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Friend, Fighting to ensure everyone has a fair chance at life is a critical step to seeking equality and liberation in the country. Since its founding, the SPLC has stood alongside people living in poverty by challenging outdated, cruel systems that stigmatize and even criminalize people for simply existing. Our recently released 2023 Impact Report highlights the measures we took to defend Black and Brown communities against economic violence. There is much progress to be proud of, and this is all thanks to caring people like you who are determined to put an end to the discrimination that plagues our communities. Here are some of the ways your support helped us protect those experiencing economic injustice: We supported the Hogg Hummock community on Georgia’s Sapelo Island against rezoning amendments that would increase property taxes and cause the push-out of a historic Black population from culturally significant land. Hogg Hummock, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the last intact Gullah-Geechee community in the Sea Islands of Georgia. It is composed of direct descendants of enslaved people brought to Sapelo Island from West Africa in 1802. Many of the plaintiffs named in the complaint have held this land in their family for generations and plan on passing it on to their children. We uplifted community voices of the majority-Black city of Prichard, Alabama, during a hearing on the mismanagement of local water utilities. We helped ensure the judge and related parties respected the concerns of Prichard residents, who have lived without drinkable tap water for years, and incorporate community feedback into future decisions on the fate of the city’s Water Works and Sewer Board. We helped people experiencing homelessness in Montgomery, Alabama, secure their First Amendment rights in our lawsuit Singleton v. City of Montgomery. A federal judge ruled the state’s statutes criminalizing panhandling are unconstitutional and issued a permanent injunction to stop Alabama from enforcing them.
Your moral and financial support propels us forward. That is why we are asking you to make a special gift today, Friend. We must continue the fight to ensure economic safety for those who have been long disenfranchised by far-right, extremist policies.
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