police. In order to assist them in the process of educating and training them in politics We held a variety of "Organizing 101" teach-ins, which helped groups build a solid basis to build the foundation for leadership, developing leadership, planning strategies, and also planning campaigns.

Our whole work is focused to empowering communities in the community. It is evident through those who exercise their rights to vote. There have been countless bills in almost fifty states following the election of 2020, all with the aim to increase the obstacles in voter registration and create a greater obstacle for citizens to get involved and do steps to take. We've brought lawsuits against Georgia as well as Florida so that we can be two of the states that were among the first to approve legislation. In particular, we focused our attention on the way much of laws affect the main mechanisms of democratic participation for people of color, for instance, Black church as well as Latinx civic organizations and called for large coalitions to oppose these laws. In a crucial ruling, the judge made a decision in our favor on three of our four instances. This means that Florida has no right to restrict when and when drop-boxes can be used and conduct around polling stations intended to alleviate people waiting in long lines cannot be made criminal. In addition the judge has granted 10 years of prior approval by his court to amend the laws governing voting.

SQSP: Today, that is fueled by social media, it's much easier to connect more than ever before. What has technology done help small-scale organizations with their work?

JBD: The use for social media has become a crucial instrument for attaining equality for everyone. The Advancement Project uses it as an aspect of a wider narrative strategy that seeks to alter the way that people think, what they believe, the way they conduct themselves and their views on the subject regarding incarceration, law enforcement and voter registration, as in addition to the subject of education. Most of our society's deeply believed-in beliefs are shared throughout every day, at any time and even in social media. It's the reason they're connected. It is crucial to implement the right decisions with social media as part of our plans.

Social media lets us showcase the stories and voices of grassroots organizations and that are leading the movement. In addition, we inform the public about issues and dissect the ways in which systems and laws impact or affect communities of minorities. It is also an opportunity to strengthen our community's demands for justice. As well as the national community. We provide a platform for activists, groups and everyday people to demand justice.

SQSP: Alongside your efforts in your community, it has a presence at the global level by making important decisions, supporting initiatives, and connecting partners to expand the reach of the mission. What are some significant modifications you've implemented in these past years that have made a broader impact on the BIPOC society in the United States?

JBD: Even though we've been aware for quite some time of the frequency of backlash that occurs in communities of color as they gain the strength they require to be able to assert their rights, we were amazed by the intensity and volume of backlash that we witnessed throughout our work during the past couple of years.

In the wake of a Presidential election that saw record-breaking participationand particularly in communities with a racial divers, the legislators from 48 states enacted 389 "voter integrity" laws in the session of 2021. While many might see the incident as a one-off, we recognize that this is only the latest of an assortment of challenges to the fundamental premise of the democratic multiracial system for voting. In spite of the challenges We continue to adhere to our own idea of change that requires an amalgamation of litigation, campaigns, and assistance for communication.

The summer of 2021 as well as the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor has created an enormous campaign to improve police service by removing funding for police. We have had conversations with our friends in the field, we've learned that while paying focus on major events is crucial, it's even more important that lawyers who have expertise in working with movements.

To meet this demand, we released a video series entitled "How Cops Get Off" in early June of this year along with our microsite, policefreecommunities.org where people can watch the videos and learn more about our work around policing. The narrations are by director of the board, AP actor, and political activist Jesse Williams, each four-minute video defies the main structure of our society in addition to the law that allow police officers to be in power and unaccountable the principal narrative of films, television and in the news. The video also addresses the guardians of the criminal justice system which includes police organizations; as well as laws which shield police officers free from being accountable. This is a reference to laws of qualified immunity.

We created this series because we believe that the importance of Black lives cannot be evaluated on a verdict when the policing process as well as our criminal justice system protects the police, not us. The series is a six-week long culture change campaign that will make it easier for people to share and watch the videos, and also to engage in conversations about the current system, and to push to take action with the local community at the grassroots that are pushing for innovative methods of security.

SQSP: Being able to bring together those who love lawyers, organizers as professionals in communications isn't a task that is simple. What are your thoughts on the advances made by Advancement Project's introduction of their "Theory of Change," and what can you think of in the years ahead?

JBD's mission is to build the conditions in which Black, Latinx, AAPI and Indigenous people can live freely and are safe. Over the past 20 years, we've helped bring people together and help create circumstances for significant breakthroughs in the field of race. Acting as a convener to create momentum that transcends place, we continue to hold the opportunity to study one another and develop power through legal action and policymaking along with strategically-planned campaigns, as well as aid for communications in addition to crafting the narrative that reveals the issue and offering possible solutions.

However, our work isn't done. The best part of our current situation is the fact that it's far from being complete. That is the only certain aspect of it. What I've observed from our friends in our local community that are fighting for justice on the battlefields and fighting for justice each day, inspires me to think that we'll get the opportunity to prosper.

SQSP: What can people interested in being involved in the advancement project's mission get involved?

JBD: You are able to be an integral part of our mission by joining our web site on this page or by contributing to our work through this link. For information on developments we're working on, folks are able to connect with us through our Twitter page, Facebook and the feed on Instagram..

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