Baynes-Dunning, who this fall became the first Black woman elected
chair of the Southern Poverty Law Center's board of directors,
has made a life of joining pieces together.

First Black woman SPLC board chair favors grassroots human rights work

[link removed]

Esther Schrader   Read the full piece here

[link removed]

Friend,  

In the house in Greenville, South Carolina, that Karen Baynes-Dunning
[link removed]

calls home, a sunny room is scattered with squares and ribbons and
swaths of fabric - strands of the vibrant quilts this native of
the South crafts for the people she holds dear.

Quilting might seem too quiet a pursuit for a woman who first became
cognizant of racism as a kindergartener, who rallied for racial
justice as a Black campus leader at a Southern university where the
Confederate flag still flew and who, as a pathbreaking lawyer, judge,
social justice activist and advocate for children and families, has
dedicated her career to improving the quality of life of disadvantaged
children.

But Baynes-Dunning, who this fall became the first Black woman elected
chair of the Southern Poverty Law Center's board of directors,
has made a life of joining pieces together.

"She is always quilting, in both a literal and figurative
way," said Neil Stanley Henriques, an attorney in Washington,
D.C., who has been a close friend of Baynes-Dunning since their
freshman year at Wake Forest University. "She's always
knitting or stitching what seems to be jumbled or disparate or things
that don't fit together and finding a way to make them fit and
unite them. So much of what her life's work is about, quite
frankly, is quilting. That's who she is and that's what
she loves to do."

In Baynes-Dunning's new role at the head of the SPLC's
13-member board
[link removed]

, there is much stitching to be done. Since April 2020, when Margaret
Huang
[link removed]

moved from a leadership position at Amnesty International
[link removed]

to take over as SPLC president and CEO, the organization has been
reimagining its mission. Building on its half-century of landmark
legal victories against discrimination, inequality and white
supremacist groups, the SPLC is working more closely than ever in
partnership with local communities, dedicating itself to supporting
the ground-level work of grassroots organizers and evolving into a
more powerful advocate than ever for human rights, civil rights and
voting rights for all people.

Read More

[link removed]

In solidarity,

Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center

The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond,
working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy,
strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of
all people.

Friend, now through midnight on December 31, your gift to
the SPLC will be matched, dollar for dollar, thanks to a group of
generous supporters. Will you make a gift to help the SPLC fight for
justice and equity in courts and combat white supremacy? 

Gifts are MATCHED -- Donate Now

[link removed]

 



--
Unsubscribe [link removed] | Privacy Policy [link removed] | Contact Us [link removed]

Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104
334.956.8200 // splcenter.org
[link removed]
Copyright 2023